Top swimmer on the crest of a wave

A RIPON Grammar school student is on the crest of a wave after being selected to compete against some of the world’s top swimmers.

Year 9 pupil Nadine Wilson will take part in the prestigious International Swim Meet at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh in March.

She will be competing against leading British and international athletes, including Olympians, with competitors travelling from countries including Spain, Israel, Ireland, Denmark and Greece.

The 14-year-old, who swims for the Borough of Stockton Swim Scheme, recently picked up a bronze medal in the 200 metre butterfly at the Northumberland and Durham County Championships at Sunderland Aquatic Centre.

She has also qualified in multiple events for the North-East regional championships in May at the John Charles Centre in Leeds.

Nadine, from Dishforth, took up the sport at an early age and by eight years old had achieved honours in competitions.

She juggles her studies with a punishing 14-hour-week training schedule in Teesside, which involves travelling more than 500 miles a week, and competes at weekends in locations from Scotland to South Yorkshire, she said: “Although swimming is challenging at times, it is worth it.”

Her immediate goal is to qualify for the British Swimming Championships in at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield this year

The teenager is also an accomplished cross-country runner and recently qualified for the English Schools national competition, which will be held in Kent in March.

Nadine is the younger sister of past RGS pupil and elite swimmer Christa Wilson, who is ranked in Britain’s top four for the 200m butterfly and won a sports scholarship to Grand Canyon University in Arizona.

*The Edinburgh International Swim Meet will take place from March 11-13