Olympic place for ‘shocked’ swim star Jess

Jess Lloyd: Olympics here she comes

OLDHAM swimmer Jessica Lloyd says it will be an honour to represent her country on home turf after qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics.

She will join the rest of the relay team in taking on the cream of the crop after dazzling in the 100 metres open age freestyle at the British Championships.

Her return of 54.95 seconds in the semi-finals was the seventh-fastest time recorded by a woman in her category in British history, as she claimed fourth place.

And despite a slightly-slower 55.28 in the final, Lloyd again took fourth and was in a state of shock upon discovering London was indeed calling.

She said: “It is just unbelievable, I am still shocked and I have no idea how long it will take to sink in.

“This is what dreams are made of. I have always wanted to compete at the Olympics and to do so in my own country, with my friends and family in attendance and people shouting my name, is an honour.

“Just before the final my coach, Mark Rose, told me about the relevance of my semi-final time and that gave me extra confidence because I knew people would have to do really well to beat it.

“But I still raced my heart out in the final because I wanted to do everything I possibly could to get to London.

“There was a tear in Mark’s eye afterwards because I am his first Olympic swimmer.

“I am so excited about what the future holds. I hope there is more to come from me, as I am only 16-years-old. I want to push it all the way and see how fast I am at the end of my career.

“Some people in the sport have said this is just the start for me and I want to reward their faith by continuing to do well.”

There is no let-up in the life of an Olympian. Despite being given two days off by Xaverian College in Manchester, Jessica, who started out as a junior at Saddleworth Swimming Club, was up at 7am today to get the bus to training.

Mum Ann said: “Jessica is exhausted, not just from the swimming but the emotions that went into the event — she will savour two rare days off college although she is still back into training.

“We are unbelievably proud of her achievement. As she said, it has not fully registered yet and for us it probably won’t until we see her competing in London.

“We have not slept much for the last week or so because we were nervous for her, although the fantastic performance she produced in the semi-finals gave us reason to be quietly confident because it was so fast.

“The enormity of the situation will probably hit us like a ton of bricks over the next few days but for now we are looking forward to enjoying the moment and getting some rest.

“I think Jessica has done Oldham proud.”

Another swimmer making waves for her home town is Jessica Fullalove. The 15-year-old Oldham Hulme Grammar pupil clinched qualification for the European Junior Championships in Antwerp, which take place in July.

She will compete in the 100m and 200m backstroke section after posting times of 2 minutes and 14.41 seconds and 2:14.71 in the British Championships 200m semi-finals and final respectively.