OVERCOMING disappointment has paved the way for Alisha Hawkins to make her Great Britain debut this weekend.

The Winsford 17-year-old will compete in the European Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in Malta on Friday.

By doing so, Hawkins will be breaking new ground as she has never contested a 7.5km race before.



 

While she is an experienced swimmer in the pool, and currently ranked second in Britain in the 1,500m freestyle at under 17s level, her qualification came on the back of the performance in her first 5k open water event.

The St Nicholas High School A-level student finished second in her section of the Great North Swim at Lake Windermere last month.

Hawkins said: “I was happy with that, swimming my first ever 5k open water race in just over an hour.”

With only the first-place finisher an automatic selection for Malta, it was four days later when the confirmation email arrived from British Swimming.

“I was over the moon,” she said.

“Dreams do come true, with a lot of hard work and early mornings.”

Securing a place in the squad is reward for her willingness to set aside the previous year’s setback.

Her dad Neil, who has recently taken over The Humble Pie Coffee Shop in Winsford, explained: “British Swimming had contacted her Stockport Metro coach Richard Blackshaw enquiring if Alisha was entering the 5k open water event at Windermere.

“Last year she trained solid for six weeks for the 5k race only for it to be cancelled the day before because of bad weather, narrowly missing the chance of being selected to represent Great Britain.

“Alisha and her coach sat down and decided to put a training plan together, and put the daunting past behind her.

“Having recently been crowned British silver medallist at the Edinburgh International Meet in the 1,500m, they both knew she has the quality to endure the event.”

Since Windermere, Hawkins has swam a 5k open water event in Ipswich where the British Swimming team came together for a meeting.

Reality of representing her country set in when her kit arrived.

“I am going to be so proud to be wearing GB TYR swim suits and British Swimming clothing,” she said.

“The logo is on everything and I’ve even got a GB suitcase; how awesome is that?”

Training has continued with gusto in the pool, with Hawkins set to hit the water in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle events in the British Summer Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield from July 24-29.

During one session she gained some inspiration from James Goddard, Metro’s former Olympic backstroker who watched her train after learning of her GB selection.

“James told me his first ever call-up was at Malta European Juniors also,” she said.

“He wished me all the best and said I was a strong swimmer.”

She has also been blown away by support from her school.

The PE staff asked if she would sign one of her British Swimming t-shirts so that it can be framed and mounted.

“I was really surprised and honoured. Once it had set in, I thought how cool is that?”

Hawkins flies out to Valletta with the squad today, Tuesday.