FORMER Aylestone School student and City of Hereford Swimming Club, Amy Ballantyne won a gold medal at the ASA National Youth Championships and Comm-onwealth Games Trials held in Sheffield.

The 14-year-old Hereford girl was a member of the triumphant Plymouth Leander relay team which succeeded in winning the prestigious women's youth 400m freestyle event.

Plymouth Leander won the relay in nail-biting fashion by beating off Stockport Metro and Nova Centurion among other top-flight national clubs to win by a mere 71/100th of a second.

Amy, the youngest of the quartet, whose previous personal best for 100m freestyle was 1-01.21, completed the second leg of the relay in a blistering 59.72 secs.

During the championships she competed in the 14/15 yrs 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m freestyle, 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley and the 4 x 200m and 4 x 100m freestyle relays.

She clocked numerous personal best times, marking this third year of National Championships as her most successful to date.

Amy started boarding at Plymouth College last September after being offered a scholarship on the UK's Premier Swim Programme as part of the Plymouth Leander club.

The opportunity to be coached by two international coaches in Plymouth has resulted in an England appearance for Amy, as well as competing in six events in the British Long Course Championships earlier this year.

The gold medal was a fitting reward for her dedication and commitment to her chosen sport. For the last 12 months she has trained on four mornings before starting her school day and five times after school every week, clocking up an average of 55,000 metres a week.

After a break at home, she will start her training programme again at Plymouth this month.