Sale & Altrincham Messenger
Friday 10 July 2009

Altrincham swimmer Matthew Parks has been selected to represent Great Britain at the European Youth Festival in Tampere, Finland at the end of July.

His first selection for a GB team is just reward for years of dedication, the young athlete training 18 hours every week to achieve his ambitions.

Already the British sixteen and under British champion and record holder at 200 metres freestyle, on current form Matthew is tipped for at least a podium finish, but will be going to Scandinavia aiming for gold.

Formerly a member of Trafford swimming club, Matthew moved to the City of Liverpool Club nine months ago to follow his coach Mike Roberts and has to get up every day before 5am, with either of his parents, local GP Robert or nurse Nicola to make the 30 mile trip to Merseyside.

He said: My parents are just great. There is no way I would be able to do this without their help. They get me up every day, apart from Sunday, and take me to Liverpool, waiting until I have finished to take me back. Then it’s the same again after school. Their support is unbelievable.

Manchester Grammar School swimming coach Simon Jones said: Matthew is quite simply the best swimmer MGS has ever had. As is often the case with talented athletes, he shows just the same focus on his academic study and we are expecting an exceptional set of GCSE results this summer.

The quality of his academic work is bound to leave Matthew with a tough choice after his A-levels. About to study Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Russian in the MGS Sixth Form, Matthew knows that it will be difficult to combine both medical studies at university and his training regime for Olympic success.

He said: It is looking like it will have to be either one or the other, but we will have to see when the time comes.

Matthew started swimming aged just five years-old, realising he was good enough for competition at the age of nine.  His best time for the 200 metre freestyle is 1.57 and he simply laughs when asked what is the world record, saying: That’s 1.42, so you can see there is lot of work to be done.