And the award goes to Holly Sullivan of Swindon ASC.

Congratulations to Holly Sullivan who was voted Wiltshire Swimmer for the year for the period 1st September 2016 to 31st August 2017 at the Wiltshire Amateur Swimming Association Annual General Meeting.

Holly was nominated for the award by the club for her achievements in swimming:

• Holly started competing in swimming competitions a couple of years ago. She really stood out when she took part in the Special Olympics in November 2016 where she beat the DS female world qualifying time for 50m freestyle.
• In April Holly took part in the DS European Open Championships again coming away with a clutch of medals but more notably beating an established GB swimmer in the 100m freestyle. Following from this success Holly was invited to attend the Down Syndrome GB training camp in Nottingham in May 2017.
• On 5th July Holly received the letter she had been hoping for offering her a place in the GBR team travelling to Paris for the European Championships. Some of the countries she will be competing against include Brazil, Russia, Portugal and Denmark. Holly had achieved 10 DS GB qualifying times by this point. See: Swindon Advertiser – Article
• What is particularly remarkable about Holly’s story is that at 13yrs she is at the youngest age that swimmers can qualify for the DS GB team, yet still managed 10 qualifying times against swimmers of all ages as there are no age groups in this competition.
• Holly is a pleasure to teach, always keen to work hard and to improve, training twice a week with our junior squad.
• She is a truly valued member of our club, an example to all and we are extremely proud of her achievements.

Holly received the certificate at the clubs Annual Presentation evening on 2nd December.

There is a trophy to go with the award, which was still with the previous winner Jazz Carlin, who was away at a training camp.

Congratulations Holly