Swimmer Aimee qualifies for Olympics

Almost three decades after her dad swam in the Olympics for Britain, teenager Aimee Willmot celebrated as she took her place as one of five qualifiers for the London Olympics. Nineteen-year-old Aimee could not have looked more delighted as she swam home in second place, behind Hannah Miley, in the 400 metres individual medley at the new Olympic Aquatic Centre recently. Aimee, of Middlesbrough, also pulled of a personal best, with a very impressive time of 4min 37.48sec.

Swimming history repeats itself

It was 28 years ago that dad Stuart finished 15^th in the men’s 400 medley in the Los Angeles Olympics. After qualifying, Aimee laughed and said: “Hopefully I can do better than him.” Aimee is currently taking a year away from her education to focus on swimming and it’s clear her efforts have paid off with her Olympic place. She is reported as saying: “'I stayed at home and was just training all the time. I have been in the gym in the middle of the day and just stepped everything up. I knew I could do it. It was just whether I could get in and do it on the day.” In the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Aimee took fifth place in the 400m individual medley, which was won by Scotland's super swimmer Hannah.