Coach happy her protege could cope

IT WAS a real shock to the system to arrive at Beau Sejour for an early-morning swimming training session. Not the time - I arrived towards the end of the Barracudas session, nearing 8am - and the weather was fair for a February morning.

But the pool seemed full-to-bursting - I counted more than 40 swimmers ploughing through the six lanes - and, most strangely, they were all using floats.

Jeremy Osborne needs no artificial aids to carve his way through the water.

At the age of 14, Osborne already looks large enough to be served in a pub and was instantly recognisable in the pool with his mane of unruly blond hair.

It is no mean feat for him to make the pool for the 7am start from his home at Rocquaine.

Osborne rises before 6am on early training days - Tuesday, Friday and Saturday - and trains after school every day.

But the 11 hours a week he can manage is less than it should be for an elite swimmer and, should he get on the GB world-class potential programme, it may well be upped.

But coach Alison Frankland believes her young charge would be able to cope.

She had hoped that Osborne, ranked in Britain in his age group, would have made the elite group after last year's national championships, but he made only one final in the event.

His call-up for the talent identification screening day is a second chance, but there could be still another in August at this year's nationals.

'I keep in contact with British Swimming and said they should have a look again at him,' said Frankland. 'Most people would look at Jeremy because he is very tall, but Jeremy is also a wonderful technician.

'You might have size on your side but you've got to have technical ability too, or you won't get to the top.

'Swimmers have got to have talent, motivation and dedication and he's got all those.

'But he is very powerful and because he's only 14, I've got to make allowances for him to allow him to mature into a top-class swimmer.'

She ranks Osborne's prospects alongside Guernsey's GB swimmers, Helen Watts and Ian Powell.

Powell was previously on the UK's youth programme, which looks to fast-track talented swimmers and controls their training and competition from afar.

The world-class programme was introduced by Bill Sweetenham on his arrival in the UK as the performance director of British Swimming. The Australian overhauled a sport that was underperforming on the world stage.

Osborne admitted that he did not really know what to expect.

'I'm quite excited,' he said, 'but I don't really know too much about it. It came out of the blue.

'I'm looking forward to it. There is pressure on me to perform to a certain extent, but I'm not getting worked up about it.'

The Elizabeth College student has made great advances in his swimming in recent years after best part of a decade with the Barracudas, matched by the development of his physique.

Frankland expects great results at next month's age-group Hampshire championships, Osborne's last in the 'Bagcats' disciplines which ensure young swimmers develop while swimming all four strokes.

But Osborne favours freestyle, the event in which he became senior CI 100-metre champion earlier this year. Frankland prefers to keep options open.

'Freestyle is his best, but technically he is very good at all strokes,' she said.

She is keen to continue to see young Barracudas progress to the next stage of their swimming development.

'My aim is to get as many swimmers as I can on the world-class programme. It opens up a lot of avenues for them to be on the British scheme; it can't be any better.

'We're working towards getting swimmers on the programme.

'We've got to keep abreast of what's happening in the UK. It is important that we keep competing at this high level and make every effort to ensure our swimmers have the same opportunities as those in the UK.'