Phenomenal' Matt joins national elite
A YOUNG Guernsey swimmer is being steered by the Great Britain team for future Olympic success.
A YOUNG Guernsey swimmer is being steered by the Great Britain team for future Olympic success.
Matthew Butt has been selected for the national junior elite training scheme and the world-class age group programme that takes the best 12 to 14-year-old swimmers in the British Isles with the aim to turn them into Olympic stars.
The 12-year-old earned his place on the scheme when he finished 10th in the ASA National Bagcats Championships in Sheffield at the start of last month.
Jo Winberg, coach to the St Sampson's Secondary student and Guernsey Swimming Club member, has seen a remarkable up turn in the pool by her star pupil after he finished eighth in the Hampshire championships earlier in the year.
He is the first GSC member to make this level.
'His improvement since January has been phenomenal,' said the GSC coach.
'He has worked hard and he deserves it. He never misses a training session and when he is there he gives 100%.
'He is very determined.'
Butt's determination and resolve will be tested to the full as the programme gets under way in October.
He will be visited by his GB coach, Mick Hepwood, for an initial assessment.
The programme demands that he undertakes 14 hours of training in a pool and two hours of land-based exercise a week for 48 weeks of the year.
Every training session that he does will be recorded and reported back to the Great Britain team and he is expected to attend six swimming clinics in the UK over the year.
The first of these clinics is in December at Loughborough University where state-of-the-art technology will monitor Butt's stroke technique, under the watchful eye of head of British swimming, Bill Sweetenham.
The training will gear him for possible selection onto the GB team for the European Championships next July.
The swimming star's parents are supportive of their son as he embarks on a gruelling schedule.
'His dedication to his sport is outstanding for a 12-year-old,' said dad Chris. 'As far as we're concerned we have told him that as long as he wants it we will support him. We're very proud.'
Someone who Butt can take inspiration from is Jersey swimmer Simon Le Couilliard who has been selected for the senior GB team.
The 18-year-old will compete in his specialist butterfly stroke at the European Championships in Italy in December.
