Colchester Swimming Club member Laura Stephens is targeting some fast swims after receiving a double boost in her ongoing bid to reach the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The 17-year-old butterfly swimmer from Wix is currently in the United States, where she is taking part in altitude training with her British Swimming team-mates.

And the former Colchester County High School for Girls pupil has received further good news after being named by British Swimming to compete at the FINA World Championships in Canada, in December.

Stephens said: "I'm really excited to have been selected for the World Short Course Championships.

"To now be on the senior British team will be a new challenge for me.

"Hopefully by focusing on what I've been working on in training so far this season, I'll be able to produce some fast swims and personal bests in my events.

"I'm very grateful to Colchester Swimming Club who have continued to support me throughout everything I have done - I cannot thank them enough."

Stephens is part of a team of 16 British swimmers to participate at the World Championships.

They will go head-to-head in the faster waters of the 25 metres pool, at the short course event.

Team GB Rio Olympic medalists Stephen Milne and Dan Wallace will also compete at the six-day event at the WFCU Centre, which starts on December 6.

The World Championships provides athletes with one of their first international race opportunities, as the Tokyo 2020 cycle begins.

British Swimming Head Coach Bill Furniss said: “The team is a mixture of some of our established Olympians and younger swimmers who will benefit from exposure to the world stage as they prepare for the next Olympic cycle.

“The meet provides a good opportunity early in the cycle to build positive team culture and behaviours and work on short course skills."

Stephens is currently training in Arizona, the first in a series of ten British Swimming camps to be held between now and the Tokyo Games.

The 17-year-old, who is now based at Plymouth Leander, is part of a squad of 16 swimmers based at the three-week camp at the Hypo2 High Performance Sport Centre, at Flagstaff Training Centre.

British Swimming is using altitude training in its attempts to take the performance of its athletes to new heights in the lead up to Tokyo 2020.

Each camp will target 200 metre plus swimmers with an optimal age and performance profile set to excel at the next Olympics, as well as those with a proven record of podium level performance continuing beyond Rio 2016.

Laura is looking for sponsorship to help her to continue her rapid progress in the sport.

Anyone interested should contact Helen Stephens at hs_newport@hotmail.com