Lewis athlete reaches stage three of national sports initiative

“April 2010”

Talented local swimmer Kathryn Offer has eased through the first two stages of a national initiative for athletes entitled Talent 2016: Tall and Talented.

The programme aims to unearth exceptional athletic talent capable of achieving medal success at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and beyond.

Facilities Manager at Ionad Spòrs Leòdhais, Tony Wade found out about the programme and suggested to Kathryn that she put herself forward.

Photo courtesy of Leila Angus

Over 1500 applications were initially received and 800 athletes were chosen to take part in five camps which were held in various locations across Britain.

Camp attendees participated in a number of physical assessments under the guidance of UK Talent Team sports scientists and Olympic coaches.

Kathryn was informed in March that she had been chosen to attend Phase 2 of the Programme which took place in Nottingham in April 2010.

“General training”

Fifty boys and thirty girls, from across a range of sporting disciplines, took part in this stage where further assessments were carried out along with individual interviews.

Kathryn has since been informed that she has passed through Phase 2 and has been invited to attend a Rowing Camp in Nottingham in August along with 40-50 others.

There are five phases in the assessment programme and the athletes participating will be whittled down in each phase depending on their individual assessments.  Commenting on her achievement, 18 year old Kathryn said:

“I am absolutely delighted to have reached this stage.  I can’t quite believe that I have got this far.  I know that I have a huge amount of work ahead of me between now and August and with each passing stage the competition gets fiercer.  However the experience gained from this has been invaluable and all the hard work and dedication put into my swimming and general training seems totally worth it”.

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