WARRINGTON swimming starlet Tyler Melbourne-Smith is not ruling out a late bid for the 2024 Paris Olympics after a stellar winter in the water.
The 17-year-old cleaned up at the Swim England National Winter Championships in December, romping to six golds over 400, 800, and 1500 metres across both Junior and Open freestyle categories.
He also added junior 200m freestyle silver to his burgeoning collection to raise expectations ahead of this month’s British Swimming Championships at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge.
It will be just the second time the teenager has competed at the iconic event, which runs from April 4-9 and doubles up as trials for the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan this summer.
But Melbourne-Smith is keeping his feet firmly on the starting block and knows there is still plenty of work to do before he can mix it with the very best.
“My coach and I had goals going into the winters and I felt I achieved some of them, but there is still a lot of work that can be done,” he said.
“My expectations were more times, and not medals. The 400m and 200m were good, I was pleased with them but the 800m and 1500m I thought I could have done better but it felt good; for me, winning is the most important thing, so it is always good to win.
“My targets right now are to qualify for the European Juniors and the Youth Commonwealth Games, I have not really looked into medalling too much.
“I am looking to see if I can medal in the senior category, but my main priority is qualifying for European Juniors and Youth Commonwealths.
“I would love to medal but I don’t have those expectations from the outside. That’s a good thing.
“Long-term, I definitely want to go to the Olympics. 2028 is a definite target, 2024 is way too early to call.
“The chances aren’t big, but I will see what I can do. You never know what happens; I can’t shut out that possibility.”
A trip to Paris would be the peak of Melbourne-Smith’s glittering career to date after a whirlwind 2022 also saw the teenager named Swim Wales Junior Performance Athlete of the Year.
It is all the product of a childhood spent in the water almost from birth, after his parents encouraged him to learn to swim after swapping Warrington for Dubai when he was just three weeks old.
A move back to the North West followed seven years later, but Melbourne-Smith’s unfailing love for the water remained.
“I got into swimming just for safety, as there are a lot of beaches and my parents wanted me to learn how to swim,” he added.
“I just loved the water, and my parents got me swimming at a club, and ever since then I have just stuck at it.
“As long as I can remember I have been pretty good, since I was seven or eight, I have always been up there.
“I have never played any other sports. I watch a lot of other sports, but I don’t play them.”
Tickets are available for the British Swimming Championships in Sheffirld (April 4-9) from //britishswimming.org/events-and-tickets for more information – or watch all the action from every session on the British Swimming YouTube channel.