STOURPORT swimmer Abbie Rowley's Olympic size dreams came a step closer to reality when she was singled out by a "talent" programme.

The 13-year-old Stourport High School student is "number one" in Worcestershire for the 50 metre freestyle, breast stroke and butterfly, And she was picked for a special course of mentoring from Olympic and Commonwealth athletes through the Talent Identification Programme (TIP).

She joined other promising young sportsmen and women for the three-day event at Manchester's Hilton Hotel, where the mentors included New Zealand paralympics athlete Tim Prendergast.

"It was really good and I learned loads about how to set goals, how to get the right team around you and how to combine it all with school work," said Abbie, of Golden Hind Drive, Stourport.

She trains 14 hours a week with Wyre Forest Swimming Club, including three 6am starts in the pool before school.

She began competitive swimming at the age of seven after getting fed up of just sitting on the side of the pool while her brother, Jack, now 16, competed in galas.

Abbie was nominated to go on the TIP session - organised by Sainsbury's School Games - through the School Sports Partnership and was later selected by a Worcestershire panel.

Besides her swimming achievements she has also competed for her school at the Sainsbury's Level 3 games in tag rugby and athletics.

Each county in England was invited to put forward one boy and one girl for the course of mentoring and workshops, aimed at taking them from regional to national level in their sport.

Worcestershire's chosen boy for the course was athlete Greg Forrester, of Wolverley CE Secondary School.

Abbie, who lives with her parents, Nick and Becki, and brother Jack, hopes to move on to compete at international level, following in the footsteps of her swimming idols, Commonwealth champions Adam Peaty and Hannah Miley.