Two Borough of Barnsley swimmers will compete in the London 2012 pool next week and hope to become Olympians in the future.

Libby Turner, 13, from Hoyland and 16-year-old Ardsley lad Tom Speed have qualified for the British Championships which will feature all the top junior and senior swimmers in the country including world and Olympic medallists.

Tom, who attends Barnsley Academy, is ranked third in the UK for the 100m breaststroke and is a multiple champion of both Yorkshire and the north east region. He also holds the Yorkshire record for the 50m breaststroke.

He said: "Ideally I will compete in the Olympics one day but we'll have to wait and see if I can get to that level. The British Championships will be the biggest event I have ever competed in so I am just going there to enjoy it and do the best I can."

Kirk Balk School student Libby will compete in the 200m individual medley and the 50m freestyle. She said: "I am nervous but confident. I would be happy to get to a final but it would be amazing to medal.

"Swimming has taken up most of my life because I love it and I want to do it at as high a level as I can. I have always been with Borough of Barnsley and I love the club."

Tom and Libby both train eight or more times per week and are among 125 members of Borough of Barnsley who are mainly based at Goldthorpe but also train at Royston and Hoyland.

Head coach Carly Herbert believes the duo are capable of becoming world class swimmers. She said: "They can go all the way to the top and they are up there with the best swimmers in the country for their agegroups. They are both really lovely kids and give 100 per cent in every session. They will be the first from our club to compete at the British Championships for six or seven years.

"But we have got a lot of other good swimmers and hopefully we will have even more at next year's British Championships. "It's a great achievement for such a small club who have to compete against bigger clubs like City of Sheffield, City of Leeds and the Borough of Kirklees."