Rebecca Redfern believes she is on track for a successful season after breaking a British record en route to claiming three gold medals at the Sainsbury’s 2015 School Games.
The Paralympics hopeful joined 1,600 other competitors in Manchester over the weekend for the United Kingdom’s largest multi-sport event for elite level schoolage athletes.
The 16-year-old, who is partially sighted, roared her way to a new SB13 100-metre breaststroke British record at the Manchester Aquatics Centre by clocking an impressive one minute 20.14 seconds.
That was one of two gold medals on the day for the Droitwich Spa High School pupil, the other coming in the 50m freestyle, before she added the 100m freestyle title to her collection later on.
Redfern admits she is yet to come to terms with becoming a record-breaker at the games.
“It’s weird to think I’ve won two golds at the Sainsbury’s 2015 School Games because I haven’t trained in a while,” she explained.
“I definitely didn’t expect a British record in the 100m breaststroke either. My aim for the weekend was to just get somewhere near my personal best. I wanted to be around that area so to break the record is brilliant.
“This was the start of my season but I’ve got the international meet in April next year and I’m hoping to get the Rio consideration time for the Paralympics, so hopefully this performance can help me on my way.”
The Sainsbury’s 2015 School Games, which is supported by National Lottery funding from Sport England and delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, featured 12 different sports across four days.
Rebecca was already the fastest female SB13 100m breaststroke swimmer in British history but improved on her own record despite it being her first competition of the season.
The teenager was representing England Central and claims she won’t forget the games in a hurry.
“This is such a great event. Everyone just comes together and is a team. It’s my first year as part of the competition and I’ve loved it,” added Rebecca.
At the ASA National Championships in Sheffield earlier this year, Rebecca raced to victory in the 100m breaststroke in 1.20.56.