Elizabeth Smith received the 'Warwickshire ASA Swimmer of the Year' Award at the Warwickshire Championships at the weekend.

Paul Welsh - President of the Warwickshire ASA said:

'For the first time since opening this prestigious award to all swimming disciplines we are delighted to honour a Synchronised swimmer.'

Elizabeth Smith started swimming with the City of Birmingham when she was 7.  She represented Warwickshire County in the synchro duet for the first time when she was 9, and was Midland District solo champion at 15. Every year since 2004 she has been Age Group Champion at both at County and District level.

In 2005 Elizabeth was selected for the England squad, winning Gold in Croatia. In 2006 she was the National Age Group Champion, and ranked first in the GB Junior trials in 2007. Uniquely she was selected for both the GB Junior and Senior squads in the same year

Still only 18, she has made the very difficult decision to leave her family and school to base herself as a full time athlete at the GB High Performance centre in Aldershot.

Elizabeth is an inspiration to all our aspiring young synchro swimmers, and has proven that hard work and commitment reaps rewards at the highest level.