Emily Large to realise dream on Gold Coast

Emily Large will realise a dream when she competes for Team England on Australia’s Gold Coast.

At 17 years old, the Newcastle swimmer will be one of the youngest swimmers on the team at next month’s Commonwealth Games.

Emily Large
  • Age: 17
  • Club: Newcastle Swim Team
  • Coach: Ryan Livingstone
  • CWG: Making debut on Gold Coast

But the teenager could be one to watch in Australia, having finished 2017 as the third fastest women’s 200m Butterfly swimmer from the Commonwealth nations.

“I have always wanted to represent England and see how well I can do,” said Large.

“It will be really nice to have that logo on my t-shirt and see how well I can do for my country.

“It’s getting closer and closer and I’m really excited to go out to Australia and just see what the weather is like and see how I perform in the pool.

“I just want to see how well I can do and hopefully live up to the standards of England.

“I’ve just come back from altitude camp for three weeks in Colorado and that was my aerobic block finished. Now it’s moving on to race pace specific stuff to hopefully get the time I would like to go at the Commonwealths.”

Large no stranger to international success

Large is no stranger to success in the pool, having won gold at last year’s World Junior Championships, leading from start to finish in the 200m Butterfly.

She touched home in a personal best and British 16 Yrs age group record of 2:07.74 at the World Juniors.

But Large admits she is expecting the competition to be much tougher at the Commonwealth Games.

“The standard is so much higher,” she said. “The atmosphere will be a lot different but it will be great to race everyone else in the world.

“It’s great to travel the world with the sport I love doing. Australia is a new one – I’ve always wanted to go there and to do it with swimming is just even better.

“The Commonwealths will be my second senior international. It’s just a lot different racing Olympians and Commonwealth people.

“It’s not so much pressure – it’s just great to race them and see how well you do against them.”

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