A brother and sister duo from Stockport Metro are hoping for a super summer after reaching the finals of a national and international swimming championships.
Siena and George Oxby, who train daily at the hugely successful swimming club run by Life Leisure, have set their sights on the Paralympics 2028 after beating off stiff competition at the National Para Swimming Championships and World Para Series.
Siena, 15, has been selected for the World Para Championships which take place in Manchester in July and has been tipped for future paralympic glory by her coaches. And George, 17 will compete at the British Swimming Summer Nationals in Sheffield.
Both Siena and George train daily with Stockport Metro under the expert guidance of Ciaran Beard Jones, former SM junior international swimmer.
Rick Hall, head of performance swimming at Life Leisure, said: “We are really excited about what both Siena and George can achieve in their swimming and they have both put in some fantastic performances recently at major national and international meets.
“They work very hard and train both mornings and evenings within our National Youth Squad with coach Ciaran Beard Jones and myself in the mornings.”
“For Siena to be told she has medal potential for the LA 2028 Paralympic is a real confidence boost – she is still relatively new to para swimming and to swimming on the international stage, however we are confident through hard work and training within a performance environment at Stockport Metro, she can do very well.”
Both Siena and George swim in the S14 classification, which is for swimmers with an intellectual impairment.
Siena, who is originally from Denton and now lives with her family in Nantwich, held her own against some of the best swimmers in the world last month when she competed in the IPC World Series in Berlin, finishing as fastest in the SB14 category in the 50metre breaststroke . She will be the youngest member of the British team at the Manchester 2023 World Para Swimming Championships next month.
She said: “I’m really excited to have been selected for the World Championships. To be told that I’m ‘medal potential’ is incredibly exciting and just makes me want to train harder. It’s my dream to swim in the Paralympics so there’s going to be a lot of training!”
George, a student at Reaseheath College, won his second national gold medal in the 100m breaststroke at the Para Swimming Winter National Championships and will compete at the British Swimming Summer Nationals in Sheffield in July.
He said: “I really enjoy competing – it makes all the hard work worthwhile when you get a medal or achieve a personal best.”
Their mum Antonietta, who is an ultra-marathon runner, said the pair both showed an exceptional ability when they started swimming with Active Denton and Hyde Seals and Dolphins as youngsters.
She said: “I’m very competitive so they get that side from me, but they were both natural swimmers from being very young.
“They both continue to impress me every day and their coaches are just fantastic at getting the best out of them. It just goes to show, regardless of ability, you can still go on to achieve great success. I’m very proud of them and will be cheering them on this Summer!”
Stockport Metro Swimming Club, based at Life Leisure Grand Central, is home to one of the most acclaimed coaching and competitive swimming. Led by a team of highly motivated assistant coaches and support staff, with access to some of the best facilities in the UK and more than 24 hours of pool and land training, the Junior & Youth Programmes provide comprehensive resources for swimmers who aspire to further their potential at local, regional, national and international level.
For more information about Stockport Metro go to https://stockportmetrosc.org.uk/ or for more about Life Leisure go to https://www.lifeleisure.net/.