THE South Hams can boast a third potential Olympic swimmer after Laker Wong, 15, secured his place at the trials for London 2012 last weekend, writes Euan Reedie.

Kingsbridge Kingfishers' starlet Wong will compete in the trials, taking place between March 3 and 10, in the 100m breaststroke after gaining the qualifying time at a meet in Cardiff.

He will join fellow South Hams swimmers 18-year-old Aaron Rickhuss, from East Allington, and Ivybridge-based Megan Bowen, 14, at the event.

Rickhuss will race in the 100m freestyle event, while Bowen is set to take part in the 100m, 400m and 800m freestyle sections of the trials, which double up as the British Swimming Championships.

Wong was among a team of eight swimmers from the Kingfishers to take part in the Exeter Open meet held in the 50m international pool in Cardiff.

After a mediocre performance the day before, Wong produced a stunning swim in the 100m breaststroke on Sunday.

He not only won the gold medal and left his main rival trailing in his wake, but also held his speed perfectly down the second length to set a time of 1:08.79, which was inside the Olympic trials qualifying time of 1:09.55.

Kingfishers' head coach Karen Dorey, who was also the first coach of Rickhuss, who is now at Plymouth Leander, said: 'This is a huge achievement for a swimmer from a small rural club and shows what a rare talent the 15-year-old is.'

She added: 'This is the second year the club has attended this meet in Wales and it is always beneficial to spend a weekend away as a team. As a level 1 meet in Olympic year, the standard of competition was very high and several international swimmers took part, including David Davies the double Olympic medallist.

'The Kingsbridge team of Louis Gautier, Laker Wong, Robert Dorey, Ben King, Emma Noyce, Ella Paddon, Jenny Grace and Beth King stepped up to the mark and produced close to 100 per cent personal best swims – a fantastic achievement so early in the season after the Christmas break. Taking inspiration from Laker's scintillating race, the rest of the team continued to set personal best times and win medals despite the long sessions on the hot poolside testing their endurance to the limit. A number of the swimmers, parents and the coaches are now set to travel up to the London 2012 Aquatic Centre in early March, where the Olympic Trials will be held. They will cheer Laker on and revel in the fact that they may just be supporting a star of the future.'