WIRRAL swimmer Andrew Corley graduated from his sporting apprenticeship on Saturday.

Apr 1 2009 by James Connor, Birkenhead News

The 18-year-old, who started swimming at squad level with Wirral Metro Swimming Club in 2000, is one of 94 athletes from the world of aquatics who graduated from the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) – an initiative that aims to help young people to excel in sport while continuing with their education.

Corley, who is now studying Medicine at Cambridge University and swimming for the education institution, said: “The AASE programme gave me a new perspective on swimming. It made me think more about my races and how to plan them more effectively to get a better performance allowing me to focus more on my race. It also helped me to manage my time better between swimming and work.

“I particularly enjoyed the training camp in Slovenia as a week of intensive training it gave me a lot of benefits.”

Corley’s swimming highlights include placing sxith overall in the 1500m Free for his age group at the ASA Age Group and Youth Nationals 2006 with a time of 16:35.01. He also qualified for British Championships Level 3 in 2008, received a full Cambridge sports blue 2009 for 200 Free (1:54.05) and 400 Free (4:01.54) and came eighth in the final of the Mens Open 200m Freestyle at the BUCS Swimming Championship in February 2009.”