A LANGLEY Park swimmer has been selected by Great Britain to take part in this summer's Olympic games in Beijing.

Ellen Gandy, 16, secured her place after an impressive display at the British swimming championships in Sheffield.

The Beckenham Swimming Club member achieved the British Olympic qualifying time in the heat of the 200m butterfly.

She then finished second in the final to guarantee her place in the Beijing games.

Gandy started training with Beckenham swimming club at the age of five and has dominated events at county and regional level for many years.

For the past six months she has been training in Australia and is overjoyed her commitment has finally paid off.

Beckenham coach Tony Beckley, who has coached Ellen for many years and has travelled to China with her in the past for a British swimming camp, said he was overjoyed that she had done so well.

He explained: "This will act as a great boast for other swimmers in the club as it makes them realise what's achievable and really it is a wonderful achievement.

"For many years, Ellen has shown real commitment.

"She trains remarkably hard and has so much natural ability and this makes her a fantastic prospect when it comes to Olympic glory."

Beckley has other swimmers from Beckenham still to compete in the high level swimming event at Ponds Forge swimming complex in Sheffield.

To gain an Olympic place, they have to finish in the first two of the final and have achieved the qualifying time in the heats.

The final of the 200m butterfly was a very close race with four British swimmers achieving the time in the heats.

As well as Gandy, the other girls were Jemma Lowe, Jessica Dickons and Hannah Miley and when it came to the final, they were fighting for just two Olympic places.

Lowe had a superb start and was clearly ahead after the first length, although Gandy came back over the second 50m and swam her best on the final length to finish second.

A new British record was set by Lowe, who won the race in 2mins 07.61secs, 0.08secs ahead of Gandy.

The result ensures both girls qualified for Beijing.

This success follows hard on the heels of wider success for Beckenham as younger swimmers performed very well in the recent county championships.

Between them they won 130 golds, 93 silvers and 75 bronzes as well as countless fourth, fifth and sixth place medals.

In last year's championships, Beckenham brought home 106 golds, 72 silvers and 78 bronze medals.

Among the top medal winners were Leah Casey, who won 15 golds and broke six county records, her brother Danny with six golds and Michael Gunning with seven golds.

Danny and Gunning also won a fistful of silvers and bronzes, despite fierce competition.