European Champions Freya Anderson Maisie Summers-Newton have been shortlisted for the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year award.
Summers-Newton has had a truly breakthrough season in 2018 that saw her claim four medals at the World Para Swimming European Championships in Dublin, three of them gold.
Commenting on her shortlisting, the Northampton-based para-swimmer said, “To be considered means so much to me, having previously seen so many inspirational and successful athletes win this award it’s quite a surreal feeling to be shortlisted.
“2018 has been such an amazing year for me and it was great to see all my hard work pay off and I can’t wait to see what next season brings!”
British Para-Swimming National Performance Director Chris Furber added, “We are delighted for Maisie who has had a fantastic season.
“She has a very mature approach to everything and continues to develop, learning race by race. The shortlisting is also testimony to the partnership she has with her coach Jacquie Marshall and the great work they do.”
Anderson, who in recent years has demonstrated her ability and class on the junior international stage, transitioned to senior British Swimmer at his summer Glasgow 2018 European Championships winning four medals including two continental titles.
Bill Furniss, British Swimming’s Head Coach said, “Freya has been a really successful junior for Great Britain and demonstrated her world-class ability. She then attended her first senior meet in 2017 but the real breakthrough came at this year’s European Championships in Glasgow.
“She made a huge contribution to the team's overall performance featuring in two gold medal-winning relays, in which she swam considerably faster than her lifetime bests.
“It’s fantastic that Freya’s sporting success this season has been recognised by the BBC in this way.”
View the full shortlist here