YOUNG swimmer Harry Clark will be hoping Christmas comes early this year with swimming success at the upcoming Welsh Short Course National Championships.

Clark, 17, will travel to Swansea for the two-day national event from December 2, where he will aim to produce the same sparkling form that saw him clean up at his previous competition.

The swimming sensation, who studies at Forest Sports Education, secured six gold medals, three silvers and a bronze at the recent Monmouthshire County Championships in Newport but he will take part in the 50m freestyle and butterfly respectively in Swansea, which are his two favourite disciplines.

He also has a half-eye on competing in the Olympics but the youngster is not getting ahead of himself yet.

“I’m really excited for the challenge of this competition and I’ve been training very hard with my coaches since I qualified,” he said.

“I would love to achieve a first place in my events and hopefully I can make that happen but I know it’ll be tough with a lot of other good swimmers racing against me.

“I think it will make me swim harder and faster so if I can do that I’ll be in with a chance on the day!”

Clark’s love affair with swimming started from an early age when he would find himself in the pool honing his skills alongside his older brother.

Although his focus is firmly set on his upcoming competition, Clark is hoping that he can use it as a springboard for further success in the future.

He added: “If I can finish in first place I will then qualify for the British Championships and then that opens up opportunities to qualify for the European Championships.

“It would be unreal to get through to that stage and if I did I guess I’d have the Olympics in my mind then.”