A SWIMMER from Chipping Sodbury is on course to reach the London Olympics in 2012.

Former Southwold swimming club member Rich Webb is ranked number two in Great Britain at the 200metre breaststroke and missed out on qualifying for the Beijing Games two years ago by the narrow margin of 0.03 seconds.

The 22-year-old broke the English Senior 200m breaststroke record of double Olympic medallist Nick Gillingham which stood since 1992 last March to qualify for the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, his first major international competition.

He finished 21st in the Italy showpiece and has also represented Great Britain at the European short course championships, competing in the 100m and 200m breaststroke while representing Great Britain for the first time in Debrecen, Hungary, in 2007, and finishing 16th in the 200m in Rijeka, Croatia, in 2007.

Webb will race in the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the National Swimming Championships in Sheffield next month with the aim of reaching European Long Course Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, this October.

He needs to finish in the top two to reach the European Championships and be the fastest Englishman to reach the Commonwealth Games, although up to three can go through if they finish under the selection time.

In the long-term however, Webb has London 2012 firmly in his sights and is confident of getting there.

“If everything goes to plan, I’ll be there in 2012,” he said.

“In Beijing the age of the medallists for my event was around 25 or 26 so in 2012 I’ll be at my peak performing age.

“It is the ultimate goal, everything is geared towards that but it’s about putting hard work in now.

“I believe I have what it takes, not only to make the team, but also to make an impact.

“I have improved year on year for the past five years and I’m looking to continue this improvement in the future.”

The former Chipping Sodbury School pupil is now living and training at Bath after he got a first class BSc (Hons) in Sports Performance at the University of Bath.

Like most other Olympic hopefuls, Webb relies on sponsorship to support his training.

He has just started part-time work as an office assistant at Gemsec but he looks to spend around 20 hours a week in the pool and is looking for extra sponsorship to help realise his Olympic ambitions.

“If I had more financial support I would have more time and energy dedicated to swimming,” he said.

“It can only be a good thing if it’s my only focus so I’m not pulling myself in too many directions to detract from my performances.

“I’m not against working but trying to fit it around my training schedule can make it quite hard.”

Webb will be launching his personal website within the next few weeks where people can follow my progress and results on the road to 2012.

The address will be www.rwswimming.co.uk