History girl earns GB world call-up
Nikki Miller raises profile of EK club
East Kilbride Amateur Swimming Club’s Nikki Miller has been selected to represent Great Britain at the World Junior Championships in the States this summer.
She is the first swimmer from the club to be selected for a Great Britain National team at world level – another milestone for the club to add to the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games successes of Corrie Scott, Douglas Scott and Meg Finnon in recent years.
Nikki caught the eye of selectors with a series of magnificent swims at the British National Championships in Sheffield in April, winning two Junior finals in the 200m and 400m freestyle, and finishing as the second fastest Junior swimmer in the 800m freestyle and fourth fastest in the 200m butterfly.
And she’s heading to Indianapolis to compete against the best juniors in the world, August 23-28.
Club legend and Commonwealth medallist, Corrie Scott – who achieved a Team Scotland nomination time in the 50m Breaststroke for what could be her third Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia next year – was quick to congratulate Nikki sending her “huge congratulations” on the “amazing job” on Twitter.
Delighted Nikki said: “I’m absolutely ecstatic.
“It was such a fantastic surprise to find out. It’s a real honour to be asked to represent your country.”
Asked what was the key to her achievement Nikki added: “I’m lucky to have the support of my coach Andy Figgins, everyone at the club and some great teammates, but the main thing is consistent training, just putting in the hard work.”
Her selection for Great Britain means she’ll miss out on a chance to swim for Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas later this year, but she’s happy to make the jump to the higher level.
“It’s disappointing not to get to represent Scotland this time round but this is the way the selection process works,” she said.
“I’m glad that some of my other Scottish teammates will get a chance instead.”
For anyone not involved in swimming, it’s very difficult to appreciate just how much effort work goes into an achievement like Nikki’s but, like many of the world-class swimmers she aspires to compete with, it’s clear she believes that success is mostly down to hard work over talent – a view shared by her coach Figgins.
He was keen to highlight what this means for the club as a whole, saying: “I am delighted for Nikki and the club as this shows another step forward for EK Swim Team.
“Hard work and consistent focus is the key to success and Nikki has both of these in abundance.
“We have a squad with an incredible work ethic and hopefully we will see even more success.”