Young gymnast Rachel Collinson of Shildon is being primed to take part in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

A member of the South Durham Gym Club, the 16-year-old is amongst 12 talented gymnasts from around the country who have been hand-picked to be groomed for Olympic action in two years time.

She must now visit Lilleshall in Shropshire once a week for the next two years where she will receive supervision and training from national coaches alongside the other 11 gymnasts as they work towards 2004.

Coaches from her club, Nicola Preston and Rachel Wright, will also assist Rachel in attempting to fulfill her dream but the pressure is on as only seven will be chosen for the Olympic Games.

Nicola, coach at South Durham Gym Club who are based in Spennymoor, is enormously proud of Rachel who has been with the club since she was just seven and has blossomed into their leading member.

"She's now the most senior gymnast in the club and it's been great to see her progress all this way," said Nicola of Rachel who was fifth in the senior British Championships which were held in Guilford last July.

"There's been lots of stories on her in Local Heroes in the past few years but this is the ultimate achievement for her so far.

"She's been with us since she was seven and she's been with the national squad for a while now so we always hoped she would get to this level but this has been beyond our wildest dreams.

"With us being so young it's a first for the club. We're competing against clubs who have been established a lot longer and that makes the achievement of one our first gymnastics even more amazing."

Although being in the final 12 is a huge achievement, Nicola admits that the protg now faces some tough work.

She explained: "She's now going to go through two gruelling years, she's got to keep fit during that time and, of course, it's possible other gymnastics could come through in that time.

"I think a final seven will be picked to got to the Olympics so the pressure is going to be on her and us to keep her ahead of the rest. The next two years are going to be the hardest of her life."

* South Durham Gym Club hold gymnastics classes for all ages and abilities. Phone Nicola Preston on (01388) 816180 or (01388) 811877