Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi students were visited by Tom Haffield, former Olympic and Commonwealth Games swimmer.

Tom Haffield, an athlete mentor from the ‘Sky Sports: Living for Sport’ initiative, visited the school on January 23 to work with groups of pupils as part of the ‘Us-Girls’ project.

He was a professional swimmer and competed at the Beijing Olympic Games as well as the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and Glasgow.

The purpose of this years’ project is for those girls who have been selected to be part of the ‘Us-Girls’ panel to inspire others girls, who are less likely to take part in extra-curricular sport.

The panel aim to achieve this through providing taster sessions for different sports or activities in the hope that the girls find one they like and want to continue with.

Tom visited Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi to work with different groups of pupils and to share his story about how he competed in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

During the morning Tom met with the ‘Us-Girls’ panel to discuss how they were hoping to encourage more girls to take part in sport.

The first pupils to enjoy a session with Tom were a group of year 7 pupils who worked on team work and communication skills.

Tom then met with group of sixth form pupils studying BTEC Sport to discuss his career as professional swimmer and what it took for him to be able to compete at the highest level in his sport.

Nia Jones, the schools’ 5x60 officer, said: “It was a privilege to have Tom visit the school this morning and to share his experiences of swimming at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games with the pupils; it was inspiring for the pupils to hear about some of the hurdles he faced but how he never gave up.

"The pupils are already looking forward to welcoming Tom back to the school and for Tom to see how the ‘Us-Girls’ panel are getting along in their quest to get more girls, more active.”