TEENAGE Dunfermline swimmer Emma Russell hopes to make a British splash after picking up a magnificent seven gold medals at the Scottish Summer Meet.

And the 13-year-old Woodmill High School pupil’s achievement has been made even more spectacular after her proud dad, Stuart, revealed that she only took up the sport three-and-a-half years ago.

Emma, who last month teamed up with Carnegie Swimming Club members Ellie Turner, Morven Lister and Rebecca Braid to win the S1/2 200 metres freestyle and medley events for her school at the Scottish Schools Relays Championships, will travel to the British Summer Championships, which begins today, on the back of stunning success at the Scottish meet in Edinburgh.

She picked up seven race wins in the girls’ 14 years age group, racing to gold in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley and the 100m butterfly.

In addition, the Heart of Midlothian Amateur Swim Club member picked up six PB times and, after swimming the required four qualification times for the Scottish National Junior Gold Squad at the Scottish National Open Championships in Aberdeen just a week previously, she’s hoping to be accepted when it is announced next month.

Stuart said: “She did really well and exceeded expectations. We expected her to do well because she was seeded high in most events but she’s still fairly young and new to swimming, so she was pretty happy. This will be her first time competing at the British and she’s going with a few of her team-mates, so she’ll be in good company. It’s a long meet and she’s got a couple of individual swims (200m freestyle and 50m butterfly) and the relays (4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m relay). She’s in a good relay team; they’ve already broken junior club records and a national record this year.

“She always works really hard so I’m not surprised with how well she’s done but I am surprised with how much she’s taken to swimming. She’s grasped it and moved from very raw talent to raw talent.

“She loves to compete and does 14 hours training a week, with two 5.30am starts! If you don’t love it then it’s a struggle but so far she’s really enjoying it and she’s just trying to do her best and try to get better.”