An Olympic athlete from Bicester has broken a British record while competing in a national championship.

Kieran Bird, who began swimming with the Bicester Blue Fins when he was nine years old, placed first in the 800-metre freestyle at the Scottish National Short Course Championships.

Oxford Mail: Kieran BirdKieran Bird

The record-breaking swimmer finished in 7:36:26, beating the existing record set in 2009.

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Mr Bird’s mum, Mandy Bird, said: “I’m very, very proud of him, and I’m so pleased for him. It’s a huge achievement getting a British record.

“We went up to Edinburgh and watched him. It was really nerve wracking, and really exciting, and nice to be there.

“His last major achievement was qualifying for the Olympics and because of Covid we couldn’t attend.

"It was lovely to be in Edinburgh, and the crowd were incredible. Everyone gets excited when there’s a British record. He’s had a really good start to the season.

“The next stage for him is the Olympic trials for Paris, which will take place in London in April. He will continue now for the next four months leading up to that and seeing how he gets on.”

Last year, Mr Bird, an ex-Cooper School pupil, won gold for his role in Great Britain’s 4x200m freestyle success at the European Championships.

The 24-year-old was part of the team to take the mixed title in Rome.

Mr Bird helped his country finish second in the morning heats, with teammates Freya Anderson, Anna Hopkin, Matt Richards and Tom Dean securing gold ahead of France in the final.

The swimmer was selected for the Tokyo Olympics.

Mr Bird, who lives and trains in Bath, competed for the Team GB squad in the postponed games, which took place in July 2020.

It came after he won the 400m freestyle at the British trials and swam under the consideration time.

Bicester Blue Fins Amateur Swimming Club was established in 1950 and has been based at Bicester Leisure Centre since 1971.

The club now also trains at Stowe school and Brackley Leisure Centre.

Its aim is to: “deliver a comprehensive teaching and training programme to maximise the potential of all swimmers and help them to achieve success at local, county, regional and national levels.

“Programmes are designed by the club’s coaching team and delivered by trained coaching and teaching staff assisted by a team of volunteer helpers who have either been swimmers themselves or who have children who are, or have been swimmers.”

The club is sponsored by Bicester Village, Cyprus in your Heart and Sports Abroad.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1