AIMEE WILLMOTT is looking forward to her third appearance at the Commonwealth Games after she was included in the final raft of selections for the English swimming squad that will compete on Australia’s Gold Coast in April.

Willmott won two silver medals at the last Commonwealths in Glasgow in 2014, and will hope to add to her haul after cementing her place in the English team.

The Teessider missed out on the first round of squad selections, but confirmed her wellbeing with a series of impressive displays at the recent Swim England National Winter Championships.

Willmott triumphed in both the 400m Individual Medley and 200m IM, with both of her winning times falling inside the selection criteria.

She could compete in both medley events at the Commonwealths, and could also line up in the 200m butterfly, having won a silver in the discipline in Glasgow.

“My first memories of senior swimming were at the Commonwealth Games,” said Willmott, who is now based at one of British Swimming’s high-performance centres at the University of Stirling. “I swam at Delhi (in 2010) and I was one of the youngest on the team and this time around I’ll be one of the oldest on the team.

“It’s a great environment for more swimmers from England to make the team and get that experience – that’s one of the great things about the Commonwealths.”

Willmott is likely to find herself lining up against Hannah Miley in her preferred event, the 400m IM, with her British team-mate set to represent Scotland.

Like Willmott, York’s James Wilby was also named in the second batch of swimmers confirmed on the English team.

Breaststroke specialist Wilby was part of the English quartet that took the 4x100m medley relay title at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow four years ago, and will be looking to help the team defend their title when this year’s Games get underway on April 4.

“The Commonwealth Games is always an enjoyable experience,” said Wilby, who was a member of York City Baths Club before moving to Loughborough. “Glasgow 2014 was the first international meet that I ever competed in, and it’s always good because it’s known as the friendly games. It’s good to get some experience and race against some great guys.”

Wilby sealed his selection by winning a hat-trick of gold medals at the National Winter Championships in Sheffield last month, triumphing in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke.

He was the only competitor to clock a sub-minute time in the 100m breaststroke - and only the fourth Briton ever to do so – posting a time of 59.95secs in the final.

England will take a 39-strong squad to the pool at the Gold Coast Games, with the likes of Adam Peaty, James Guy, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and Molly Renshaw already having been confirmed in the first batch of selections.

“The announcement completes our team for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and we’ve got a blend of experienced athletes and some new younger swimmers in our team,” said team leader Grant Robins. “This is what the selection policy was designed to achieve.

“We had a great National Winter Championships in Sheffield last month, and it’s looking good for the Gold Coast.

“Hopefully, by the end of the six days of competition in Australia this April we will have a few medals in the bag, personal best times achieved and lots of great experiences gained ready for the road ahead.”

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RIPON diver Jack Laugher will attempt to secure his Commonwealth Games place when he competes in this month’s British Diving Championships in Plymouth.

Laugher has been confirmed for the National Championships, which are doubling up as the Commonwealth Games trials, with the action due to take place between January 26-28.

The 22-year-old was one of the stars of the last Commonwealth Games, which saw the diving events take place in Edinburgh, winning two gold medals and a silver in 2014.

He won a gold and silver at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and will continue to team up with Chris Mears in the 3m synchronised springboard as well as competing in individual springboard events.

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NORTH-EAST athletes Laura Weightman and Marc Scott were the big winners at the Ribble Valley 10k, one of the leading events on the Northern winter calendar.

Weightman enjoyed a stellar 2017 that saw her finish sixth in the 1,500m final at the World Championships in London’s Olympic Stadium, and will be targeting ever more success in a 2018 campaign that is likely to take in the Commonwealth Games in Australia and European Championships in Berlin.

The Morpeth Harrier was making her 10k debut in the Ribble Valley race, and triumphed with a fair to spare.

Her winning time of 32:31mins puts her in second position in the British ‘Power of 10’ rankings, and enabled her to beat runner-up Beth Potter by almost half-a-minute.

In the men’s race, Northallerton’s Scott defended the title he won 12 months earlier as he maintained the strong form he had been displaying throughout last season.

Scott will also be hoping to make the British team for April’s Commonwealth Games in his preferred event, the 5,000m.

He made a late surge to win over 10k in the Ribble Valley, breaking the tape in a time of 29:37mins as he finished 20 seconds clear of triathlete Jonny Brownlee, with Richard Horton a further two seconds back in third.

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BIRTLEY duo Calum French and Pat McCormack were both winners at GB Boxing’s inaugural Annual Awards Dinner, held at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

French was the joint winner of the Most Improved Boxer award, along with team-mate Ben Whittaker, with the two winners being selected by the British coaching team, based on their performances throughout the whole of 2017.

McCormack won the Best Bout of the Year award for his victory over Uzbekistan’s Shakhram Giyasov in the quarter-finals of the World Championships.

The Birtley club mates are both due to fight as part of the British Lionhearts team that will take on the Croatian Knights at Gateshead Leisure Centre on Friday, February 16.