THE people of Richmond will be cheering on two of their own when the greatest sporting show of them all gets underway next month.

Both swimmer Nicola Jackson (pictured left) and rower Alison Mowbray are preparing to take on the world's best after being selected to represent Great Britain in the Olympic Games in Sydney.

Already a vital part of Britain's world record-breaking 4x200m freestyle team, 16-year-old Nicola will get her first taste of Olympic competition.

A member of County Durham's Derwentside Amateur Swimming Club, her gruelling training regime in recent years has finally paid off.

The Richmond School pupil said: "I've been training eight times a week for two hours at a time for this.

"It's been quite hard not seeing my friends as much because I've been training all the time, but now I'm starting to go places I can see that all the hard work is beginning to pay off."

She booked her place at Sydney after recording one of the top four times in trials at Sheffield recently.

Nicola has an impressive record in the pool, being part of the British team that broke the 4x200m world record at Athens in March.

David McNulty, head coach for the Derwentside club, said: "I remember I sat down with Nicola two years ago and told her that if she wanted to get to the Sydney Olympics she could make it.

"She'll use these games for experience for the next Olympics in 2004 when she'll be 20."

Nicola jets out to the Great Britain Olympic village on Australia's Gold Coast on August 17. She'll have time to settle in and train hard before her first competition in September.

Alison (pictured right), a former Richmond School pupil whose parents Martin and Margaret still live in the town, will compete in the womens single sculls after earning selection through a qualification regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.

She has been eagerly looking forward to going to Australia after finishing second at the regatta, in which 12 countries were entered.

The 29-year-old, who has rowed in two World Championships and finished 11th in the single sculls last year, said: "I never really dared to hope I would go, but I was pleased with the way I raced in Lucerne.

"I knew if I did things right, I should qualify, but there are no second chances. I had beaten some of the other rowers, but there were some I hadn't raced before."

Alison, who now lives in Henley-on-Thames, can devote all her time to rowing and training thanks to a sports grant from the National Lottery Fund.

She first took up the sport ten years ago while studying at Liverpool University, before going on to Cambridge University, where she rowed in the womens Boat Race. She broke into the senior British team two years ago.

Alison told the D&S Times: "My dream is to make it into the final, which is a six-lane race.

"That would be brilliant, but it would be great if I could get into the top ten.