WARRINGTON'S Kathleen Dawson looks set for her first Olympic Games.

The 23-year-old former Great Sankey High School student excelled in the British Swimming Selection Trials which ended at the weekend, making her a hot prospect for the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

Dawson, who started out with Warriors of Warrington Swimming Club, achieved qualifying times on her way to gold medals in two backstroke events at the London Aquatics Centre.

And she is likely to be joined in Japan by James Guy, another top swimmer with Warrington connections following his impressive trials too.

But while Guy has medal-winning history from the Rio Games in 2016, Dawson is on the verge of realising her dream as all potential Team GB swimmers now wait for official validation and selection.

She has come a long way since learning to swim through Warrington Borough Council lessons at the Great Sankey pool.

University of Stirling’s Dawson ripped in with a cracking 58.24secs to win the 100m backstroke final in the London trials.

It was the fastest time of her career and a new Scottish record, just 0.12 outside of the British national record in globally becoming the eighth fastest performer of this event in all time.

And she backed it up with another impressive performance in sealing gold in the 200m backstroke final.

Her 2mins 08.14secs improved the Scottish record she owned by a second and was inside the Olympic selection cut.

It was also the eighth fastest time for this event in the world this season.

Dawson has been achieving international accolades since silver medal success at the 2013 European Junior Championships, moving on to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2018, and Great Britain in the 2016 and 2018 European Championships and 2017 World Championships.

Meanwhile, Bath National Centre swimmer Guy, 25, who lived in Warrington during his childhood and attended Newman High School, achieved the first of his Olympic qualifying times in winning the men's 200m butterfly final in a personal best 1mins 55.20secs that ranks him Britain's all-time second best in this event and the fifth fastest in the world this season.

He hit the mark in winning the 200m fly final, too, as well as in his fourth-place finish in the 200m freestyle final.