Ciaran Kelly has enjoyed a busy summer of open water swim-ming, which included the Special Olympics, held at Chichester Water Sports Centre.

The Dove House pupil was the only competitor aged under 16 in the 1,500 metre event.

He won his heat and then finished fourth in the final in a very impres-sive time of 28min 44.20sec, beating a swimmer who repres-ented Britain at the European Champion-ships.

He took gold in his category and it is hoped it is the first of many.

The Special Olympics are aimed at athletes with learning disabilities.

The 15-year-old’s, passion for open water swimming started after he competed in the Brighton round the pier 1.25km race in 2013.

This year, he returned to the same venue and came first in his category in the 2.5km swim, raising more than £200 for Dove Hose in the process.

The teenager trains five days a week with the Basingstoke Blue-fins and also swims regularly at the Tri20 Swim Centre in Reading.

It was there in June that he finished fourth in a 750m Friday night swim.

He has enjoyed success in the pool and was the under-16 Boy of the Meet at a recent Guildford Friday Swim-mers event.

At the British Mencap LD Championships in Cardiff he set three personal best times – in the 100m individual medley, the 100m fly and 50m fly.

He won his heat in the 50m fly before finishing fourth in the final, and came seventh in the final of the other two events.