Halifax swim star sets sights on Olympics after win at world juniors

A 15-year-old swimmer from Halifax has served notice she wants to be among the world's best and is rapidly rising the ranks toward that goal.

Former Halifax Trojans swimmer Jade Hannah won three medals last week at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Indianapolis.

"It kind of feels surreal, you know, it doesn't feel like it actually happened," she said."It just feels like it was all kind of a dream, a really great dream."

Hannah wasn't expecting to win a medal, but then camea bronze in the 100-metre backstroke.

Shefollowed that with the swim of her life as she posteda personal best time to win the gold medal in the 50-metre backstroke.More gold followed when Hannahswam the backstroke leg for Canada inthe 4x100-metre medley relay.

"I was just going for the experience, so to have all that happen was the best feeling," said Hannah, who will be heading into Grade 10 next week. "Just being exposed to everything was a little overwhelming, but it was great to be a part of it all."

Hannah left Halifax for Victoriaone year ago to train at NextGen, a high performance swim club on the West Coast.

Her former coach in Halifax, ChrisStone, said that was a move she had to make to getto the next level.

Stone said Hannah's attitude and work ethic have always been among her strong suits and she's becoming a great role model for other young swimmers in the province.

"She's a great illustration to kids in Nova Scotia that you don't have to be from Toronto, Calgary or Vancouver to be successful," said Stone."You can do it by getting your start here and developing here."

Hannah saidher ultimate goal is to make Canada's swim team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. She's also hoping to be named to Canada's team for the Commonwealth Games next year in Queensland, Australia.