Teen Tully Kearney jets to Thailand and is selected for Euros team

Kearney, from Aldridge, will compete in the contest which takes places in in Funchal, Madeira, from April 27 to May 8.

The news comes after the 18-year-old flew out for warm weather training in Thailand at the weekend.

She will spend a month in the Far East as she prepares for this summer's Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Kearney, who narrowly missed out in last month's Young Sports Personality of the Year award, has been joined at the camp by her former schoolmate, Ellie Simmonds, pictured right.

Kearney, who is juggling her studies at Manchester Metropolitan University with her training, enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2015.

During the World Championships she secured four golds winning the 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley, 400m freestyle and the women's 4x100m 34 point medley relay.

She also won a silver and bronze, setting three European records along the way, to return as the most decorated swimmer on the GB Paralympic team.

Gemma Field, of British Swimming, said: "

They have travelled to Thailand to take away the chance of getting common colds and coughs.

"It's a great facility that has everything they need and keeps them from the colder weather."

Kearney, who recently moved to the National Performance Centre in Manchester, competes in S9, SB8 and SM9 classes. She suffers from the developmental co-ordination disorder dyspraxia, which causes muscle weakness.

Team-mate Simmonds, 21, who also attended Walsall's Cooper and Jordan School, is a four-time Paralympic champion and currently has 10 world records to her name.

She shot to fame when she won her first Paralympic medal at the age of 13 years and nine months.

Both are hoping to qualifying for the GB team this year and compete in

the Paralympics in September.