A YOUNG Wirral rower's dream of becoming part of the Great Britain 2014 rowing team has moved a step closer to reality after she was ranked 30th in the first round of national selection assessments.

Maj Inge Saccheri, 16 a student at West Kirby Grammar, put in a very good set of performances during the competition in Boston, Lincolnshire.

Considering she has only been rowing for 18 months, her coach Matthew Hackett regards this as a very promising result.

"She will in all probability be capable of making more rapid progress than anyone else in that group, considering her youth and relative inexperience.

"She has a great attitude to the various challenges of this sport, and is a fine competitor. She held her nerve and her focus so well.

"This spirit was clear when faced with this barrage of tests with no previous experience at this level, surrounded by much more experienced older athletes.

"To come away with that record of strong performances she produced revealed much of the potential yet to be seen”.

Her home club, Liverpool Victoria Rowing Club are proud and pleased that she has emerged as representative of all the hard work done in training by their large squad of junior boys and girls who train hard all year around to achieve local and regional success.

National and international goals are the next step for the club, and Inge Maj is their first athlete yet to strive through this selection series of tests.