A Wimbledon boy is a swim king after achieving a number one ranking as the fastest nine year old swimmer in the 50 meter freestyle, long course in London, Surrey and the South of East of England.

Max Higgins achieved his rankings at the recent County Qualifiers held in Aldershot. He was one of only three nine year-olds amongst over 300 swimmers from 34 clubs.

Max said: “I was very pleased to win against rivals of 10 to 13 years old as I managed to improve my personal best times in both events by over two seconds.”

The result qualifies Max to swim at the Surrey County Championships to be held in February at the London Aquatic Centre, the site of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Max trains and swims with Kingston Royals and only took up the sport seriously in May 2016. His dad Nick Higgins said: “He learned his impeccable Butterfly by studying videos of Michael Phelps on Youtube.

“ He is very dedicated and determined and in the space of 18 months has accumulated 29 gold, five silver and one bronze medal at his various swim meets. Max being part Spanish, we call him ‘Phelpsito’ at home.”

He added: “Max’s self proclaimed goal is to swim at the 2028 Olympics. My main goal is to help him get there and ensure he enjoys swimming all the time.”