A YOUNG champion swimmer is hoping he can one day make a splash at the Paralympics.

Luke Batty was born with ulnar club hand, a rare condition that has left him with no elbow joint and only two fingers on his right hand.

But after discovering a love of swimming at an early age, he is now the fastest 11-year-old para-swimmer in the country.

Luke, of Evergreen Avenue, Horwich, recently took home six gold medals from the National Para-Swimming Championships in Manchester and is also the nation’s quickest under-14 swimmer in his S9 classification.

His incredible talent was noticed by British Swimming scouts when he was aged just eight and he now has his sights set on the 2024 Paralympics.

Luke’s mum, Becky, said: “He trains four to five times a week and it is a lot of hard work.

“He averages about 4,900m per session.

“Luke absolutely loves it, though, and we are so proud of what he has achieved.

“The 2024 Paralympics is his aim, and I would hope that he is well on track to achieve that ambition. He definitely has the talent to get there.

“There are only nine children in his programme, so he is very lucky to be considered one of an elite few in the country.”

Luke was just three years old when he learned to swim and quickly fell in love with the sport.

He swam a mile for charity at age five, before becoming part of the elite England talent programme when he was nine.

He trains for more than eight hours a week with the Bolton Metro Swimming Squad and is now looking forward to his next major competition, the British Para-swimming International Meet in Sheffield this April.

The talented youngster is a pupil at St James’ High School in Farnworth, where his dad Mick is a teacher, and has two sisters, Jessica, aged 10, and Emma, aged eight.

His mum added: “I think when a child is born with a disability, they don’t really need to adapt.

“He just gets on with everything and it doesn’t really affect his day-to-day life too much.

“There are a few things that he struggles with, like tying his shoelaces or putting on his swimming cap.

“But I think he manages most things with hardly any trouble.”