YORK City Baths Club swimmer James Wilby is aiming to step up his swimming career with a switch to the Loughborough Intensive Training Centre in September.

The 19-year-old, from Strensall, has accepted a place at Loughborough University and pledged to put “no limit” on his ambitions in the pool.

Wilby took a year out of education to concentrate on the sport and the decision appears to have paid off, with the breaststroke specialist clocking new personal best times in the 50 metres, 100m and 200m.

The teenager lowered all three times at the British Gas International Meet in Leeds in March, and then made further improvements in the 50m and 200m at the British Gas Championships in Sheffield last week.

He clocked 29.61 seconds in the 50m at Ponds Forge to be ranked 24th overall before narrowly missing out on the final of the 200m when he finished ninth overall in a PB time of two minutes 15.72 seconds.

Wilby said: “The aim was to get PBs and get close to a final, so I was really happy with the results.

“I was happiest with the 200m, getting an improvement in my time and a top ten placing.

“I was a little disappointed with the 100m because I messed up one part and it had an impact on the whole race.”

Before heading to Loughborough, Wilby will sign off this season with the British Gas ASA Championships at Ponds Forge from July 24 to 28.

“I will be looking for marginal gains and after the way the 100 went last week I am going to focus mainly on that,” he said.

Wilby is looking to use his time at Loughborough as a springboard to the major championships as he enters the peak years of his swimming career.

“I don’t want to put any limits on how far I can go,” he said.

“The ITC is funded by British Swimming and everything will be structured, so I can focus on perfecting things and making the big competitions that are on the BBC.

“Personally, I would say swimmers peak at about 22 or 23.

“If you look at the Olympic finals, the average age is early to mid-20s, so there is more improvement to come.”