THERE is no reward without sacrifice, at least not in sport.

Living proof of that is swimmer Laura Stephens.

Laura, who is 19, has been selected to compete for Team England in Gold Coast, Australia, this spring.

It is her first Commonwealth Games and she is looking forward to it enthusiastically.

The former Colchester County High School for Girls student swam a lifetime best to qualify for the team.

It was a gratifying achievement after years of dedicated training.

The road to the games has been long and arduous and Laura puts her achievement down to the sacrifices she has made over the years.

She said: “Swimming is definitely a sport where commitment is really big, so, yes, I’ve had to make sacrifices along the way.

“Training never really stops and getting up at 5am is never easy.

“The biggest sacrifice I’ve made is moving away from home at 14.

“We decided that Plymouth would be the best place to take my training to the next level so I moved there from Colchester when I was 14.

“It was tough, moving away from my family and friends and having to go to boarding school.

“But these sacrifices have been made worth it now that I’ve been selected for Team England.”

Laura, whose family live in Wix, trains with the famous Plymouth Leander Swimming Club.

She has had a great season with them which has culminated in her making it on to Team England.

She admits it hasn’t always been easy and her performances plateaued last season.

She said: “Last year we had a change of coaches at Plymouth and I had a really tough season.

“I was in the pool all the time, training, but we just weren’t seeing any improvement.

“Getting the balance right between school and swimming was challenging, as I was doing my A-levels at the same time as committing myself to training.”

Now her future looks bright.

The Commonwealth Games will take place in Gold Coast, Australia, from April 4 to April 15.

Laura’s preparations are well under way although she doesn’t have the funding she used to.

She has been hit by cuts to funding which have hit athletes in a range of sports.

She has gone from receiving enough money to fund her coaching, equipment and competition fees, to having no funding at all.

Laura said: “I primarily need the funding for competition and training fees and equipment.

For example, a race suit swimming costume can cost £300 to £400 and they don’t last very long.

“At the moment, I’d be grateful of absolutely any donation. When I had funding from British Swimming it was around £9,000 per year and that covered everything but I don’t have any funding at all now.”

The young swimming starlet says her parents take the brunt of the financial burden.

“It’s fallen on my parents really now that I don’t have that funding. They’re paying for everything, like my training costs. It’s all down to them so I owe them a lot.

“Hopefully I can make it all worth it at the Commonwealth Games as it would be really nice to give something back to them.”

When she has the time to come back home, Laura always drops back in to Colchester Swimming Club, where she spent a number of years as a youngster.

She said: “I’d like to thank Colchester Swimming Club for always supporting me. Whenever I come home, they always let me come in and it’s nice to go back and see everyone and to help the younger swimmers. Everyone is so supportive of me and I’m so grateful.”