IAN POWELL has been awarded a scholarship at Florida State University. The Island Games gold medallist and Millfield student was back competing in Guernsey this weekend at the NRG Beau Sejour Barracudas Open Meet and he was delighted to reveal the unexpected development in his career.

‘It came after my performances at the Olympic trials where a coach from Florida spotted me,’ said Powell.

‘He said ﾓif you want to come here, we can give you a 100% [free] scholarshipﾔ.

‘The coach [Neil Harper] is a British guy who already had one of his swimmers at the trials and he is also ex-Millfield.’

Powell admitted that the offer came as a shock.

‘It was totally out of the blue. I thought I was going to go to Loughborough and suddenly this came up,’ he said.

Powell departs for Florida State, which is based in Tallahassee, in late August and his course will last four years.

For the first one he will study several subjects before deciding his major later on in his stay in the USA.

And, of course, the move will bring his swimming on even further.

‘They have a brilliant programme up there. They have an indoor and an outdoor 50m pool, a three-tier weight room; it should be a great experience.’

Before crossing the Atlantic, though, Powell has the little matter of his A-levels with which to contend. At Millfield he is studying business studies, PE and history and is currently revising hard for his exams.

The days are hectic, with a two-hour training session from six until eight o’clock before breakfast and then lessons.

In his lunch break, he does line-training and then at 4pm there is another two-hour pool session. Then there is the matter of homework before he finally gets to relax.

But Powell has enjoyed his time at Millfield.

‘It was great last year and I swam well at the end of the year. This year was not as great but it was laying foundations for next year. This year is all about A-levels for me,’ he said.

It showed in his performances over the weekend.

While Powell still managed to beat his rivals on most occasions, his times were not up to last year’s standards. Not that he was overly-worried, though.

‘It is a nice break to come back and see family and friends here. It has been quite a hard few weeks and I am feeling it today. I am not swimming that well,’ he said.

But others were impressive, especially Gail Strobridge, who broke several records, including the 100m breaststroke mark that has been held by Helen Watts since 1994.

Meet report to follow