TYLDESLEY’S Robyn Nicholls will be competing in this summer’s Olympic Games.

The 23-year-old goalkeeper’s selection in the Team GB women’s water polo team was confirmed this week.

Nicholls, a member of Tyldesley Swimming and Water Polo Club, plays for City of Manchester and has been in the senior international squad since 2006 with the aim of competing at London 2012.

She will be making history as a member of the first GB women’s team to compete in an Olympic Games.

The Bolton-born 18-year-old started playing the sport at the age of 12 with the Tyldesley club, where she was coached by Eric Harrison.

She has progressed through the international levels, represented her country in junior, youth and under 20s championships.

Highlights of the Manchester Metropolitan University student’s international career so far include a gold medal in the European B Nations Trophy, a bronze medal in the Four Nation International Invitational as well as a seventh-place finish in the World University Games in China.

With Manchester, Nicholls won the British Championships in 2009 and 2010 before spending the 2010/11 campaign gaining experience with the GB team competing in the Hungarian National League.

Until the age of 16, the former Fred Longworth High School pupil was a keen swimmer, runner, triathlete, hockey and badminton player but selection for the British senior team, joining the high performance squad at Manchester Aquatics Centre, grabbed her full-time attention.

And she has already proven to be an inspiration to other women in the area.

Nicholls said: “I developed my interest in water polo because my brother Luke, who is four years older than me, used to play.

“I watched him play when I was eight or nine and decided I wanted to have a go myself.

“When I started I was the only female playing in Tyldesley and I think that got everything going because they’ve got a women’s team now.

“I was allowed to play in the male team until I was 16 and then it was not allowed any more, so I had to move on to Manchester.”