'Old hand Luke' Greenbank targets solo Games gold

Luke Greenbank must be considered as one of the veterans of England's Commonwealth Games swim team at the age of 28.

Glasgow will see the Cockermouth swimmer clock up double figures in major events with an impressive medal haul to go with it: golds at Commonwealth, World and European level, plus silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

But crucially those all came as part of a relay team. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but Greenbank would love to be stood on his own at the top of the podium after his favourite event, the 200m backstroke, while he is also competing in the 200m butterfly.

"Some of my best experiences in swimming have been at the Commonwealth Games," he told BBC Look North.

"Swimming in front of a home crowd in Birmingham or in front of a 10,000 Aussie crowd on the Gold Coast, I really cherish those memories.

"But I've never come away with an individual medal. So for me to go there and perform at my best and come away with some silverware would be a dream come true."

Greenbank claimed a silver as part of the 4x100m medley team in 2018 before winning that relay in Birmingham four years ago, but he is targeting a personal best of under 1.54:40 - set in 2021 - as he prepares to take on England team-mate Oliver Morgan, nearly six years his junior.

While Morgan prefers the 100m backstroke, Greenbank's specialism is the 200m, which he hopes will give him the edge in the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.

"Ollie and me have been pushing each other," he said. "I'm looking at getting down to my PB or maybe even break that this summer.

"I think I'm in the shape to do it, training's been going really well and I've got the experience of what a major Games is like.

"I'm seeing it as two opportunities to go out and swim as fast as I can and if I have that mentality, hopefully the medals will come to me."

While Greenbank has been doing Cumbria proud for a decade in his senior career, he will have company in Glasgow in para-swimmer Brooklyn Hale.

Only 15, she has emerged at the same Cockermouth pool as Greenbank under the tutelage of coaches Sean Balmer and Eleanor Walsh.

"Brooklyn's going to be a star," he said. "I think she's very quickly going to achieve more than I have in the sport. She's the real deal."

And being tucked away in west Cumbria has been no obstacle to the emergence of international class swimmers, as Greenbank can testify.

"It's got such a good record of producing high-level swimmers for such a small club," he added.

"That's down to the coaches and the environment. Sean and Eleanor have run the club for a number of years now and I owe a lot of my success to them.

"It's such a small club with a small pool and limited pool time but the mantra they instil in the swimmers breeds success."