KIDDERMINSTER’S Amy Smith insisted she was ahead of schedule after booking an early ticket to the Commonwealth Games at the British Gas Swimming Championships.

The 22-year-old picked up the first of three medals at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge on Tuesday, clocking 26.88 seconds to storm to 50m butterfly gold.

Smith then chased home world silver medallist Fran Halsall in the 100m freestyle to claim silver and also guarantee a relay place at both the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

And after bringing the curtain down on her medal-laden campaign with silver in the 50m freestyle, Smith headed home to locate her passport ahead of trips to Budapest and Delhi.

“I hadn’t even thought about the qualification times or anything like that,” said Smith.

“I was just here to swim fast and try and see where I was for the summer and to try and get myself in a position to challenge for places later in the year.

“I really wasn’t expecting it all to come together like it has and it is hopefully looking good for the rest of the year.

“The relay teams are always great to be a part of and I am sure people will be expecting us to do well at the Commonwealths and hopefully we will.”

Smith’s week got off to an inauspicious start after she finished 21st in the heats of the 200m freestyle with her first swim in the Steel City.

But after returning to smash her lifetime best in the semi-finals of the 50m butterfly – stopping the clock at 27.33seconds – the Wyre Forest Swimming Club member never looked back.

“It was a big personal best for me and 27.33seconds was absolutely amazing, especially as I hadn’t been under 28 seconds so far this year,” added Smith.

“I am really pleased with how it went because I wasn't expecting it at all but everything just seemed to work for me.

“The fact that it wasn’t even my main event gave me so much confidence for the rest of the competition.

“Fran swam really well all week so it was always a case of my trying to do as much to stick with her. I could never let up in my races because there is so much depth at the moment.

“It was great to get on the relay team and it was a fantastic championships for me even if a bit unexpected.”

The nation’s leading energy supplier British Gas is the Principal Partner of British Swimming, and have pledged £15m to support the sport at all levels - from paddling pool to podium. For more information visit www.britishgas.co.uk/swimming n Fellow Wyre Forest club members, Claire Cashmore and Fran O’Connor competed in the same event but they are concentrating more on the British International Disability Championships being held in two weeks which will be the trials for the IPC World Disability Championships being held in Eindhoven in August.

Their events were on a multi-disability basis where each swimmer is awarded points according to how close they get to the world record in their classification.

Cashmore, 21, won silver medals in the 100 metre freestyle and 100m butterfly, as well as picking up bronzes in the 50m freestyle and 200m breaststroke and came fourth in the 200m individual medley.

O’Connor, 19, won silver in the 400m freestyle, breaking her own British record by over three seconds as she set a new standard of five minutes and 42.62 seconds. She also came fifth in the 50m freestyle.