TOM Hamer already has one gold medal in the bag at the British Para-Swimming International Meet and now he wants another!

The East Lancashire ace kicked off the opening day in style with a new European record in the Men’s S14 100m Freestyle.

Hamer, who trains at the British Para-Swimming National Performance Centre in Manchester, posted a time of 53.53 and lowered his own continental record.

The Rawtenstall swimmer will be back in the pool on Monday to defend his 200m title, a discipline where he is the world record holder.

Speaking before the event he said: "I love the meet at Sheffield – it was where I broke my first World Record.

“And with this being a World Series event you get to race against a lot of amazing swimmers from more countries.

“My goal is definitely to retain my title here though. I go into every meet wanting to improve my PB, but with that being the world record I don’t want to go into every race thinking I could break that!”

The 19-year-old set that world record in Gold Coast when racing to Commonwealth Games gold and was presented with his medal by Prince Charles.

Hamer, who is also targeting the European Championships in Dublin in August, added: “The Commonwealth Games will always mean a lot to me – it was my first international competition when I was 15.

“But since Glasgow, I’ve grown up a lot. I’m more experienced and a better and stronger athlete.

“It was such an honour to be given my medal by Prince Charles. One day he will be the King and he was just there chatting to me, which was a really special moment.

“He said it was a good race and asked me where I was from, so I told him Burnley and he told me that he knew it well!”