SWIMMER Jay Lelliott has been selected to represent Great Britain at the World University Games in Chinese Taipei in late August.

The 22-year-old, who will defend his 400m freestyle title and compete in the 800m and 1500m freestyle, will be one of almost 10,000 participants from over 170 countries.

Portland ace Lelliott is awarded his second selection for the Games, having also won silver in the 800m freestyle in 2015 to go with his 400m gold in Gwangju.

Held biennially, the World University Games (WUGs) sees athletes compete in the second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympics and Lelliott is excited about what the Games have to offer.

He said: “It gives you experience of different cultures and different areas of the world that I would never normally get the chance to do if I wasn’t an athlete.

“I’m absolutely over the moon about being selected again, it means the world to me.

“The aim going into the competition again is to defend my title, do the best I can and try and get some personal bests out of it.”

Lelliott says he owes much to his parents for his success, but revealed his dad will not be present in Taipei.

He said: “He comes to nearly every single one of my domestic competitions but he’s got to work. He’s at the point where he’s come to so many competitions this year, he’s running out of holiday leave!”

But there will only be one thing on Lelliott’s mind as he looks to recreate the success he enjoyed at the last Games.

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“I can’t really describe the feeling of competing for your country, I’ll never forget at WUGs in 2015 when I got that gold in the 400m freestyle,” he added.

“I’ll never forget standing on the podium and hearing the anthem, it was just weird, there’s nothing quite like hearing an anthem when you’re stood on the podium.”

n British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national governing body for Higher Education (HE) sport in the UK, organising leagues and competitions for more than 150 institutions across 52 different sports. Over 110 athletes will represent the GB team at the 29th FISU Summer World University Games 2017 from 19-30 August.