Oakworth swimmer Neil McCallum made a splash in his biggest-ever international competition by bringing home two gold medals.

He and team-mate Ashley Dale, from Sandbeds, were among ten swimmers representing England at the Inter-national Gateway Swimming Competition in Geneva. Ashley has won gold at the Swiss contest in previous years and this year came fourth in two races.

The men are both keen members of Bradford Sport and Recreation Association for People with Disabilities.

Neil, 28, came first in the 25-metre freestyle event in Geneva - taking 18.78 seconds - and first in the 25-metre backstroke, in 23.30 seconds.

He has won 70 medals over the past few years for swimming, athletics and football, but this is his biggest success.

He played soccer for Eng-land in Geneva five years ago and this summer won a silver medal in the pentathlon at the Special Olympics in Cardiff.

Keighley Cougars fan Neil does voluntary work at Cougar Park and is a trainee at Woodville Horticultural Centre.

Ashley, 27, came fourth in the 25-metre freestyle in 25.87 seconds at Geneva and fourth in the 25-metre breaststroke in 24.48 seconds.

He picked up three golds during a previous appearance in the Gateway competition in 1993. He has also competed in the Special Olympics.

Cllr Martin Leathley this week gave a cheque for £300 to Neil and Ashley from Keighley Area Panel's Community Chest.

Cllr Leathley and fellow panel members agreed to give the cash to help pay for the men's trip to Geneva.

He says: "The whole of Keighley can be really proud of them. They're a credit to the town and to the country. This is exactly the kind of thing we want to sponsor."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.