A SPORTING heroine from Lincolnshire wowed pupils with her shining new medals on a school visit.

Fresh from bagging a silver and two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games swimmer Kate Haywood visited Bassingham Primary School.

The prizes came despite her sustaining a hip injury that meant she could only begin training in January.

In a special assembly, children asked her questions about which competition she will take on next – the World Championships in Shanghai – and how many times she has competed in the Commonwealth Games, which now totals three.

The former Lincoln Vulcans swimmer was born in Grimsby and has lived in Louth, Brant Broughton and Hykeham.

Kate now lives in Loughborough, where she has access to top facilities and trains alongside the likes of Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington.

Kate, 23, said: "It's really nice to come and hopefully inspire the children.

"They maybe watched the games on television and now think maybe 'I could be like that one day'.

"They might now join a swimming club and go on to do more."

Headteacher Ian Howells said the school was keen on sport and that pupils have shown sporting prowess.

He said: "We're a school that loves sport and we encourage participation for children of all abilities.

"The children were following Kate while she was in Delhi, so they know all about her.

"It's hard in Lincolnshire because children who want to swim have to do it within the limitations of opening times at local pools. We have had a lot of children join the Vulcans, though."

Maddy Jackson, 11, said: "The assembly was really good. I really enjoyed seeing her medals."

Sam Bartle, 9, said: "I enjoyed every bit of the assembly.

"I love swimming. Maybe someday I will get some medals too."

Miss Haywood's next adventure is to move to Australia for a couple of years and train with Olympic gold medallist Leisel Jones.

She said: "I'm having a break for a couple of weeks and then I'm going out to Australia. It's something different and I'm going to be swimming with the best breaststroke swimmer in the world.

"It's really about fine-tuning and the facilities out there are fantastic. That's the difference between here and Australia.

"The facilities for swimming generally in this country are not that great. That's why I moved to Loughborough."