A teenage athlete who made history as Jersey’s first Commonwealth Games medallist in 36 years is delaying finding out his A-level results while competing in France.
Filip Nowacki will not discover his exam performance until he finishes competing for Great Britain at the European Aquatic Championships taking place in Paris.
Widely regarded as one of the standout young prospects in British swimming, the record-breaking teenager is racing in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events.
The 18-year-old, who attends Millfield School in Somerset, completed A-levels in economics, mathematics and physics.
He is set to move on to Loughborough University, joining their Swimming Performance Centre.
“As much as I want to know how I have done and hopefully celebrate with my friends, I don’t want to risk being distracted whilst in this major competition,” he said.
“I know I need to be fully focused so another 24 hours wait I can live with.”
Three weeks ago in Glasgow, he claimed both gold and silver medals to become Jersey’s first Commonwealth Games medallist since 1990.
His triumph in the 200m breaststroke came just days after he claimed a silver medal in the 100m event, finishing ahead of four-time Olympic champion Adam Ramsay-Peaty, who had to settle for bronze.
Nowacki and Ramsay-Peaty went head-to-head again in the 100m at the European Championships earlier this week, with the latter coming out on top in this occasion.
However, both men missed out on a medal, as Ramsay-Peaty finished fifth, while Nowacki was sixth. However, the teenage sensation has still shown in recent weeks that he is a forced to be reckoned with ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, when he could clash with Ramsay-Peaty again.
Nowacki first learned to swim in Jersey at the age of four before joining Millfield School to complete his sixth form education.
“Millfield are really good at helping you balance commitments, so I haven’t had to drop any training sessions like a lot of my peers in club programmes,” he said.
“I’ve done eight sessions a week consistently throughout the exam period and not compromised my studies with the support of my teachers.”