MALVERN canoe slalom paddler Callie Halliday has been named in the 2012 England senior team.

Halliday, aged 18, will be representing England throughout the year as a senior woman in the C1 category.

She is delighted to make the step up as, although she represented England last year as a junior, this will be her first international competition as a senior and she will be the youngest member of the England C1 team.

The Worcestershire teenager’s training is getting back on track after a forced break of four weeks due to an emergency operation to remove her appendix at the beginning of December.

Halliday is working hard to get back to full fitness before the start of her competitive season in March.

She has a hectic schedule of training and during March.

She will be competing in North Wales, Shepperton, Nottingham White Water Centre, Cardiff White Water Centre and Grandtully in Scotland.

During the rest of the year, she has also been invited to train in Italy with some of the Italian team and will be one of the Olympic Games ‘makers’ at the canoe slalom competition, which is to be held at the newly-built Lee Valley White Water Centre.

She has also been invited to a training camp in Augsburg, Germany, followed by a week’s training in Prague.