TEENAGE swimming ace Rebecca Redfern has capped a remarkable year with a top honour at the West Midlands Community Sports Awards.

Redfern scooped the Aspiring Talent honour in a prestigious ceremony at Aston Villa’s Villa Park ground hosted by BBC Midlands duo Nick Owen and Mary Rhodes.

It has been a memorable 2016 for Redfern, who won a silver medal for Great Britain at the Paralympic Games in Rio, Brazil.

She was also recognised as the junior female sportsperson of the year at the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Awards.

The annual West Midlands Community Sports Awards are run by six County Sports Partnerships across the region in association with The University of Birmingham 360 Sport & Fitness.

He proud dad, Steve Redfern, said: “It has been an incredible year.

“When we think back to April when she made the Rio consideration time and broke the world record – we didn’t really appreciate what that would be the start of.

“A silver from Rio was awesome, but the recognition from the local community in the aftermath has been brilliant.

“Rebecca won the young female sportsperson of the year at the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sport Awards, followed by the Aspiring Talent award at the West Midlands Sports Awards.

“She was asked to switch on the Droitwich Christmas Lights and to open the new swimming pool at Perdiswell. It’s been an absolute whirlwind.”

In just two-and-a-half years Redfern, the Worcester Swimming Club member has excelled from no county qualifying times to become a Paralympic medallist.

She claimed her Paralympic silver medal in the 100m breaststroke SB13 category, clocking one minute 13.81 seconds.

Despite knocking two seconds off her personal best, Redfern, from Droitwich Spa, was beaten to gold by Uzbekistan’s 17-year-old Fotimakhon Amilova in 1.12.45.

Redfern, who has a visual impairment, had previously shone at the Team GB trials and taken her GCSEs during the summer at Droitwich Spa High School.