British Championships: Abbie Wood spurred on by bronze medal

Abbie Wood is part of the World Class Swimming Programme at Loughborough University

Abbie Wood insists there is "more to come" after clinching her first medal at a senior British Championships.

The 17-year-old Derbyshire swimmer took bronze after finishing third in the 400m individual medley behind Rio Olympics-bound Hannah Miley, and Aimee Willmott, who could also be selected.

"Swimming against those girls is a great experience because they're in the world's top 10," she said.

"I was ranked fifth [in Britain] going in, so it shows I'm improving."

Wood's time of four mins 43.07 secs was outside her personal best of 4:41.97, set in her gold medal-winning performance at the inaugural European Games in Baku last year.

But she says her experiences at the Tollcross Centre in Glasgow - which included competing in various other events across the British Championships - will be invaluable as she targets a place at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

"There's room for more improvement on all my strokes," she added.

"This meet has definitely whet my appetite for competing at the top level, and the 400 IM is a very competitive event in Britain.

Wood became the first ever swimming gold medallist at the European Games when she won the 400m individual medley in Baku last year

"It's great to get that first senior medal, but now it's a case of trying to put all the elements of my race together.

"The training programme I'm on now is definitely the hardest I've had and I'm learning all the time."

Wood, from Buxton, has done much of her training in her home county, swimming for the Derventio eXcel club and graduating from the Derbyshire Institute of Sport (DIS) programme.

She now represents Loughborough University, having moved there last summer to join their World Class Swimming Programme, funded by UK Sport.