YOUR STORY: Rebecca Welke has always followed her dreams and has had Olympic glory firmly in her sights for long time.

Hours and hours spent in the pool at the Glennie Aquatic Centre has paid off for the 2014 Glennie Senior. She has been spotted by a talent scout.

Everyone at The Glennie School knew that Bec would go far.

Each year at the School swimming carnival she hauled away an armful of trophies, winning easily with any stroke.

At the annual Queensland State Short Course competitions, she would bring home a swag of breaststroke medals and a renewed Olympic dream.

A highlight during her school days was the opportunity to represent Queensland at the Australian Swimming Championships in Adelaide in 2013.

Bec was competing against Olympic athletes in open competition to rank 15th in Australia in her favourite 50m breaststroke.

The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) recognised Bec's ability when they offered her an Elite Athlete Bursary which allowed her to balance study with training and competing all in the familiar surroundings of her home town of Toowoomba.

She continued training with her club and coach Mr Lindsay Clyde at the Glennie Aquatic Centre.

In August 2015, Bec was spotted by an American talent scout from the college sport recruitment company, Athlete's Dream. The possibility of reaching her goals became one step closer to reality.

Bec had a lot of decisions to make. After submitting a profile on her goals, swimming times and academic results, Bec talked with various Division 1 and 2 colleges to try and select the one that she felt would be the best fit for her.

The University of Toledo (UT) Ohio was Bec's choice.

USQ will transfer credits for the studies that Bec has completed so far and she will continue to study towards her Degree in Finance in Toledo.

UT has a swim and dive team for women only and Bec will join the team of 25 elite female athletes in August.

She visited the college in January to complete the admissions process and to meet her new coaches and team.

"I was overwhelmed the first time I saw everything there, at times it doesn't feel real that I'm actually going to be competing at a higher level. I would never have believed that I would be packing up everything and moving to America to follow my dream."

Well, everyone at Glennie can believe it!

We wish her the very best and look forward to following her progress in the future

It is a great relief to know that, although Bec is training in the US, she can still come home and compete for Australia.

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