City of Leeds swimmer Gabe Shepherd ready to share spotlight with Adam Ramsey-Peaty after securing Commonwealth Games ticket

He had known for a couple of weeks that he had earned the call-up to represent his country in Glasgow this summer, a major senior international being a reward for the progress the 18-year-old had made at the City of Leeds Swimming Club.

But he had to sit on that excitement and maintain focus on the bread and butter of getting an education. Finding a balance between studies and a burgeoning swimming career that sees him train 19 hours a week at John Charles Aquatics Centre has not always been easy, but he has found a happy middle ground now that has secured him a ticket to the biggest summer of his life.

“It’s been quite a big goal of mine for some time,” says Shepherd, who as soon as the Commonwealth Games are finished in Glasgow in early August will change into his Great Britain trunks for the European Championships in Paris.

“I’d had a bit of a rocky season last year and I just wanted to do the best I could. I’ve really put my mind to it. I knew it would be hard, the England team is small and is very high-quality team to get into. Even though I doubted myself a bit, I got it done and really excited to compete with some of the guys I’ve looked up to for a while. It means so much to me.”

This time last year, there were a few doubts creeping in for a teenager who came to the sport relatively late, aged eight, in his home town of Harrogate.

“I struggled to make progress last year, I did PBs but I felt like people were swimming faster than me,” he says. “I found the schooling and swimming really hard, particularly last year, it was a lot more stressful, but I’ve learned to manage my time better this second year.

“I think it is possible to focus on both things at once, it’s just finding that balance. I don’t need A-stars to get into the universities I’ve applied for, I can get into them with Bs and Cs, which takes a bit of pressure off.”

A change of coach could also have derailed him. He had just moved up the senior group led by Richard Denigan in Leeds when Denigan took a job at Loughborough. Fortunately, Shepherd quickly hit his stride with Russ Barber, who for a long time had coached down at the City of Sheffield.

And in April at the British Championships in London, Shepherd – who was a world and European junior relay medallist last year – showed he was ready for the biggest senior stages.

“In the 100m freestyle I came fourth, I got about a half a second personal best time,” he remembers.

“I don’t think it was my best swim because I was very nervous with so much riding on it. But once I got that out of the way, and it was announced on the day that I’d made the team for the Europeans, I relaxed for the other swims.

“In the 50m I came third, which put me second Englishman, and then in the 200m I was fifth, three seconds under my personal best.

“That was huge because the 4x200m team in Britain has won a lot of world and Olympic medals, it means a lot to be a part of that team now, even if it’s just a heat swim. Swimming with people like Duncan Scott, Matt Richards and James Guy, I’d learn so much.”

In Glasgow he hopes to swim the 100m and 200m freestyle individual events but will head north prioritising being part of those successful relay squads.

Beyond that Shepherd is keeping his options open. He considered taking up a scholarship at a university in America, but Manchester or Loughborough are his likely destinations. Or he may take a gap year to focus on his swimming in Leeds. Family and familiar environments bring the best out of him.

“I have looked at America, I was in touch with people in Texas, but because the Olympics is only two years away, I don’t think it would be smart to switch. If it goes wrong you’re in a tight spot,” says Shepherd. “If I keep making progress like I have been doing, there’s no reason for me to change what I’m doing. I’ve got a good environment and support network around me.

“Leeds has been a really big step for me. I still owe a lot to the guys at Harrogate, the coaches especially.”

Shepherd is not the only Yorkshire teenager named in England’s Commonwealth Games swimming squad.

Gabrielle Idle-Beavers, a 17-year-old from Barnsley, competes in breaststroke, freestyle and butterfly and has signed on to the University of Kentucky from the autumn.

Shepherd’s fellow City of Leeds member Leah Schlosshan of Bradford is also headed to Glasgow. The 21-year-old freestyle swimmer – a former European junior champion – is now based in Manchester.

And despite reaching three Olympic finals, Max Litchfield, 31, of Pontefract, is headed to his first Commonwealth Games for 12 years.