A RETIRED school teacher has boosted a former pupil's bid for success at a major swimming competition near Barcelona.

Gourock fundraiser Louise Newman has organised a raffle and sought donations from friends at the town's outdoor pool in aid of Greenock athlete Isaac Dunning, who she taught at Greenock Academy.

The 21-year-old Port Glasgow Otters and Inverclyde Masters swimmer will fly the flag for Scotland at the Cerebral Palsy World Games next month.

He will jet out to Sant Cugat, north of the Catalan city, for the start of the competition on August 6 and will spend six days competing across five events.

His former teacher wanted to help boost his chances of success even further and handed over a cheque for £191 after encouraging friends and family to 'pool' together to sponsor him.

Louise said: "I taught Isaac in first and second year in 'the Academy' and I wanted to do something for him because he's such a lovely guy and so humble.

"People were so generous, it was mostly my swimming buddies and friends."

Isaac, who will draw the winning raffle tickets before he heads off to the games, will put the money towards equipment, including racing trunks, to help his bid for glory.

He said: "I'm very appreciative of what Louise has done.

"She didn't have to go out her way to do anything, just saying 'good luck' would've been enough."

The talented young swimmer will be cheered on in Spain by his parents and coach Andrew Hemphill and says he is feeling great ahead of the start of the games.

Isaac said: "Training is going really well.

"I've had a few competitions over the last couple of months and did personal best times and got a few medals."

He will compete in the 400 metres, 100m and 50m front crawl races as well as the 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke events.

As well as constant training in the pool, the swimmer is also mentoring a younger generation at the Waterfront and Port Glasgow baths.

Isaac, who will be posting updates from the games on his Instagram page, IsaacS9swimmer, said: "A lot of time has been invested in me so it's nice for me to invest that time back to the people coming up."