ONE metre is an awful long way in the world of shot put.

So it says much about Serena Vincent’s incredible start to 2018 that she has upped her sights from 16 metres to 17 this season.

It was quite some achievement last month when the Bursledon-based thrower unleashed an enormous 15.91 metres at the Brunel jumps and throws festival to soar to the top of the British under-17 women’s indoor all-time rankings, breaking the previous best of 15.64 set by Adele Nicole in 2013.

But little did the Gregg School student imagine that, just a couple of weeks later, she would achieve the elusive 16-metre throw not once, but THREE times at the Indoor National Championships in Sheffield to establish herself as the UK’s best ever under-17 3kg thrower indoors or out.

The 16-year-old started the competition with a put that landed outside the sector for a no throw, ramping up the pressure on the City of Portsmouth AC athlete.

But Vincent has matured immensely over the last season and didn’t let that minor setback affect her.

A simply huge second round throw of 16.39m followed, blowing the field apart and smashing Nicole’s 2013 British record.

Job done, you might have thought, but Bursledon's finest was far from finished.

Her third throw of 16.59 smashed the record all over again, placing her at the head of the all-time record books.

For good measure, she putted well in excess of 16 metres yet again in round six, her final throw measured at 16.56.

So in one fell swoop she had bagged the British record, a championship best performance, the national title and far exceeded the qualifying standard for July's European Youth (Under-18) Championships in Gyor, Hungary.

“I always have targets before the start of each season and this time it was to get around 16 metres,” the talented teenager explained.

“I’d got 15.91 a couple of weeks before and hoped that maybe I could add another 10 centimetres to get me over 16 metres, but I didn’t expect this!

“Even when I hit 16.39, I was overwhelmed. But for the next one to be 16.59 …. I was speechless. I just stood there (in amazement).

“It’s made me excited to see what I can do later in the year when I'm competing outside in the warm weather.

“16.59 might have been my mid-season target, but now I'm looking towards 17 or 17-and-a-half metres.

“The qualifying distance for the Europeans is 15.90m, so I already had that – but now I’ve smashed it.”

With her GCSEs to come this summer, Vincent has a tough few months ahead of her.

Alongside her studies, she trains five times a week, doing after-school sessions from Monday to Thursday plus another on a Saturday.

“It’s hard work, but it’s worth it to be the best in Britain,” she smiled.

“I’m competing in a winter throws session at Swindon soon and I just hope it’s over 16 metres again.”