SWIMMERS PREPARE FOR INAUGURAL WORLD CUP
An elite squad of Britain's disability swimmers will compete
in Manchester this weekend at the inaugural Paralympic World
Cup.
Swimming, which is one of four sports showcased in the four-day-event,
takes place at the Manchester Aquatic Centre on Saturday (14
May), and involves more than 100 swimmers from 28 nations.
The top five swimming nations are taking part as 18 classified
and multi-disability events are packed into the busy one-day
meet.
A squad of fourteen British swimmers, boasting 30 medals from
last summer's Athens Paralympics, has been named to take part,
including quadruple gold medallists Jim Anderson (Broxburn)
and Dave Roberts (Swim Swansea).
Also competing are Manchester-based swimmers Matthew Walker,
Natalie Jones, Nyree Lewis and Sascha Kindred.
Stockport-born Walker, who won gold as part of Britain's
world record-breaking 34pt 4x100m Freestyle team, is excited
about hosting a major international event in his home city.
"I'm really looking forward to the weekend," he
said. "It's something we've been asking for for a while
and is a new experience for us all.
"There aren't any pressures on me. I know what I've
got to do and I'm quite confident. There are more than 50
of my supporters coming to watch, most of who haven't seen
me swim live before, so it should be an excellent meet.
"It's good for Great Britain to host a meet like this.
We no longer have a European disability event so this meet
can take its place and keeps us in form. Now that we've got
a big competition every year, it's even better."
Walker believes it will be a tough meet:
"All competitors want to be the best at this meet,"
he explained. "Those who were beaten in Athens will want
to get their own back, and to have the chance to do that less
than a year later is great.
"The Australians and Canadians have been training in
Manchester all week and there's a really good atmosphere at
the pool.
"I'm hoping to get close to the times I did in Athens
this weekend. I want to do well in the 50m Freestyle and the
50m Butterfly should be close against Dave [Roberts]. It's
a first-time meet and a big occasion, so I'm really up for
it."
Britain's National Performance Director for Disability Swimming
Tim Reddish explained the benefit of the meet.
"The World Cup is an opportunity for athletes to compete
against the word's best in targeted events," he said.
"Some of our swimmers have the opportunity to reverse
their placings from Athens and stamp their authority. It will
be a very interesting head-to-head.
"It's the end of the training cycle for the British
swimmers and so they are all swimming fast. Their objective
at this meet is to improve their world ranking or retain it
with a better time if they are already number one.
"It will be a very competitive environment to swim in.
I understand there will be a packed crowd which should create
a good atmosphere and encourage the swimmers to go fast.
"It's always good to compete on home soil. We'll have
the home crowd advantage and hopefully provide the British
public with the opportunity to experience disability swimming
at its highest level.
"Outside of the Paralympic Games, it's unlikely that
swimmers would have the chance to compete against a field
of this calibre - all competing athletes are ranked top 10
in the world in their events.
"I think there will be some really good races this weekend.
James Crisp, who won three silvers last summer will be looking
to beat the people who took gold in Athens, Natalie Jones
and Nyree Lewis go head-to-head in the S6 200m individual
medley, and Liz Johnson will face Sarah Bowen who she beat
for the first time last week at the DSE Championships."
On Friday, Reddish and members of the British swimming squad
will be visited by TRH The Earl and Countess of Wessex as
part of a royal tour of the World Cup venues.
The Paralympic World Cup will take place in Manchester every
year for the next three years, until the Beijing Paralympics
in 2008. As well as swimming, the World Cup includes wheelchair
basketball, athletics and cycling.
The British Swimming squad for the IPC World Cup
is as follows:
Natalie Jones (Colchester Phoenix)
Liz Johnson (Swim Swansea)
Claire Cashmore (Wyre Forest)
Nyree Lewis (Stretford)
Matthew Walker (Marple)
Dave Roberts (Swim Swansea)
Jim Anderson (Broxburn)
James Crisp (Nova Centurion)
Jody Cundy (Swim Swansea)
Sascha Kindred (Stretford)
David Hill (Kelly College)
Robert Welbourn (Lincoln Vulcans)
Graham Edmunds (Swim Swansea)
Andrew Lindsay (Incas)
The Paralympic World Cup runs from 12-15 May at venues across
Manchester. Swimming is at the Manchester Aquatic centre on
Saturday 14 May. Heats start at 10am and finals are at 2pm.
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