PATTEN AND BIRCHER LEAD OPEN WATER TEAM TO WORLDS
Britain's elite open water distance swimmers will compete
for world honours off the coast of Naples next week and they
go into the meet with an impressive pedigree.
Newly crowned LEN European Cup Champion Cassie Patten (Stockport
Metro) will contest her first FINA World Open Water Championships
and will be looking to continue her meteoric rise in the sport
since making the transition from the pool this season.
It will be Patten's second World Championships of her career,
after she competed at the pool-based World Championships (25m)
in America in 2004, but the first competing over the 5km and
10km distances.
"I'm really excited about the prospect of swimming at
the World Championships. The result from the European Cup
in Spain 10 days ago has given me such a big boost,"
said Patten.
"I went into this season, my first in open water, with
no expectations so I've exceeded that by some way but I'd
like to continue my form in Italy."
Patten appreciates she still has a lot to learn and a long
way to go in the sport but she has the lure of an Olympic
opportunity in 2008 as a major driving force behind her.
"I'm really enjoying my swimming at the moment, training
and competing, even if open water is a world away from what
it's like in the pool. There' no lane ropes to protect you
and it can get quite messy with arms and legs flailing in
a tight group going for the finish but I'm learning all of
the time," explained Patten.
"It will be very different to the few open water events
I've competed in so far though as the Americans, Australians
and Chinese will be there but they will be there to be raced.
I'm not going to worry about them, I'll just focus on what
I need to do."
Britain's team of five also includes former World Championship
silver medallist Alan Bircher (University of Bath) who is
showing signs of returning to the kind of form he enjoyed
in 2004 when he took second place in the 10km event.
"My training has taken a real up-turn in recent weeks
following the disappointment of the European Championships
last month," said Bircher.
"I knew what was coming at the Europeans, my preparation
hadn't been right, but to be honest it was perhaps what I
needed - a good kick up the backside.
"Since then I've had weeks of good work and I'm feeling
more confident as a result."
Bircher is ready to add something positive to a season that
has been dogged by a lack work due to the fact he's not long
been back in Britain following a period spent living and training
in Germany.
"The root of my problems lies in the fact I missed a
big block of training at the beginning of the year before
I returned to Bath," Bircher explained.
"Since then I've been trying to cram in the metres during
training but you can't do that. To some extent I'm still doing
that but I've been training much better under my coach Andrei
Vorontsov.
"I feel like I'm getting back to my best but whether
I can repeat or better the results of two years ago, we'll
have to see.
"It's the World Championships and I'm going there to
give nothing less than my best. It will be a big step in the
right direction for me which will lead to Melbourne next spring
where all aquatic disciplines will be fighting for world titles."
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