HEAT A CONCERN FOR BIRCHER AT EUROPEANS
Britain's Alan Bircher faces a tough battle if he's to be
among the medallists once again when he launches the British
effort at this year's European Championships in Budapest on
Wednesday.
The University of Bath open water swimmer goes in the 10k
event, on the first of 12 days of swimming, synchronised swimming
and diving, and will be hoping to add to the silver he gained
in the 5k event two years ago in Madrid.
Bircher is one of a huge squad of 63 British athletes across
four sports that will face the rest of Europe in the Hungarian
capital.
The Europeans are being used by Bircher as part of his long
term development as an athlete with the Melbourne World Championships
in March of next year and the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as
the main focal points.
"I feel in great shape but I've been working on getting
my fitness back to where it needs to be these past few months
after a disappointing 2005. I'll still be looking to get in
there with the big guys and we'll see what happens then.
"The only guarantee is that it's going to be really
tough. The course is a simple, straight out and back but with
the water temperature at 28C, an air temperature of 40C and
the sun beating down on your back it's going to test everyone
to the limit."
Because of the conditions Bircher thinks there are a number
of athletes who will be in the hunt for honours as the field
will be levelled.
"In the men's events I think there will be around 15
swimmers who have got a good chance of being in the medals.
There's five or six who will be looking to finish strongly
but this heat is going to make that difficult.
"This heat is definitely going to suit both the Italians
and the Spanish as it's closer to their climate so I'll be
watching those guys."
Bircher will have a two-day rest following the 10k event
with the 25k on Saturday his next challenge.
"I'm looking forward to the 10k but in this heat the
25k is going to require something extraordinary. The longer
events are going to really drain you so I'll need to make
sure I'm perfectly hydrated and rested."
Bircher is joined on day one of the European Championships
by British team mates Pippa Davies, Issy Newman (both Swim
Swansea) and Cassie Patten (Stockport Metro) who go in the
Women's 5k event.
The women will be in action the next day in the 10k race
while John Owen (City of Edinburgh) will go in the Men's 5k.
British sychronised swimmer and Commonwealth medallist Jenna
Randall (Rushmoor) will also get her European Championships
underway on Wednesday when she goes in the Free and Technical
routines of the solo event.
She teams up with Olivia Allison (Rushmoor) the following
day for the Duet routines.
Swimmers and divers begin the European challenges on Monday
31st July and Tuesday 1st August respectively.
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