BIRCHER'S BACK IN BRITAIN FOR BIG EVENT
Britain's top open water swimmer Alan Bircher is hoping to
impress on home ground this weekend when he takes part in
the FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup in London.
Bircher, who recently returned to British shores after a
disappointing season and more than a year spent training in
Germany, believes that his altered preparation will benefit
him when he faces the world's top athletes this Sunday.
Having decided to concentrate on the World Cup this year,
he has already competed over 21k in Argentina and 15k in Mexico,
but this is Bircher's first outing in a 10k race this season.
He will be aiming to improve of his sixth-place position in
the series.
"After losing the 5k in the pool in April I decided
to move back to the UK and I'm back training with Andre Vorontsov
at Bath," he explained. "I had a disastrous 12 months
in competition and decided Germany wasn't really suiting me
- I'm very set in my ways and over there I was covering up
to 17k each session instead of the 7-8k I was used to.
"I'm swimming through this meet. We were planning a
taper but training just got better and better and there's
only four weeks to go to the European Championships, which
are the big thing for me.
"Until last year I hadn't been beaten in England and
I think competing in the LEN and FINA events on the same weekend
took it out of me. The race this weekend is wide open and
there could be up to 10 swimmers with a good chance of winning.
Petar Stoychev, who has won the World Cup for the last four
years is there, but there are also a few unknowns in the mix
such as the Chinese and some new Spaniards."
Following the announcement that Open Water will be included
in the Olympic programme in Beijing, Bircher became the first
British open water athlete to receive UK Sport funding, which
has been a big boost for the 24-year-old.
"The funding means I can concentrate on swimming full
time," he explained. "On the build-up to the Worlds
in 2004 I was working 40 hours each week as well as training
for a further 20-30 hours, which was too much. Now I can focus
on my swimming and land work and have time to rest in between
sessions, which should lead to improvements.
The introduction of the sport to the Olympics has also provided
the incentive for Bircher to continue in the sport.
"After a sloppy year of racing last season I started
to question whether to stay in the sport," he admitted.
"I'd already medalled at the World Championships and
Europeans, but now that there are the Olympics to aim for
it's given me the reason to continue in the sport - to represent
your country there is the ambition of every sportsman.
"For me, this season is about putting in the background
work for the World Championships in Melbourne next year and
then building to the Olympics in 2008."
The FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup takes place at the Royal
Albert Docks in London this Sunday (25 June). Races start
at 2pm (men) and 2.15pm (women).
The weekend's Festival of Open Water Swimming also includes
the LEN Open Water Cup and British Open Water Championships
(Saturday 24 June, from 10.30am), the ASA Masters 3k Championships
(Saturday 24 June, 3pm) and the British Swimming Junior International
3k (Sunday 25 June, 11am). Spectators are invited to attend
the event and entry is free.
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