SWIMMERS DEFEND WORLD CUP TITLES
The world's top disability swimmers will be in action at
the Manchester Aquatic Centre this weekend as the city hosts
the Visa Paralympic World Cup for the second year running.
Some of the country's young up-and-coming athletes have been
selected for the 17-strong British squad and will swim alongside
Paralympic greats such as Jim Anderson, Sascha Kindred and
Natalie Jones. The team will be hoping for a repeat of last
year's domination in the pool where Great Britain topped the
medal table with five gold, one silver and four bronze medals.
Despite an impressive display last year for the Brits, a
change of programme means that City of Sheffield's James Crisp
is the only athlete to defend his 2005 title. Crisp won gold
in the S9 100m Backstroke but faces a tough test this weekend
as the record has fallen twice since the start of this year.
"It's going to be a tough race," he admitted. "The
American Jarrett Perry broke the world record in this event
just two weeks ago so to defend the title will be even more
difficult now.
"It's hard to judge the threat of the rest of the field.
In disability swimming, people can make leaps and bounds forwards
in such a short space of time.
"I've recently moved to City of Sheffield and I'm swimming
well at the minute. It's given me a different angle on my
training, but moving from one good coach to another has made
the transition that much easier.
"I'm looking forward to competing in Manchester, I've
posted some fast times there over the years and it will be
good to have the support of the home crowd."
British rivalries will also fuel exciting races as Commonwealth
bronze medallists Matt Walker (Marple) and David Roberts (Swim
Swansea) go head-to-head in the 50m and 100m Freestyle events.
Roberts, who won 100m Freestyle bronze in Melbourne earlier
this year will be looking to reassert his dominance on Walker
after the Manchester-based swimmer took his six-year-old 50m
Freestyle world record at the British Championships last month,
to top off a three-week period that saw him win Commonwealth
bronze in the same event.
Paralympic hero Natalie du Toit is one of the international
stars to defend her title this weekend. The South African,
who set two world standards in Manchester last year, will
be on a high after repeating the performance at the Commonwealth
Games in Melbourne to win two gold medals.
Swimming highlights will be shown on BBC's Sunday Grandstand
on 7 May from 1.30-5.30pm.
The British squad is as follows:
Andrew Lindsay (Incas)
Anthony Stephens (Bridgwater)
Claire Cashmore (Kelly College)
David Hill (Kelly College)
David Roberts (Swim Swansea)
Liz Johnson (Swim Swansea)
Jim Anderson (Broxburn)
James Crisp (City of Sheffield)
Kate Grey (Thornbury)
Katie Haining (Bucksburn)
Matt Walker (Marple)
Mhairi Love (Stirling)
Natalie Jones (Colchester Phoenix)
Rachael Latham (Horwich)
Sarah Timms (City of Southampton)
Sascha Kindred (Leominster)
Stuart Bloor (Crewe Flyers)
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