SWIMMING UNVEILS 2012 TARGETED TRAINING SQUAD
A targeted group of talented young swimmers with the necessary
traits to ensure Great Britain achieves its goals at the London
2012 Olympics has been unveiled by British Swimming.
The group of 115 athletes that make up the 2012 Training
Squad will receive close attention from British Swimming over
the next five years as they undergo a development and nurturing
process designed to ensure the expectations and aspirations
of a host nation are met.
British Swimming will offer unparalleled support to the identified
group in terms of coaching, sport science and competitive
opportunities to ensure swimmers are at the peak of their
development in the summer of 2012.
The end result for British Swimming and the nation as a whole
will be the right result at the 2012 Games as well as a succession
of role models to support a legacy programme designed to keep
Great Britain in the highest echelons of swimming for Olympics
of the future.
Due to a swimmer's lengthy development process compared with
other Olympic sports, British Swimming has been aware those
athletes who will thrive within the arena enjoyed by a host
nation are already within the system and has now identified
a group that is best suited to deliver in London.
British Swimming National Performance Director Bill Sweetenham
is looking forward to working with swimmers and coaches now
the squad has been identified.
"We've targeted a certain age group given the fact that
Olympic and World medallists on average are aged 22 years,"
explained Sweetenham. "The age of the athletes in this
group is focused from 13 to 17 knowing that in five years
time they will be at that peak age.
"For the next 12 months this select group of athletes
will meet together for approximately three weekends where
they will be exposed to sports science thinking and expertise
as well as national team protocols. This frequency will increase
with time as the Olympics draw near.
"Following an initial introduction, the squad will be
split up into stroke specific and gender groups which will
provide greater individual focus at the weekend camps.
"The idea behind the 2012 Training Squad is to provide
coaches and athletes with sports science and national team
information and this will progressively increase and intensify
in depth each year leading to the 2012 Olympics."
But the door for young swimmers not on the original 2012
Training Squad certainly isn't shut. Each year the squad will
undergo a review process where swimmers have the ability to
be added while others will be released from the scheme.
"There will be other swimmers and coaches added to the
group but the group will become more focused and obviously
we'll have to reduce numbers each year as we head down the
road to the Olympics," said Sweetenham.
"In selecting 115 athletes we've attempted to put together
a broad base but anyone not selected so far should pursue
vigorously the opportunity to be included in this group after
its review in 12 months time. We're also very aware of the
importance and value of having extremely strong clubs involved
in this process.
"We will also take into account those athletes that
will be in Beijing at the 2008 Olympics and they will be added
when their focus shifts to 2012."
British Swimming will be bringing the group together for
an introduction to the programme over the next few weeks and
there will be three camps a year where athletes and coaches
will converge to chart their progress, receive continued support
and have input into the programme.
By bringing all potential success stories for 2012 into the
system, the scheme will help ensure they have the best possible
preparation to deliver the best result possible.
"The thinking behind it all is focusing targeted athletes
for the 2012 Olympics," explained Sweetenham. "Given
the ambitious targets we've set ourselves as a sport of having
a swimmer in every Olympic final this programme is aimed at
affording that ambition every possible opportunity.
"We want to capitalise on the home Olympics by providing
opportunity for both the coach and swimmer. It's about putting
the best athletes with the best coaches to provide them with
the best opportunities. That's the essence of the programme.
"A very successful and select group of coaches, which
is close to being identified, will initially look after the
group for the next 18 months in terms of weekend camps and
the research and provision of information provided to this
exclusive group."
It's a group of swimmers that British Swimming is excited
about and highlights the good work in developing young talent
that has taken place within the sport since 2001.
Swimmers such as Hannah Miley, Fran Halsall, Jess Dickons,
Gemma Lowe, Ellen Gandy, Lizzie Simmonds and numerous others
guarantee as much as possible a great 2012 Olympics for Britain.
These swimmers will be set tough standards to achieve in
progressing with the 2012 squad and these tangible markers
will be their focus year on year until their emphasis and
gaze shifts to medal possibilities.
"We have set targets for the swimmers to achieve,"
said Sweetenham, "and these will constantly evolve. What
we're aiming for within the first 18 months is for athletes
to achieve the Olympic qualifying B time as decided by FINA
and this must be reached in a heat swim of a national or international
competition.
"From there we will be looking for the athletes to secure
the FINA A time before we define their next challenge. Gradually
this will produce the swimmers we need to develop for 2012
and the right result when the Games commence.
"Britain looks forward to working with all home countries
in producing the best prepared team for 2012, just as it will
do in 2008."
British Olympic Association (BOA) Director of Elite Coaching
Clive Woodward has been impressed by the programme outlined
by Sweetenham.
"This is a great initiative from Bill Sweetenham and
British Swimming, and maximises the opportunity for British
Swimming to develop a team of Coaches and Athletes that will
achieve high performance podium results for 2012," he
said. "I look forward to working with them in my role
with the BOA."
The programme will be led by British Swimming Director of
World Class Programmes John Atkinson who helped to devise
the selection criteria for the 2012 Training Squad.
"Originally we identified the top six performers in
every Olympic event in the age groups we were targeting,"
said Atkinson. "We looked closely at their performances,
saw whether they were advancing within their event and looked
at major international events to chart their progression.
"The criteria is based on times needed for international
competitions throughout a swimmer's development. We set these
out and then looked at who was regularly achieving them for
their particular age group and which athletes were improving
all the time".
"I'm certainly looking forward to leading this group
which comprises some of the most exciting swimming talent
I've seen together with a selection of coaches that are continually
delivering swimmers into the programme.
"We'll be identifying some of the most promising coaching
talent also and a select coaches group will be put in place
to work with this group."
And Atkinson will also be looking beyond the home Olympics
to ensure that efforts continue to provide real medal chances
past 2012.
"As we get closer to 2012 we will introduce a 2016 squad
and this will go through the same process to ensure the right
athletes are being given the right preparation."
The swimmers selected for 2012 come from 57 different clubs
and are coached by 61 different coaches. These large numbers
involved will have massive benefits not only on the 115 swimmers
but also on the hundreds of other swimmers in those club programmes
affected.
The programme will be supported by British Swimming Head
Coach Ian Turner who has already worked with some of the swimmers
identified and will be watching closely events in Belgium
this week at the European Junior Championships (18th to 22nd
July).
"It's an exciting squad of talented young swimmers and
we hope to see this revealed by results at this week's European
Junior Championships in Belgium," said Turner.
"Most of those representing Britain in Antwerp from
Wednesday onwards will be at the peak of their development
when we get to London in 2012 so the event will give us a
taste of what is to come and there are some very capable swimmers
within that group.
"It will provide a significant indication of where they
are within their development and allows us to assess how best
to nurture that talent. These Europeans will be more important
than normal for that reason.
"Realistically the guys who will be representing Great
Britain in 2012 are already in the swimming system and we've
identified who they are in order to best support their transition."
British Swimming Chief Executive David Sparkes is pleased
to see progress being made in identifying and preparing a
group of swimmers who will have an entire nation behind them
in 2012.
"The early identification of athletes who could form
part of the team in 2012 demonstrates British Swimming's commitment
to achieving medal success in London and endeavouring to get
our athletes through to as many finals as possible.
"We've started early to give ourselves the best possible
chance of success. It will involve a great deal of effort
from a great number of people and no doubt our results will
reflect that."
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