NO REST FOR SWIMMERS AS OFFSHORE EVENTS BECKON
Britain's swimmers will conclude a busy summer over the next
few weeks as they continue to tailor their preparations ahead
of next year's Beijing Olympic Games.
The nation's best swimmers have been in action all week at
the ASA National Championships in Sheffield but now leave
for the far corners of the swimming world for their main focus
of the summer season.
With no World, European or Commonwealth championships this
summer, swimmers and coaches have selected meets that best
suit their individual preparations and programmes as they
work towards next summer's Olympics.
Teams will compete at meets in Indianapolis, Paris, Bangkok
and Chiba, Japan as they look to end their long course (50m)
season on a high 12 months out from Beijing.
For British Swimming Head Coach Ian Turner, the U.S. Championships
will provide the type of test he believes will best benefit
his group of Freestyle men.
"I shall take a group to the U.S. Nationals and this
will give our 200m Freestyle swimmers the chance to stand
up as individuals and as relay teams against some very strong
competition," said Turner.
"We have to test ourselves against the best teams in
the world and the U.S. is a good place to do just that.
"The swimmers have done very well this week at the ASA
Championships given the nature of the meet but now they face
a long-haul trip before we can race against the rest of the
world."
Loughborough University-based coach Ian Armiger will lead
a team to Paris that is a mix of senior podium targeted athletes
and a group of development swimmers coming through the programme.
"We'll leave straight after the ASA Championships finish
tomorrow and then have to get straight into the meet on Thursday,"
said Armiger.
"It's going to be a real test for the swimmers. They've
done so well this week but we want them to keep that going
into the Paris meet. Senior athletes such as Jo Jackson, Mel
Marshall, Becky Adlington and James Gibson should help this
process
"It's going to be interesting with the two events sitting
so close but I'm sure the guys will be up for it. For some
it will be the third championships in as many weeks but they're
targeting racing tough that way and I'm sure we'll see that
type of character coming through."
British Swimming coach Ben Titley will take a squad to Japan
for a training camp and open event at the end of August, and
this will mirror preparations ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
"Japan offers an invaluable chance for this group of
swimmers to race at the end of the summer in Asia which is
what they'll be focusing on 12 months down the line at the
Olympics," said Titley.
"It also provides the chance for both athletes and staff
to train beforehand in Osaka which is what we're looking at
as a venue for our Olympic preparation camp in 2008.
"They'll be able to acclimatise to the environment,
get used to the geography of the area and therefore settle
better when we arrive ready for our final Olympic preparation."
A squad of 19 British swimmers has also been selected to
compete at the World University Games in Thailand.
And the swimming contingent of the multi-sport event will
be looking to better the medal tally they achieved two years
ago in Turkey where they contributed 10 of the 19 medals collectively
won by the Great Britain team.
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