BIRCHER EXCITED BY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CHANCE
Britain's open water swimmers will face uncharted waters
at this month's World Championships in Melbourne following
a surge of new talent into the sport after the 10km event
was adopted into the Beijing Olympic programme.
Competition for open water success will be more fierce than
ever as athletes look to gain valuable experience and world
medals against the a field of proven quality on unknown athletes.
Britain's three open water swimmers are currently adding
the finishing touches to their World Championship preparations
as part of the full British Swimming squad at The Southport
School on the Gold Coast in Australia.
The team faces a week of pool-based work before heading to
Melbourne where they will take to seas around St Kilda to
familiarise themselves with conditions in readiness for the
start of the open water events on 18th March.
Britain's most experienced open water swimmer in Melbourne
will be Alan Bircher who will be attending his third World
Championships at the age of 25.
"I'll be focusing on swimming the 10km as that's the
big one since it's been included on the Olympic programme
for Beijing.
"I finished seventh in that event last time around but
feel I'm in better shape and have more experience this time
around. Saying that the competition is going to be stronger
than ever given the fact it's now an Olympic event."
Bircher believes his preparation, culminating in 10 days
with the British squad, will stand him in good stead when
the gun fires in Melbourne.
"I've had two big blocks of training in Australia over
the past three months. I spent six weeks in Brisbane before
Christmas and I've been over here for a further six weeks
leading up to this camp," said Bircher.
"During that time I've been training with some very
good Australian open water swimmers and I feel I've benefited
from that. There's been a lot of competition between me and
the guys in training so you're always pushing yourself.
"I haven't gone to a World Championships before in as
good shape as I am at the moment. I feel better prepared than
ever, physically I feel strong. It's all tactical now - how
I decide to swim the race."
Bircher also feels experience will be a key factor in deciding
the final placings at the St Kilda event.
"The past couple of years have given me a lot more experience
and that will serve me well when the event starts. It's been
a learning process for me since last time and the past couple
of events I've simply used to look at my tactics," said
Bircher.
"This week will be my last tough one before the World
Championships and I shall end it having swam over 75km. I'll
then start to bring down the volumes slightly before we get
into Melbourne and then go very easy just five days out."
The open water swimmers will be guided through their preparation
camp and World Championships by Sean Kelly (Stockport Metro),
who coached to a medal at the Athens Olympics in the pool.
"It's great to see open water very much part of the
full British Swimming squad at this preparation camp.
"We wont be doing any open water swimming while on the
Gold Coast because of the high seas and obvious threat posed
by sharks.
"That part of our preparation will come in Melbourne
when we swim the course at St Kilda prior to the championships
starting."
Kelly has been pleased with what he's seen so far from his
athletes.
"The guys have been training well and training hard,
and I've been very impressed with Alan Bircher who has done
as much work as anyone to give himself a chance of being up
there at the end of the 10km course," said Kelly.
"All of the guys are looking good and they will need
to be in the best shape. This event is entering new territory
now it's part of the Olympic programme. The standard at the
World Championships is going to go through the roof."
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