STRONG CHALLENGE AWAITS IN AMERICAN WATERS
British swimmers will put the fatiguing effects of a three-week
intense training camp behind them when they face tough competition
at a California meet that attracts some of the sport's richest
talents.
Members of the U.S. swimming team that was so dominant at
this year's World Championships will provide the challenge
to a 16-strong British outfit that goes into the Novaquatics
Speedo Grand Challenge meet in Irvine feeling the effects
of a demanding training camp in Arizona.
British Head Coach Ian Turner has challenged and pushed the
group over the past three weeks in Phoenix and is pleased
with how the swimmers have responded at what is a vital time
in their season.
"The camp went well and we saw the guys put in a lot
of very good work," said Turner. "There were plenty
of high-quality training sets and strong competition throughout
between the Backstroke and Freestyle groups.
"A consequence of the athletes' impressive efforts means
they'll be quite tired but they're upbeat and looking forward
to racing. There's been a great team atmosphere throughout
our tour and that will be instrumental this weekend where
we'll be looking for solid performances if not spectacular."
Turner is confident the camp has achieved it's aim of introducing
the athletes to a large amount of training at the beginning
of a 12-month-period that will shape their Beijing 2008 Olympic
aspirations.
And one of the key elements to the camp was enhancing the
swimmer's ability to perform in the most competitive of environments
and Turner has been delighted with what he's witnessed.
"The athletes go into the event not only off that back
of three week's hard work but they'll also feel the effects
of continuous competition against each other," explained
Turner.
"We brought this particular group together because individually
they're all extremely competitive and each training session,
without exception, featured personal duels in every lane of
the pool."
Despite the tiring effects of the camp, Turner and the squad
as a whole have high expectations.
"I'll be disappointed if any of the swimmers finish
more than 3% above their best times but we're targeting their
performances to finish within 1%. It's a big ask, and the
guys will be racing many events over the three days, but they're
a tough bunch hence our targets.
"They'll be facing a quality field in California. It's
a relaxed meet but it will feature world-class entries as
well as many of the top Americans who took the sport of swimming
to an entirely new level at the Melbourne World Championships
in March."
The Novaquatics Speedo Grand Challenge takes place from 25th
to 27th May at the William Woollett Jr Aquatics Complex in
Irvine, California.
British Swimmers who attended the Phoenix Warm Weather
Camp (6th to 24th May) and will attend the Irvine Meet in
California (25th to 27th May) are:
Simon Burnett (Wycombe/Arizona)
David Carry (Loughborough University)
Matthew Clay (Swansea Performance)
Chris Cook (City of Newcastle)
Daniel Coombs (Gallica/Offshore Centre, Aus)
Euan Dale (Loughborough University)
Ross Davenport (Loughborough University)
David Davies (City of Cardiff)
James Goddard (Loughborough University)
Ben Hockin (Swansea Performance)
James Kirton (City of Sheffield)
Robert Lang (City of Edinburgh)
Dean Milwain (Loughborough University)
John Owen (City of Edinburgh)
Michael Unsworth (Wigan BEST)
Melanie Marshall (Loughborough University)
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