SWIMMERS SHIFT OLYMPIC EFFORTS TO AUSTRALIA
British Swimming's Olympic hopefuls will leave the comforts
of home for a training camp and competition in Australia where
they will spend a large part of the winter avoiding illness
while preparing for the Beijing Games next year.
Thirty of Britain's elite swimmers, based both in the pool
and open water, will travel to Australia for an Endless Summer
camp over the next two weeks where they will look to build
a considerable, uninterrupted block of training ahead of a
demanding Olympic year.
As Britain experiences its first cold spell of the winter,
the swimmers will pursue a healthier Olympic preparation in
the warmer climates of Perth, Sydney, Canberra and the Gold
Coast in an effort to avoid the bouts of common colds and
flu that could blight chances of a best result in Beijing.
With heavy workloads, athletes become more susceptible to
illness as they push themselves to the absolute limit and
British Swimming Head Coach Ian Turner believes keeping Britain's
athletes healthy at this stage in their Olympic preparation
is vital.
"The concept behind the Endless Summer aspect of the
programme is to try to merge warm weather from one continent
to another to ensure our athletes stay healthy," said
Turner.
"It's vitally important that our swimmers don't suffer
illness and take time out of the water in the build up to
the Beijing Olympics. Colds and illness during the next two
months are rife and the Endless Summer initiative tries to
minimise that risk.
"Training outdoors in warm weather has real health benefits
and at this stage in an Olympic preparation we can't afford
to have athlete's suffering a cold or flu and spending days
if not weeks out of the water."
Turner believes there are many other benefits derived from
the Endless Summer programme and is looking forward to witnessing
the competitive edge that's generated by bringing Britain's
best together to train.
"It will also be a great opportunity for quality athletes
to train together, push each other and bond together ahead
of what will be a demanding 2008 with the Olympics as the
only focus," said Turner.
"Backstroke swimmers will train with backstroke swimmers,
freestyle with freestyle etc, and this breeds competition,
generates improvements and creates a challenging environment
that all athletes feed off.
"It's a very important part of the preparation leading
into 2008. It can make a massive difference to an athlete's
preparation and end result. It's about like-minded people
training together and avoiding that annual illness we all
suffer from."
The British contingent will separate into smaller groups
destined for training camps in Canberra and Perth before coming
together at Southport on the Gold Coast for the final three
weeks of the Endless Summer.
While in Australia a smaller British team will also compete
at the FINA leg of the Sydney World Cup (2/3 November).
The British Swimming squad bound for the Endless
Summer programme comprises:
Rebecca Adlington - Nova Centurion
Kirsty Balfour - City of Edinburgh (Sydney)
Julia Beckett - Loughborough University (Sydney)
Alan Bircher - University of Bath
David Carry - Loughborough University/Aberdeen Dolphins
Chris Cook - City of Newcastle (Sydney)
Rebecca Cooke - City of Glasgow
Euan Dale - Loughborough University
Ross Davenport - Loughborough University
David Davies - City of Cardiff
Terri Dunning - City of Birmingham (Sydney)
Ellen Gandy - Beckenham (Sydney)
Kris Gilchrist - City of Edinburgh (Sydney)
James Goddard - Loughborough University
Fransesca Halsall - City of Liverpool (Sydney)
Kate Haywood - Loughborough University (Sydney)
Andrew Hunter - Stirling
Joanne Jackson - Derwentside (Sydney)
Jemma Lowe - Borough of Stockton (Sydney)
Mel Marshall - Loughborough University
Caitlin McClatchey - Loughborough University (Sydney)
Hannah Miley - Garioch (Sydney)
Cassie Patten - Stockport Metro
Keri-Anne Payne - Stockport Metro
Robbie Renwick - Aberdeen
Michael Rock - Stockport Metro/Everton
Elizabeth Simmonds - Lincoln Vulcans (Sydney)
Gregor Tait - City of Edinburgh (Sydney)
Liam Tancock - Loughborough University (Sydney)
Chris Watkinson - Loughborough University/Braintree (Sydney)
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