OLYMPIC JOURNEY BEGINS FOR 10KM SWIMMERS
Britain's long distance swimmers aiming for a place on the
starting line of the inaugural Olympic 10km swim this summer
in Beijing will begin their journey in South Africa this weekend.
World Championship silver medallist Cassie Patten (Stockport
Metro) leads a British team of eight to the South African
Open Water Championships in Cape Town that will also form
the first stage of their Olympic selection.
The squad will use the event to be selected for the 5th FINA
World Open Water Championships in Seville (3rd May) where
athletes will then try to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
For Patten, pre-qualified for Spain as a result of her world
silver medal in 2007, the Cape Town event will provide another
opportunity for the swimmer to experience a demanding 10km
event given the fact she is still relatively new to open water
since her transition from the pool.
The team, which boasts the likes of Alan Bircher (University
of Bath) and Keri-anne Payne (Stockport Metro), goes into
the meet off a short preparation in South Africa and will
be lead by Head Coach Sean Kelly.
"The swimmers have enjoyed a week-long camp to acclimatise
to the conditions here in South Africa which are going to
be very warm indeed," said Kelly.
"They predict it will be around 33 Celsius on Saturday
with a water temperature of about 25 Celsius - it will be
similar to swimming in a pool and is ideal preparation for
what the athletes are likely to face in Beijing.
"Because of the conditions, we've got a strategy in
place to make sure our athletes don't dehydrate and they'll
have the chance to regularly feed or drink during the 10km
to make sure they're there at the end.
"They're in great shape but it's going to be very demanding
for them given the temperatures expected."
Since the 10km event's inclusion on the Olympic programme,
many pool-based distance swimmers have tested the waters of
the endurance swim as they eye the possibility of competing
in Beijing.
Olympic medallist Dave Davies will attempt his first ever
10km swim at the Ashanti Dam on Saturday as he also looks
at the Olympic opportunity.
The distance swimmer, who took bronze at last year's World
Championships in the 1500m Freestyle, will go into the event
with an open mind but the pool events will remain his main
focus for Beijing.
He will be joined by a handful of other British athletes,
competing independently of the British squad, looking to test
themselves in open water and for Kelly this is a nice position
for open water swimming in Britain to be in.
"It's good to have such a lot of interest in open water
swimming from some of Britain's top swimmers," said Kelly.
"It's an exciting time for the sport now it's within
the Olympic programme and the numbers being drawn to the sport
are a testament to that.
"There will be a lot of pressure out there on Saturday
but throughout our camp we've tried to keep the athletes away
from it. It's been relaxed but professional and now everybody
is really excited about competing."
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