SWIMMERS STRIVE TOWARDS OLYMPIC DREAMS
Britain's swimmers will be looking to realise lifelong dreams
at next week's British Championships as they aim to become
part of the British Olympic squad competing at the biggest
sporting event in the world this summer.
Sheffield's Ponds Forge will play host to the British Championships
(50m) and will see Britain's top swimmers vying for places
at this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.
In order to make the team, athletes must finish in first
or second place in the final of their event and have met the
12th fastest, world ranked time for that event in the heat.
It is a policy as tough as any in the world and will result
in quality rather than quantity being the main ingredient
for the swimming contingent.
Earlier this month British Swimming unveiled a new leadership
group that would prove to be the driving force behind the
Olympic squad's preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games.
The group, which consists of Fred Vergnoux (City of Edinburgh),
Ben Titley (Loughborough University) and National Performance
Director Michael Scott, will be looking for some world-class
performances in the pool at the British Championships.
"I am looking forward to the championships next week,"
Vergnoux said. "I am expecting to see some fast swimming
in Sheffield. It is a fast pool and I know that a lot of the
swimmers are ready to go out hard and get some good times.
"This is possibly one of the most important events many
of the swimmers will have competed in. The pressure on them
to get the times is huge but I feel that they are ready to
go out and swim fast.
"Since last year's World Championships the support for
both the coaches and athletes has improved vastly. We now
have a generation of young athletes coming through that can
be the best in the world and with the support available to
them we can ensure that they will be able to make an impact
on the world stage."
For a selection of athletes this will be their first chance
of gaining selection onto a British Olympic squad and Garioch's
Hannah Miley (18) is relishing the chance of putting a disappointing
year behind her and showing the swimming community just how
much she has improved.
"I failed to qualify for the World Championships last
year and so consequently missed the European Championships
(25m) too," Miley said. "This really gave me the
push to make sure it never happened again so we re-focused
my training and have ploughed on to ensure that I have an
improved chance this time around.
"I am pleased with my progress over the last year, it
is comforting to see the improvements I have made and I am
happy with the stage I have reached at this point in the season."
"At the moment I am not feeling too nervous going into
the competition, some days it hits me that it is only a couple
of days away but I have been coping pretty well with the pressure.
I have gone under the qualifying time a few times in training
which is encouraging and I will be going into the event feeling
content with my training."
With countries limited to two athletes per event at the Olympics
the British Championships will offer up some tough competition
as many races will see a number of competitors fighting it
out for those two qualifying spots.
Aberdeen Dolphins swimmer David Carry will face tough competition
for the top spots in the Freestyle events as he tries to make
it onto his second Olympic squad.
"My aim next week is to obviously qualify for the Olympic
squad but to also re-establish myself in the world's top 10
again," Carry said.
"I have been through a selection event for the Olympics
before and I know what to expect, but regardless of your experience
it is possibly the most intense competition you could attend,
there is more pressure on athletes to perform here than at
an Olympics. But this is what we thrive off and what pushes
us on to bring out better performances.
"I am really excited about seeing how fast I will be
able to swim next week. I haven't had many opportunities to
swim fast since last summer and I will eager to see how much
I have improved since the last time I raced.
"I have been really lucky and have had no injury or
illness over the last six months so my training has been going
really well. I am feeling good and I am happy with the stage
I am at."
In February, the British Olympic Association announced the
first members of the Olympic swimming team. David Davies (City
of Cardiff), Kirsty Balfour (City of Edinburgh) and Liam Tancock
(Loughborough University) were all pre-selected onto Team
GB after their podium finishes at the 2007 World Championships.
As pre-selected swimmers they will not be racing in their
qualified events but will be looking to add events to their
selection at the Championships next week.
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