Britain’s open water swimmers are set to take on some of Europe’s best when they compete in the first leg of the Open Water LEN Cup in Eilat, Israel on 30 May 2009.
The British Gas team consisting of 13 athletes, includes Olympic silver medallist Keri-Anne Payne (pictured) and Daniel Fogg, 2008 LEN Cup silver medallist, as well as up-and-coming athletes Richard Charlesworth and Charlotte Wooliscroft who will be looking for a good result in their first major competition of the season.
Of the event Mark Perry, British Gas open water Team Leader, said: “This event is more about our athletes and how well they compete, not so much about the international competition. For some it will be used as qualification for the European Junior Championships and the World Championships, so we want to see how well they can perform.”
Britain’s open water swimmers are set to take on some of Europe’s best when they compete in the first leg of the Open Water LEN Cup in Eilat, Israel on 30th May.
The British Gas team includes a number of younger athletes that will be competing in their first senior international open water event:
“It will be a good test for some of our younger athletes. They will have to battle against the heat so it will test their mettle and we’ll see if they are up for it.” Perry said.
David Davies, Olympic silver medallist in open water, has opted not to compete in Israel, instead choosing to focus on his long term goal of London 2012:
“I completely support David’s decision. His goal is London 2012, and we’ve discussed what needs to be done to get him there and he is fully committed to competing in the open water event in London,” said Perry.
Davies’ coach, Kevin Renshaw, said of the decision: “Within David’s four-year programme, leading to London 2012, the first part is all about developing speed and strength. We’ve made a good start with this but the only way to truly find out how effective it has been is to swim at the highest level at the World Championships this summer. Because of the World Championship programme, where the 10km comes before the pool-based events, we don’t want to compromise David’s performance potential in the pool so he won’t swim the 10km.”
The 2009 LEN Open Water Cup sees the best men’s and women’s open water swimmers from across Europe compete in five events throughout the year, each race covers 10km.
The British squad consists of:
Men
Richard Charlesworth – Hatfield
Daniel Fogg – Borough of Waltham Forest
Craig Hamilton – Warrender Baths
Alfie Howes – Kingston Royals
Gareth Keating – Leicester Penguins
Women
Sophie Casson – Carnforth & Dist Otters
Keri-Anne Payne – Stockport Metro
Charlotte Wooliscroft – Shiverers
Katy Whitfield – Stockport Metro
Catherine Marcoft – Rochdale
Kayleigh Dawson – City of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Eleanor Faulkner – City of Sheffield
Lucy Worrall – Stockport Metro