29 August 2009 – Copenhagen, Denmark
Olympic 10km silver medallist David Davies is set to lead a four-strong British Gas Open Water team as the World’s best marathon swimmers compete in the sixth leg in the FINA World Cup series in the beautiful setting of the old canal district of Copenhagen.
The four-strong British Gas squad will face tough competition in Copenhagen after the previous legs have seen Olympic bronze medallist Thomas Lurz and former World Champions Larisa Ilchenko and Vladimir Dyatchin putting in strong performances.
Head Coach Russ Barber is looking forward to seeing the British Gas team take on the challenge of competing against some of the world’s best athletes as they look to further their experience in Open Water swimming.
“The team is still quite inexperienced and we have targeted some key swimmers that will work well together and will develop their skills from this competition,” Barber said.
“It is important for our swimmers to be prepared for every potential race and by giving them exposure to different courses and types of water they will learn and be ready to cope with the course at the London 2012 Olympics.
“This is my first international Open Water competition and I am looking forward to seeing how things work on the continent and gaining experience of this type of competition. I hope to be able to aid the swimmers by pointing out something that they may not have noticed.
“For Eleanor this will be one of her first 10km races and she has done a lot of distance work in her training so will be used to the distance. Moving forward she needs to be used to this type of race. This will be key in her development.”
The British Gas Open Water team consists of:
David Davies (City of Cardiff / Loughborough ITC)
Daniel Fogg (Loughborough Uni / Loughborough ITC)
Eleanor Faulkner (City of Sheffield)
Charlotte Woolliscroft (Shiverers)