A team of three open water swimmers will contest the distance events at the FINA World Championships next year following the squad’s formal selection by British Swimming.
Alan Bircher (University of Bath), Cassie Patten and Keri-Anne Payne (both Stockport Metro) will take to the waters off St Kilda’s beach in Melbourne where medals in the 5km, 10km and 25km will be decided.
For Bircher it will be his third World Championships and he will go into Melbourne looking to improve on the fifth and seventh place finishes he secured, in the 5km and 10km respectively, at Montreal in 2005.
For Patten and Payne it will be their first outing at a World Championships although both have impressed since making the transition from the pool into open water events.
Bircher ended his open water season on a high, after a disappointing start, by taking back-to-back victories in the FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup series.
“This season for me has been about getting back into the kind of shape I was in before I left to live in Germany in 2005,” said Bircher. “Towards the end of the season I felt that form coming back and I’m excited about going to Australia.
“For me the 10km will be my main focus as it’s now an Olympic event. That’s the one that matters and there will be a lot of new faces as a result but I hope to have that foundation of work that will count when it matters.
“I’ve been training hard in Australia these past couple of weeks with a couple of guys who focus on the 25km distance. Whereas it’s been exhausting, I know it will pay off by the time we get to Melbourne in March.”
Bircher will be aiming to take the next step from a fifth place finish two years ago to a spot on the podium but is under no illusion about the size of the task ahead.
“I have to look at what it takes to get a medal but I just know there are going to be a pack of 25 big guys all wrestling for the finish. It’s going to be tough to achieve success but that is what I have to aim at,” explained Bircher.
Patten’s first season contesting distances of 5km and 10km have not only given her valuable experience she’ll draw on in Melbourne, it’s also delivered the LEN European Cup crown.
Both Bircher and Patten booked their places on the British team with top 10 finishes at the World Open Water Swimming Championships in August. Newcomer Payne gained qualification for Melbourne at a time trial in Loughborough earlier this month.
-ends-
The 12th FINA World Championships will take place from 17th March until 1st April 2007 with Open Water events from 18th to 25th March at St Kilda Beach, Melbourne.
For further details contact Dave Richards, British Swimming Media Manager, on 01509 632237, 0778 992 6136 or email dave.richards@swimming.org
British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain. It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales. (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association) British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
Speedo is the world's leading swimwear brand. Founded in Sydney in 1928 Speedo has over 75 years of heritage and expertise in swimwear and launched the FASTSKIN FSII, the world’s fastest swimsuit, in 2004. Speedo is the Official Supplier to British Swimming and the ASA and provides valuable investment for swimming from grassroots through to elite level.
www.speedo.co.uk
