A small squad of British swimmers picked up a medal a piece at the Australian Open Water Championships in Melbourne.

Alan Bircher (University of Bath) and Cassie Patten (Stockport Metro) both collected silver in their respective 10km events, while Kerri-Anne Payne (also Stockport Metro) took bronze behind teammate Patten.

Bircher fought off tough competition in the sprint finish to take silver in 1 hour 59.11 minutes - just five second separating second and fourth position. Four-time Australian iron man champion Ky Hurst took gold in 1:59.01.

In the women’s event, open water newcomers Patten and Payne finished second and third in 2:08.12 and 2:08.56.

The Australian meet has provided the British trio with a valuable test run ahead of next year’s World Championships, which take place at the same course on St Kilda Beach.

-ENDS-

The Australian Open Water Championships take place at St Kilda Beach Melbourne, from 21-23 September. For results log onto www.swimming.org.au

For more information contact British Swimming media officer Amanda Smith on 01509 632238, 07876 652 318 or email amanda.smith@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.
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