British Olympic swimmer Keri-Anne Payne is the latest Olympian to enter the inaugural Great East Swim, which takes place at Alton Water near Ipswich this autumn.

The Great East Swim is a one-mile, open-water, mass-participation swim to be held on Saturday 26th September. Bronze medalist from Beijing, Cassie Patten has previously announced her participation.

It is part of the Great Swim, a series of similar mass-participation events open to swimmers of all abilities aged 16 and over that are taking place throughout the UK.

Payne said: “I finished second in the Great North Swim last year behind Cassie and really enjoyed it, so I’m really looking forward to the Great East Swim. Hopefully this time round I can take the honours.

“The event isn’t just for elite swimmers, though.  It’s perfect for leisure swimmers looking for a new challenge and charity fundraisers searching for different and quirky ways of raising funds.  I look forward to seeing everyone on the day.”

Over 700 people have already signed up to take part in the event, where waves of swimmers will be set off at intervals throughout the course of the day and the Great East Swim is set to become one of the biggest events of its kind in the country.

Further information, including entry details, can be found at www.greatswim.org
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For more information please contact Caroline Holmes: caroline.holmes@nova-international.com or call 0191 226 3210, mobile 07894 386 688

Fancy the challenge? We have a limited number of media places available for the Great East Swim. For more information please contact Caroline Holmes as above.

ABOUT NOVA INTERNATIONAL
Nova International, established in 1988 and headed by Olympic Medallist Brendan Foster have established themselves as a market leader in the world of sports marketing and event management. The company’s current brand portfolio includes Great Run the world’s largest mass particpation running programme, based on the Bupa Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon with over 52,000 entries.

The last year has seen the company branch into different sports looking at new opportunities and new audiences. Taking the already proven mass participation formula of Great Run and relating it to the new discipline of swimming, Great Swim has been created. Four events being staged acoss the UK make up the series, which is the UK’s biggest mass particiaption open water swim programme.

A squad of 57 of Britain’s top junior swimmers are finalising their preparations as they bid to take on Europe’s best next week at the European Junior Swimming Championships.

The 36th European Junior Championships will take place in Prague from 8 -12th July and will see the British Gas squad vying for international honours.

The British Gas swimmers will face tough competition from large squads from Russia and Germany as they aim to continue the steady rate of improvement that British Junior athletes have shown on the European stage.

The 57-strong squad is the largest ever contingent of British swimmers to compete at the European Junior Championships and because only two athletes can progress past the heats swimmers will face an added level of competition to post faster times to reach the finals.

“With such a large team of athletes it will prove to be a big test for them as there are four athletes entered into events and it will be interesting to see who steps up and achieves their semi and final places,” Martin said. “There can’t be any complacency within the squad as they will have to fight for those spots.

“We have to use to our advantage the fact we have a big team. We have to promote competition within our own ranks to get as many athletes as possible to finals.” 

Athletes qualified for the event at the British Gas Swimming Championships in Sheffield in March and Head Coach Chris Martin was impressed with the performances as the swimmers stepped up to be counted.

“From where I sat it was fantastic to see some new athletes step onto the pathway at the British Gas Swimming Championships,” Martin said. “In making the standards I was a little bit nervous that not enough swimmers would make it onto our programmes. But I couldn’t have been more wrong as the GB swimmers and coaches ran right up to the bar and grabbed it with both hands.”

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The LEN European Junior Swimming Championships take place in Prague, Czech Republic from 8th - 12th July 2009.

The British Gas squad consists of:

Adam Harrington Crawley
Adam John Stockport Mo
Anthony O'Driscoll Plymouth Leander
Braxston Timm Co Sheffield
Calum Jarvis Plymouth Leander
Cameron Brodie Kelly Coll
Craig Hamilton Warrender Baths
Daniel Mills Nova Cent
David Gregory Plymouth Leander
Douglas Scott East Kilbride
Jak Scott Stirling Swim
James Burden Co Coventry
James Gibson Stockport Mo
James Harrison Co Leeds
Josh Walsh Gallica
Karl Botha Millfield
Lewis Coleman Team Ipswich
Luke Wood Co Salford
Mark Conroy Plymouth Leander
Matthew Allison Bo Stockton
Richard Butler Kingston u Hull
Roberto Pavoni Brentwood
Russell Smith Stockport Mo
Thomas Allen Swim Flint
Thomas Parris Hastings
Tsubasa Nakagawa Co Leicester

Aimee Willmott Middlesborough
Ann Morris Nova Cent.
Anne Bochmann UEA Norwich
Bethany Coggins UEA Norwich
Carmella Kitching Harrow & Weald
Catriona Bruce Bo Stockton
Charlotte Bell Northampton
Corrie Scott East Kilbride
Danielle Stirrat Co Cardiff
Eleanor Faulkner Co Sheffield
Ellis Jackson St Felix School
Emma Graham Co Leeds
Emma Saunders Horwich
Francesca Marr Hillingdon
Georgia Hohmann Nova Cent
Hannah Wardle Co Leeds
Jessica Powell Stockport Mo
Jessica Thielmann Co Newcastle
Kirsty Harkness Portsmouth NS
Laura Dawson Co Newcastle
Lucy Ellis Stirling Swim
Lucy Titchin Millfield
Mai Alland Burl Hill & Hay
Rachael Kelly Newcastle Staffs
Rachel Williams Trowbridge
Sara Hamilton South Aberdeenshire
Sara Lougher Bridgend City
Sian Morgan Co Bradford
Sophie Drake Canvey Island
Stephanie Blakeburn Billingham

For further details contact British Swimming Media Officer Gemma Field on 01509 632238, 07917 726431 or email gemma.field@swimming.org

About British Swimming
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 (ASA), Scotland (Scottish ASA) and Wales. (Welsh ASA)  British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

About British Gas
British Gas, the biggest energy supplier in the country, has the lowest carbon intensity of any of the major UK energy suppliers in terms of tonnes of CO2 emitted per megawatt hour of electricity supplied to customers.  The company is one of the biggest investors in renewable power generation, principally offshore wind. Its recently completed Lynn and Inner Dowsing development, off the Lincolnshire coast, is the UK's largest offshore wind development. British Gas is committed to energy efficiency.  Our Energy Savers Report provides free expert advice on how you can cut energy use in the home and, in turn, save money.  So far, the report has shown over 2 million people how they could make an average saving of £175 a year.  To complete a report go to www.britishgas.co.uk/energy-efficiency/energy-savers-report

About Speedo®
The world’s leading swimwear brand, Speedo® is passionate about life in and around the water, creating revolutionary new technologies, designs and innovations. Supporting swimming from grass-roots through to elite level, including the phenomenal Michael Phelps, Speedo® is owned by Speedo Holdings B.V and distributed in over 170 countries around the world; SPEEDO, the ARROW device, FASTSKIN, LZR PULSE, SPEEDO ENDURANCE, FLIPTURNS, FASTSKINFSII, SPEEDO BIOFUSE, SWYM and LZR RACER are registered trademarks of Speedo Holdings B.V. The LZR RACER suit has worldwide design rights and patents pending.