Tuesday 19 March marked four weeks to go until the 2019 British Swimming Championships, where places on the Great Britain team for the World Championships in South Korea are up for grabs.
Whilst 2019 is a key year on the road to Tokyo 2020, the World Championships in July are a major target in their own right, with Adam Peaty and Ben Proud looking to defend their crowns, whilst the likes of Duncan Scott, James Wilby and Georgia Davies will all be striving for a first individual global crown.
First things first though, our swimmers will have to earn their spots on the plane to Gwangju, with the Glasgow competition giving them the chance to do so. Running from Tuesday 16th until Sunday 21st April, the British Swimming Championships will serve up some outstanding competition, with a number of head to heads already whetting the appetite.
One such duel is likely to come in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke, where Peaty will be looking to fend off the challenge of James Wilby and Ross Murdoch. The trio were the fastest three in the heats at the European Championships last summer, but the two per nation rule meant Murdoch wasn’t able to stake a claim for a medal. Few will forget that world record performance from Peaty come the final, with Wilby duly taking silver and moving to second on the world rankings.
Ahead of their re-match at the British Championships, Peaty said:
“I’m stronger than ever in training, so it’s just about resting up now and seeing what we’ve got mid-season. The world title is mine and I’m going to defend it – I know I can and if I get my head in the right space I can continue to push barriers.”
Murdoch has a number of special memories from the Tollcross International Swimming Centre, where the championships will take place next month, and his aim for the meet is pretty simple.
“I see myself on the team, as my goals for the summer are at the World Championships, and I feel like I’m good enough to be there. I’ve been changing things up slightly with my training and I feel a lot better, so I’m looking forward to seeing how my stroke handles a taper and how my body handles these final phases into the trials – I’m looking forward to really getting stuck into it!”
A whole host of gold medal favourites were in action at the Edinburgh International last weekend, with plenty of strong swims indicating trials could be an exciting one, especially once people have tapered into the event. James Guy scored a number of victories in the Scottish capital and was pleased with where he’s at.
“We’re four weeks from trials now and Edinburgh felt ok, so hopefully I can progress that in a few weeks’ time.”
The next month is a key one, as our swimmers fine tune their preparations and freshen up for the key domestic meet of the season.
With entry fees trebling at noon on Friday 22nd March, athletes are encouraged to sign up prior to then, by clicking here.
For spectators, tickets are still available on the British Swimming website.