Think of sibling sporting success in Britain and the Brownlee brothers spring to mind but turn your attention from West to South Yorkshire and Litchfield brothers Max and Joe are also looking to make their mark in the pool.
Think of sibling sporting success in Britain and the Brownlee brothers spring to mind but turn your attention from West to South Yorkshire and Litchfield brothers Max and Joe are also looking to make their mark in the pool.
Max, at 22 the elder by almost three-and-a-half years, has already forced his way on to the world stage, coming fourth in the 400m Individual Medley at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
That came a month after younger brother Joe was crowned European junior champion in the 200m Individual Medley on his 18th birthday.
Max then rounded off a breakthrough year with silver in a British Record at the World Short-Course Championships in Windsor, Canada.
There has been talk of the City of Sheffield pair emulating the Brownlees but it is something to which Max pays little heed.
“It’s been thrown around a few times since Joe came to Sheffield last year,” he says. “At the end of the day it’s a compliment. If they are saying we are as good as the Brownlee brothers – which we are not by any stretch of the imagination – then it can only be a good thing. If people say something in the media you’ve just kind of got to get on with it, if they say that then they say that, we’ve just got to get on with what we are doing and just swim.”
The brothers’ swimming career began at Doncaster DARTES, although Joe almost did not make it that far, the youngster swimming in circles when first introduced to the water.
As the pair moved into the senior ranks they have been forced to cut family ties behind the blocks, most recently at the Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis, United States, where Max claimed bronze in the 400m Individual Medley, one place ahead of Joe.
Max admits to feeling a little responsibility towards his younger brother and played down any sibling rivalry, instead focusing on the job in hand.
“We are both very quiet and calm before races: there is no kind of heat going on, it’s not like hitting each other or fighting each other before we get in the pool.
“We just get in there, do our own thing. We get out, we give each other a well done and get on with it really, and then you are back to being brothers again.
“But when you are in the pool you are there to try to beat each other and everyone else, and Joe is someone I have got to beat and I am someone he’s got to beat.”
Next month they will meet in the 200m and 400m Individual Medley at the British Championships at Ponds Forge where they train under Russ Barber.
The meet doubles as the selection trials for July’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary and, while making the team is Max’s first priority of the season, a personal best time is also a key focus – he believes he will have to drop a couple of seconds off his best if he is to claim a medal in Budapest.
“Guys like (Kosuke) Hagino, who won in Rio, he’s going to be a mainstay for the next few years and you’ve got others around him that will also be there for a while yet,” says Max.
“I said back in Rio the 400 medley final could very well be very similar come Tokyo – there are no older guys there, a lot of swimmers were in their early twenties and they will all be at this year’s World Championships fighting for medals.”
Max is also looking to improve his 200m Individual Medley this season and knows that if he applies the hard work undertaken and what he has learned then his best time will fall.
And that could set up some fascinating brotherly battles with Joe, who prefers the shorter medley, who also has his sights set on bringing improvements to his swim which will see the times drop.
“I’m not going to say I prefer the 400 because it’s the longer event,” says Joe. “I like the speedier events and the 200 I feel I can hit from the start, just go straight at it and hold on to the end.
“It’s only been this year when we really started racing head-to-head in those races: it’s still not too much of a rivalry if you get me because he is still a little bit quicker than me especially on the 400.
“I am getting closer and closer on the 200 but there is still a gap which hopefully will be reduced in the next couple of years.”
As well as World Championship selection, the British Swimming Championships will also determine selection for the World Junior and European Junior Championships, and the European Youth Olympic Festival.
The British Swimming Championships take place at Ponds Forge, Sheffield from 18-23 April 2017. For tickets click here. To watch all the action on the live stream subscribe to our YouTube channel click here.
