European senior and junior medallists are among a group of 10 Aquatics GB swimmers set to contest June's European Aquatics Championships in the pool – while the Olympic marathon swimming team will also be competing at the event.
On the eve of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, this year's European Championships - taking place in Belgrade, Serbia from 10th-23rd June - presents a valuable opportunity for a young cohort looking to make their mark on the senior international stage and building towards major opportunities in the future.
Among those included is Bath Performance Centre competitor Ed Mildred, who won Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay silver and Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay bronze at the last European Championships in Rome two years ago.
Meanwhile, there is a trio of medallists from the 2023 European Junior Championships – also in Belgrade – who are selected for their maiden senior GB team, including City of Leeds athlete Leah Schlosshan, a double European Junior champion in the Women's 200m Individual Medley across the previous two seasons. Bath Performance Centre's Matthew Ward - who clinched four European Junior medals last July - and Women's 200m Backstroke silver medallist Holly McGill are all included after strong showings at the recent Speedo Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.
Indeed, every pool swimmer except Mildred will be preparing for their first senior long-course outing in a Great Britain cap, with this competition earmarked as a chance for potential future mainstays of the Aquatics GB setup to take on the continent's best in top-level competition.
Joshua Gammon (Bath University) defended his Men's 200m Butterfly British title a few weeks ago and placed second in the 100m event to earn his call-up, Alexander Painter (Millfield) reached the 50m and 100m Freestyle finals in London and Fleur Lewis (Loughborough University) took British silver across both Women's 800m and 1500m Freestyle events.
Calvin Fry (Loughborough University), Lucy Grieve (University of Stirling) and Jack Skerry (Bath Performance Centre) complete the 10-strong group heading to Belgrade.
Before those athletes dive into the pool swimming programme, the Olympic Games-bound trio of Leah Crisp, Hector Pardoe and Toby Robinson will compete across the marathon swimming 10km events on 12th June, following a busy lead-up that sees them competing in several other high-level international events over the coming weeks.
World Championship bronze medallist Pardoe and four-time World Championship competitor Robinson (both Loughborough University) will contest the men’s 10km event as they build towards the Olympic race in August, while Bath Performance Centre athlete Crisp will line up for the women’s 10km race as she prepares for her Olympic debut.
Across both pool and marathon swimming programmes, Aquatics GB Head of Performance Development Alan Lynn is looking forward to seeing how each athlete fares in the European arena.
"All 10 of the athletes selected for the pool swimming team produced some brilliant performances at the recent Aquatics GB Swimming Championships, and showed that they could deliver big swims when it mattered, in a packed and intense competition environment," he said.
"Heading into the summer, we know each swimmer will be looking to build on those swims to progress their experience and target season's bests in Belgrade, when they will come up against a host of strong international athletes, including plenty who will be building towards the Olympics a few weeks down the line.
"This is a pool that holds fond memories for a few of this group after a fantastic European Juniors last July when we saw the likes of Leah, Matthew and Holly put in some outstanding swims, and hopefully that is something they can harness a year on.
“As for Hector, Leah Crisp and Toby in the marathon events, their focuses are very much on producing their best in Paris about seven weeks after the European Championships, so we know they will use this high-level racing opportunity as a key stepping stone towards the Olympics and to provide further indication of where they are at after some strong work in training over the months since February’s World Championships.”
Aquatics GB swimming team selected for the 2024 European Aquatics Championships, Belgrade (12th June for marathon; 17th-23rd June for pool swimming):
Leah Crisp, Bath Performance Centre (England) – marathon swimming
Calvin Fry, Loughborough University (England)
Joshua Gammon, Bath University (England)
Lucy Grieve, University of Stirling (Scotland)
Fleur Lewis, Loughborough University (England)
Holly McGill, University of Stirling (Scotland)
Ed Mildred, Bath Performance Centre (England)
Alexander Painter, Millfield (England)
Hector Pardoe, Loughborough University (Wales) – marathon swimming
Toby Robinson, Loughborough University (England) – marathon swimming
Leah Schlosshan, City of Leeds (England)
Jack Skerry, Bath Performance Centre (England)
Matthew Ward, Bath Performance Centre (Scotland)
