European Games champion Abbie Wood will spearhead a young British Swimming team set to compete in Hungary for the European Junior Championships next week.
The team of 26 will compete in the city of Hodmezovasarhely from 6 to 10 July for continental honours.
Following an impressive 2015 season on the junior circuit, British Swimming Head of Performance Pathway Tim Jones is looking forward to seeing the level of progress that has been made.
“We’ve some good experience in the team including proven medallists at European Junior level. It will be the largest team we have taken to these Championships in recent years,” explained Jones.
The European Championships are a vital moment in the development of young British athletes and Jones fully expects his latest contingent to continue the success of their predecessors.
“We’re looking to be able to identify a group of talented junior athletes that we can take with us in the coming years to senior success,” said Jones. “This competition isn’t an end in itself; it’s a significant event but only in the context of being the start of a longer term journey for these exciting young athletes.”
“We will be looking to embed some of the athlete and team behaviours that we know we need to see in the next generation of successful world and Olympic athletes. There will be a focus very much on process as a means to achieving the outcomes we work so hard for.
“A wider set of science and medicine staff will also travel with the team this time so that our athletes start to learn to utilise some enhanced support ahead of breaking into the senior ranks.”The European Junior Championships take place in Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary from 6 to 10 July 2016. The British team comprises:
Edward Baxter - Cockermouth
Ryan Brown – City of Glasgow
Elliot Clogg – City of Sheffield
Tom Derbyshire – Royal Wolverhampton School
Thomas Fannon – Plymouth Leander
Nathan Hughes – Hatfield
Joe Litchfield – Doncaster Dartes
Craig McLean – University of Stirling
David Murphy – City of Oxford
Freya Anderson – Ellesmere College Titans
Layla Black – City of Leeds
Emma Cain – Millfield
Amelia Clynes – City of Leeds
Hannah Featherstone – Sedgefield and District
Isobel Griffiths – City of Birmingham
Holly Hibbott – Southport/Stockport Metro
Emily Large – Newcastle Swim Team
Anna Maine – Woking
Tazmin Pugh – Ellesmere College Titans
Ciara Schlosshan – City of Leeds
Laura Stephens – Plymouth Leander
Abbie Wood – National Centre, Loughborough
Lewis Clough – City of Salford
Jamie O’Connor – Thanet
Brodie Williams – Millfield
Alex Wray – Deepings