British Para-Swimming has announced 49 athletes that have been chosen to be part of the Podium and Podium potential as the sport continues to build towards Rio 2016 and beyond.
"The 2015 season will be of huge significance for the sport as we move into the final 700 days until the Rio Paralympics"
- Chris Furber
The sport has been working through a robust review programme with athletes to decide who would receive direct support from UK Sport through the World Class Performance Programme.
A total of 23 athletes have been named on the Podium programme with a further 26 on the Podium Potential programme and all of these athletes will benefit from an Athlete Personal Award (APA).
The sport enjoyed a successful summer with a total of 73 medals at the IPC Swimming European Championships – exceeding the UK Sport medal target. But with just two years until the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games the sport know identifying the right athletes is vital to their continued success.
National Performance Director Chris Furber explained: “The 2015 season will be of huge significance for the sport as we move into the final 700 days until the Rio Paralympics and the athletes selected to the podium programme have all demonstrated they have the ability to be able to return medals in Rio.
“The funding criteria that we put in place is based on whether the athlete has demonstrated that they on the right trajectory to reach what we’ve predicted the medal times in Rio to be.
“Athletes must be able to demonstrate that they are improving year on year to receive the top level of funding. It’s not enough to be European champion, the athletes need to demonstrate that they are improving to keep up with the rest of the world who we know will improve exponentially in the two years ahead of the Games.
“Now, we are in the process of meeting all the athletes and their coaches one-on-one to ensure they have identified correct process goals and a solid plan in place to make the necessary step up at the IPC World Championships in Glasgow next year.”
Performance Pathway Manager Craig Nicholson added: “We have worked through a robust process for selecting athletes onto the Podium Potential programme and I believe that we have a strong group of athletes that have shown real potential for the future.
“For the 26 athletes selected for the 2014-15 season, the athletes have a mixture of goals. Some will be aiming for Rio in 2016 but all have the long term goal of being on the podium in 2020.”
2014-15 Podium Athletes
- Josef Craig (City of Sunderland)
- James Crisp (City of Sheffield)
- Jonathan Fox (City of Manchester Aquatics)
- Oliver Hynd (Nova Centurion)
- Sascha Kindred (Leominster)
- Aaron Moores (Aquae Sulis SC)
- Andrew Mullen (Ren 96)
- Scott Quin (Warrender Baths)
- Jack Thomas (Swansea University)
- Matt Walker (City of Manchester Aquatics)
- Jessica-Jane Applegate (UEA Norwich)
- Claire Cashmore (National Performance Centre/Wyre Forest SC)
- Bethany Firth (Ards SC)
- Charlotte Henshaw (Nova Centurion)
- Harriet Lee (City of Newcastle)
- Nicole Lough (City of Sunderland)
- Amy Marren (Romford Town)
- Stephanie Millward (Aquae Sulis SC)
- Susie Rodgers (Beckenham)
- Hannah Russell (National Performance Centre/Guildford City)
- Eleanor Simmonds (Loughborough University)
- Stephanie Slater (National Performance Centre/Preston SC)
- Alice Tai (Bournemouth Collegiate School)
2014-15 Podium Potential Athletes
- Benjamin Foulston (Nova)
- Matthew Gibson (Derwentside)
- Thomas Hamer (National Performance Centre/Burnley Bobcats)
- Karl Harazawa (Dulwich Dolphins)
- William Hardy (Gateshead and Wickham)
- Craig Harris (Swansea University)
- Lyndon Longhorne (National Performance Centre/Durham City)
- Ryan Nicholls (Enfield)
- Jamie Warriner (Preston SC)
- Lewis White (City of Derby)
- Matthew Wylie (City of Sunderland)
- Rosie Bancroft (Manchester NPC/City of Oxford)
- Chloe Buck (Harrogate Swimming Club)
- Chloe Davies (Swansea University)
- Erraid Davies (Delting Dolphins)
- Reagan Doig (Perth City Swim Club)
- Coral Farrell (Warriors of Warrington)
- Danielle Hartin (Basildon Phoenix)
- Tully Kearney (Boldmere)
- Lily Macleod (Richmond Dales ASC)
- Adele Maguire (Warriors of Warrington)
- Jay McCabe (Darlington ASC)
- Katie Nesbitt (UEA Norwich)
- Megan Richter (Orion)
- Eleanor Robinson (Northampton)
- Zara Mullooly (Woking)