British Para-Swimming have confirmed the list of athletes who have been invited on to the World Class Programme for the upcoming 2023 season, building towards a home World Para Swimming Championships and then the Paralympic Games a year later.
A host of talent from across a variety of classifications, including Paralympic, world, European and Commonwealth champions, have been named among the 39 athletes on the World Class Programme (WCP) for 2022/2023.
After one of the busiest summers on record for the group - highlighted by a fourth-place medal table finish at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira and multiple medals won at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham - many of the medallists from those events will be back in the pool and continuing to build towards Manchester 2023 and the Paralympic Games of Paris 2024, including multiple world champions Bethany Firth, Maisie Summers-Newton and Tully Kearney. Commonwealth champion Alice Tai is also on the podium programme, alongside Tokyo 2020 medal winners Reece Dunn, Stephen Clegg and Scott Quin.
Both the Podium and Podium Potential programme tiers (as listed below) receive opportunities and targeted financial assistance from UK Sport through the World Class Performance Programme's Athlete Performance Award (APA).
Athletes selected on to World Class Programmes are also eligible to benefit from competition and training camp opportunities throughout the season in which they are selected, with access to world-class sports science and medicine services available, on top of comprehensive support from British Para-Swimming performance staff and national Institute of Sport programmes across the UK.
There are a total of nine swimmers included in the Podium Potential programme either for the first time or after a hiatus, including World Championship medallists Poppy Maskill - after an outstanding breakthrough season this year - and Matt Redfern, and Commonwealth medallist Lily Rice.
Reflecting on the World Class Programme invitations, British Swimming’s Associate Performance Director Tim Jones said: “We are extremely pleased to be able to offer our support, in conjunction with UK Sport, to such a talented group of athletes.
"This is a pivotal season for our programme as we begin the final 24-month lead in to the Paris Paralympics. It is an important training year where we need our athletes to invest in a sustained block of work, and we have the benefits of a home World Championships in Manchester as a focal competition at the end of the summer. We look forward to working with this group and their coaches to make the most of the year ahead."
World Class Programme
Podium
Jessica-Jane Applegate, City of Norwich Swimming Club (England)
Jordan Catchpole, Waveney Swimming Club (England)
Ellie Challis, National Performance Centre Manchester (England)
Stephen Clegg, Edinburgh University (Scotland)
Reece Dunn, Plymouth Leander Swimming Club (England)
Louise Fiddes, Hatfield Swimming Club (England)
Bethany Firth, Ards Swimming Club (Northern Ireland)
Thomas Hamer, National Performance Centre Manchester (England)
Grace Harvey, National Performance Centre Manchester (England)
Suzanna Hext, Swindon Amateur Swimming Club (England)
Tully Kearney, National Performance Centre Manchester (England)
Scott Quin, Edinburgh University (Scotland)
Rebecca Redfern, Worcester Swimming Club (England)
Toni Shaw, University of Stirling (Scotland)
Maisie Summers-Newton, Northampton Swimming Club (England)
Alice Tai, Ealing Swimming Club (England)
Brock Whiston, Barking and Dagenham Aquatics Club (England)
Podium Potential
Luke Batty, Bolton Metro Swimming Squad (England)
Dylan Broom, Torfaen Dolphins Performance Centre (Wales)
Oliver Carter, University of Stirling (Scotland)
Samuel Downie, Musselburgh Amateur Swimming Club (Scotland)
Eva French, Nuneaton & Bedworth Swimming Club (England)
Eliza Humphrey, Northampton Swimming Club (England)
Scarlett Humphrey, Northampton Swimming Club (England)
Charlotte Hyde, Enfield Swim Squad (England)
George Kelman-Johns, Gloucester City Swimming Club (England)
Louis Lawlor, City of Glasgow Swimming Club (Scotland)
Lyndon Longhorne, Derwentside Amateur Swimming Club (England)
Poppy Maskill, Alsager Swimming Club (England)
Jack Milne, University of Aberdeen Performance Swim Team (Scotland)
Megan Neave, Repton Swimming Club (England)
Leah O’Connell, National Performance Centre Manchester (England)
William Perry, Ealing Swimming Club (England)
Matt Redfern, Worcester Swimming Club (England)
Lily Rice, Pembroke and District Amateur Swimming Club (Wales)
Georgia Sheffield, Bolton Metro Swimming Squad (England)
Cameron Vearncombe, Plymouth Leander Swimming Club (England)
Zachary Washington-Young, National Performance Centre (England)
Meghan Willis, Torfaen Dolphins Performance Centre (Wales)