Swimming stars begin World Champs preparation in Majorca

New National Performance Director John Atkinson took charge of the sport on the 1st May and the camp has given him his first opportunity to lead the team.

He has spent the past week working alongside support staff and coaches to make sure swimmers achieved their personal goals for the camp.

The athletes enjoyed a week in their home programmes after the World Championships trial event before meeting together as a team to train in Majorca.

They have spent the past week training outdoors in excellent facilities as they prepare for their training cycle that will lead into the World Championships.

For Atkinson there couldn’t have been a better opportunity to get to know the athletes, coaches and support staff and help them to begin to achieve their goals.

“This has been a great chance for me to build relationships early on in my new position,” Atkinson said. “It started with the first team meeting which led to objective setting. All athletes created personal goals for the camp and we have all worked to help them achieve them.

“I have spent the past week observing athletes and seen them get on with the job at hand. We have been training in an outdoor pool and the weather has been unpredictable but they have coped well with everything that has been thrown at them.

“I have told the athletes that if they can make sure that they do small things well this will lead to big improvements in the long run and this has been one of the on-going themes of the camp. There is really good team spirit and they all work really well together and this can only mean good things as we move towards Eindhoven.”