Positive and professional Swim England 2024 squad pass French Open test

Members of Swim England’s 2024 squad have been praised for being ‘positive and professional’ at the recent French Open.

Eight swimmers took part in the two-day event at the outdoor Odyssey pool in Chartres against a strong field of world-class competition.

Zak Aitchison (Stirling University), Amy Bell (City of Sheffield), Samuel Budd (City of Sheffield), Emily Crane (Loughborough University), Isobel Grant (City of Sheffield), Jacob Greenow (Bath University), James McFadzen (Loughborough University) and Alex Wray (Loughborough University) all impressed with their performances.

The team achieved two podium places, with Bell winning bronze in the 400m Individual Medley in 4:51.14, while Grant was also third in the 200m Butterfly A Final after clocking 2:13.70.

Bell finished fourth twice, clocking 2:32.13 in the 200m Breaststroke A Final and recording a time of 2:18.36 in the 200m Individual Medley A Final.

Greenow also had to settle for fourth place in the 400m Individual Medley in a time of 4:25.34.

The squad achieved three fifth places with Budd clocking 16:04.03 in the 1500m Freestyle, Crane finishing in 29.69 in the 50m Backstroke A Final and Aitchison recording 28.24 in the 50m Breaststroke A Final.

Strong, world-class field

Budd claimed a sixth place finish in the A Finals as he clocked 3:57.93 in the 400m Freestyle.

The squad also achieved two first places, three seconds, one third and a fourth in the B Finals.

Lindsay Dunn, National Talent Officer (Swimming) and Pathway Lead, said: “It was a great few days in France working with this positive and professional group of swimmers and staff. 

“Despite coming up against a strong field of world-class competition, which included the likes of Andrey Govorov, Charlotte Bonnet, Kosuke Hagino, Mehdi Metella and Bruno Fratus, 86 per cent of the heat swims secured a place in the A or B finals.

“What perhaps was most encouraging was their ability to identify and explain their initial process goals for their heat swims. They contributed to the analysis of their heat performances and were able to identify key areas for improvement for the finals.

“The swimmers seemed to enjoy ‘race day’ and were unaffected by the high-quality opposition.

“It was good fine tuning before the summer meets and everyone made Swim England proud.”

Top