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World Championships duo Hector and Toby mark selection with top-10 finishes

Toby Robinson and Hector Pardoe marked their FINA World Aquatics Championships marathon swimming selection with top-10 finishes at the Spanish Open Water Nationals.

The Loughborough University duo will represent Great Britain in Budapest, Hungary, next month.

They will both race in the Men’s 10k event, which is being held at Lupa Beach on Wednesday 29 June, with Pardoe also competing in the 25k event the following day.

As part of their preparations, they travelled to Banyoles, Girona, at the weekend and both took part in the 10k event.

Pardoe claimed seventh spot, clocking 1:49.37.0 with Robinson eighth in a time of 1:49.38.9.

Robinson, who is heading for his third World Championships, also took fifth place in the 5k race after recording 53:41.5.

The previous week, Robinson had finished 10th in the 10km event at the LEN Open Water Cup event in Piombino, Italy – two places ahead of Pardoe.

Valuable experience

Robinson added: “I’m hugely looking forward to pulling on that GBR swim cap once again and competing in my third World Championships next month. 

“Training the last few months has been going very well and I’m in the best shape of my career going into this race.

“The preparation races in Piombino and Girona have got me experiencing the thrill of open-water racing again, and I can’t wait to apply the lessons I have learned here to my race at worlds.”

Kevin Renshaw, British Swimming performance pathway and distance lead for Olympic swimming, said: “It is great to confirm Toby and Hector’s selections for the upcoming World Championships, and we are excited to see what they can do on this major international stage in what is always such a tough and competitive event.

“They have both been training well in recent months and competed well in Piombino last week, having last raced in open water back in December before that. 

“This series of races is giving them valuable experience in their final preparations for Budapest. 

“For Toby, once the Spanish Nationals are done, it will be a final, well-managed push into June and then on to Budapest. Hector has a further FINA World Cup race scheduled next weekend, out in Setubal, Portugal.”

Main picture: British Swimming

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