England’s Michael Jones ‘elated’ to make Commonwealth Games squad

With a home Commonwealth Games just around the corner, we take a look at the athletes who will be competing for Team England this summer.

Team England’s Michael Jones says he was ‘elated’ to make the squad for this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

On his call-up to the squad the para-swimmer believes that all his hard work has paid off, he said: “I was absolutely elated, after all of the work I’ve put in over the last year or so.

Being at a new club in the City of Manchester and it just shows that all the hard work has paid off and I’m just really excited to get racing and to compete in front of the home crowd.”

After being inspired by the London 2012 Olympics, Jones made a big impact on the sport in 2015, winning the British Summer Championships and qualifying for the 2016 Paralympics squad.

Jones’ career sprung into life during his first Paralympic Games in Rio, winning gold in the S7 400m Freestyle and making the final in both of his other events.

He did the same at European level two years later taking the gold in Dublin at the European Para Swimming Championships in the S7 400m Freestyle.

Jones has a history of competing on home turf after the 2019 World Championships in London but thinks this summer’s games are going to be on a whole different level, adding: “It’s a fantastic feeling, I don’t think anything can replicate the feeling you get when you compete in front of a home crowd.

“I was fortunate enough to do it at the World Championships in London back in 2019 but this is going to be a whole new level.

“The Commonwealth Games is a unique competition that doesn’t come around often and I’m so excited to compete in it.”

Learning a new style

Jones, who was awarded an MBE after his gold medal win in 2016, wanted to thank his local club for their support for helping him get to this stage. He said: “The level of support I’ve had from them has been unparalleled.”

The para-swimmer has been training for a different event for the Commonwealth Games and says if it wasn’t for his local club then he wouldn’t have been able to learn this new style.

“The dedication that they’ve had to get me trained up for a kind of alien event for me because traditionally my main event is the 400m freestyle so to go from the 400 to the 50m freestyle it’s a huge change.

“It’s a completely different event using different energy systems so it’s been a massive learning curve for me in some ways, learning how to sprint.

“The support I’ve had from them; I couldn’t have done it without them.”

See Team England’s full squad here