Olympic champions among first swimmers selected for Commonwealth Games

Olympic champions Adam Peaty, Tom Dean and Anna Hopkin are part of a group of 10 athletes who have been selected to represent Team England at this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

The Tokyo 2020 gold medallists join Max Litchfield, Abbie Wood, Molly Renshaw, Ben Proud, James Wilby, Luke Greenbank and Alicia Wilson who will be in action at Birmingham’s Sandwell Aquatics Centre.

Three-time Commonwealth champion Peaty, who will be competing at his third Commonwealth Games, said: “It’s always a privilege to be selected to represent my country and I’m so excited about a home Commonwealth Games, especially one that is so close to the area I grew up in. 

“Having the home crowd in the stands supporting us gives me even more motivation to perform my best and inspire those people watching. 

“I can’t wait to represent Team England again!”

Second-time Team England athlete Wood added: “I want to perform as well as I can in front of a home crowd, in front of my parents, who haven’t seen me race since I have stepped it up.

“It’s been a couple of years – maybe the last major meet they saw me at was the Commies, so it’ll be nice for them to be a part of it and for me to show them how far I’ve come.”

‘Great milestone’

Grant Robins, Swimming Team Leader for Team England said: “This is a great milestone for me as Team Leader.

“To have these high-quality, high-achieving ambassadors of our sport book themselves on the bus to Birmingham is inspirational for all the other potential qualifiers that are training hard right now to qualify at the British Para-Swimming Championships in Aberdeen in February and the British Championships in Sheffield in April.

“These swimmers performed with distinction in Tokyo and I hope they can light up the pool again in July for Team England.”

Each of the ten swimmers made at least one individual Olympic final in Tokyo, with many of them claiming a spot on the podium for their efforts.

Peaty became the first British swimmer to defend an Olympic title by winning the Men’s 100m Breaststroke, while Dean secured his first Olympic title in the Men’s 200m Freestyle.

Hopkin was part of the winning Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay team who powered home on the anchoring leg to touch first in a new world record time of 3:37.58.

‘Exceptionally high calibre’

More than 400 Team England athletes will descend on Birmingham this summer with the swimming action starting in the Sandwell Aquatics Centre on 29 July.

Mark England, Team England’s Chef de Mission, added: “This is an exceptionally high-calibre swimming team to represent Team England at Birmingham this summer.

“Off the back of our first team announcement for triathlon, we’re starting to build momentum towards Games time.

“It’s brilliant to announce such an experienced group of swimmers, with eight having competed at a Commonwealth Games before – and I look forward to the swimming team building in the coming months.”

Selection for para-swimmers and the remaining swimmers to compete for Team England at Birmingham 2022 will be announced in the build-up to the Games.