Swim England talent youngsters are praised for their professionalism

A group of teenage swimmers who represented Swim England in France have been praised for their professionalism.

The 20 youngsters took part in the FFN Golden Tour – #1 Meeting de Nice and returned home with three medals.

Lauren Cox won two of those, both of them silver, in the 100m Backstroke (1:01.60) and the 50m Backstroke (28.39), while Honey Osrin claimed a bronze in the 200m Backstroke in 2:15.37.

Three other swimmers also reached A finals at the event with Kayla Van Der Merwe fourth in the 100m Breaststroke in 1:12.36, Charlotte Rigg finished fifth in the 200m Breaststroke after clocking 2:30.48, while Maisie Elliott’s time of 2:15.82 in the 200m Butterfly earned her sixth spot.

But all the Future Performance Potential Swimmers on the Swim England Talent Programme gained valuable experience at the meet as they worked on key areas of the new Optimal Athlete Development Framework.

They were all tasked with focusing on three key areas of the framework – Person, Athlete and Performer – which will help them develop as international swimmers.

The meet saw them compete against many of the French national team, who used it as part of their preparations for this summer’s World Championships.

Every swimmer made steps forward

Lindsay Dunn, Swim England National Talent Officer (Swimming) and Pathway Lead, said the team of coaches and support staff were proud of how they had performed.

She added: “Success at the end of the meet was defined as the extent to which our swimmers had managed to improve their ability to be independent, their coachability and their willingness to perform high effort swims whilst still focusing on delivering the intended race plan.

“We felt that every swimmer made steps forward in each of these areas.

“The swimmers were using newly-obtained information learnt on the trip and were open minded and fearless about trying these out during the competition. 

“High effort swims were produced in the morning to try and secure a second evening swim and another chance to practice the race plan.

 “They were extremely professional throughout the trip and we were proud of the way that they and the staff represented Swim England.”