Great Britain blend youth and experience as ten to make World Championships debut

A total of 20 English athletes have been selected to be a part of British Swimming’s squad for the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan this summer.

They make up the majority of the 29-strong British team that will compete inside the Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A for the eight day swimming programme from July 23-30.

With the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on the horizon the squad contains a nice blend of world-class arena experience with up and coming talent.

Six Olympic champions – including Freya Anderson, Tom Dean, Anna Hopkin and James Guy – will take to the blocks alongside previous World Championship gold medallists James Wilby and Ben Proud, the latter having claimed a stunning world title in the Men’s 50m Freestyle in Budapest last year.

Alongside the Olympic Champions, the squad boasts the likes of Freya Colbert and Laura Stephens who put in outstanding British Championships swims to make the qualification times in their respective events as this cohort look to follow on from a Worlds in Budapest last June which saw five British medals.

Meanwhile, there are 10 athletes set to make their Worlds debut in Japan. Among those is Oliver Morgan who is included in a senior British Swimming team for the first time after a stunning week at the British Swimming Championships saw him complete a Men’s 50m-100m-200m Backstroke hat-trick.

Lauren Cox, Cameron Brooker, Greg Butler, Luke Turley and Emily Large are also among those who will be taking to the world stage for the first time in July.

“Strength in depth”

Speaking about the selections for the 2023 edition, British Swimming Performance Director Chris Spice said: “We were really pleased with the standard of our athletes’ performances at the British Championships, with established names and new faces delivering big swims and helping play their part in some outstanding races.

“It is difficult to highlight just a few performances from Sheffield, but Matt Richards finishing the week with a win in another stunning Men’s 200m Freestyle final was great, as was the contest between Katie Shanahan and Abbie Wood in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley, as well as Katie and Freya Colbert across the 400m IM and the 200m Backstroke.

“The noise of the crowd as Dan Jervis finished off his impressive 1500m Freestyle swim was a memorable moment, as well as Oliver Morgan sweeping the men’s backstroke events.

“The way that our female athletes are moving things on is also reflected in this team – Freya Anderson and Laura Stephens are just two more experienced performers who delivered eye-catching personal bests last week and will be looking to build again into the summer.

“As with every year, our swimmers and coaches will now put those performances behind them and focus on what they can do between now and the summer to ensure they can deliver a season’s best when it matters most.

“Key training blocks and some important racing opportunities are on the cards in the coming months, and we know our athletes will make the most of every single one of those with the World Championships in mind.

“Relays continue to be a primary focus of competition for us, and our selections have helped us to ensure we have the requisite strength in depth to stand those relay teams in good stead for Worlds, when we will be targeting qualifying quota spots for Paris 2024 in all our relays.”

Main image – British Swimming