Double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington and World Champion Gemma Spofforth have today been named as part of the swimming team that will travel to Delhi to represent England at this year’s Commonwealth Games.
The 29-strong team will head to India to compete in the Games that take place from the 3rd to 14th October. The squad, of both male and female swimmers, that was announced today all achieved qualification standards at the British Gas Swimming Championships that were held in Sheffield last month.
They will be joined by a further 13 swimmers who will be selected after the LEN European Championships (4 – 15 August, Budapest) and the British Gas ASA National Championships (18 – 21 August, Sunderland).
The team will hope to emulate the success of their last Commonwealth Games, where they finished second in the medals table behind host nation Australia, with eight golds, 11 silvers and four bronze medals.
Craig Hunter, Chef de Mission of the England team in Delhi, today said, “I’d like to welcome our first group of swimmers to the England team for Delhi and wish them the very best in their continuing preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.”
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John Atkinson, Team Leader of the England swimming team for Delhi, added, “The swimmers selected for the England team can now begin their preparations for Delhi in earnest. For the others that didn’t meet the qualification criteria there are still 13 places available on the team.
“Having an early trials will give the selected swimmers the chance to have a longer preparations and the later trials gives those swimmers that are hitting form later in the year a chance to make the team.
“I look forward to seeing the performances at our later trials as the athletes try to qualify for the Games.”
The female contingent announced today also included: Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, Ellen Gandy, Francesca Halsall, Joanne Jackson, Sasha Matthews, Keri-Anne Payne, Elizabeth Simmonds, Amy Smith, Jessica Sylvester, Stacey Tadd, Rebecca Turner, Aimee Willmott and Katherine Wyld.
Rachel Stansfield, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
Image credit: Speedo
