British Swimming writes here that a 46-strong GBR Swimming team including Michael Jamieson and Fran Halsall will head to the Flanders Speedo Cup in Antwerp this weekend, as continuation of their preparation phase for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the European Championships in Berlin this summer. They will be joined by ‘an identified group of talented, young swimmers looking to build on their experience on the international circuit’, head coach Bill Furniss stating that: The Flanders Speedo Cup is the first competition of the year and provides a great opportunity for our athletes to compete against some of the top swimmers in Europe.
This coincides with the Danish swimming federation sending their 12-man strong team of Great Danes to the same event, as a first real step to harden these specially selected young guns. Danish national coach Nick Juba commenting: “”I have no special expectations for this early season weekend meet, but I do want everyone to race hard in every single race they swim, whether it is a morning heat or an evening final. Antwerp will be the kicking-off point for the 2014 racing side of the Great Danes and obviously we will be looking at the events closely. Next Saturday and Sunday we have a testing weekend in Odense,” and “Our Great Danes must focus upon winning races or achieving the highest possible position and result in all of their races. There will be an emphasis upon race positions rather than early season times. I am optimistic that this group is already in decent shape. Six of them have been training in Pretoria – at the Danish Sun Camp – and they will be looking to race fast and strong in Flanders.”
See the startlist here on zwemfed.be
