England, Scotland and Wales swimmers go head to head for Battle of SwimBritain

Press release courtesy of dna

Four of England’s brightest swim stars teamed up to take on Scotland and Wales this weekend to complete the British Gas SwimBritain challenge.

London 2012 Olympian Aimee Willmott joined forces with British Gas Championship multi-gold medallist swimmers James Guy, Siobhan Marie-O’Connor and breaststroke swimmer Adam Peaty for a very special training exercise and some friendly competition as they prepare to represent their nation this summer.

Facing them on the starting blocks were Robbie Renwick, Craig Benson, Lewis Smith and Craig McNally for the Scotland contingent. Welsh swimmers Georgia Davies, Calum Jarvis, Jemma Lowe and Tom Laxton who completed the trio of teams competing in the Battle of SwimBritain race.

SwimBritain is a four-person relay where each team member swims 250m four times around a specially-designed course in a dedicated 50m pool. Taking place at locations around the country from August, it will give the public a chance to join the Battle of SwimBritain athletes and many more to complete the challenge and celebrate a summer of swimming.

The Battle of SwimBritain race taking place this weekend will kickstart their training for the SwimBritain challenge, as well as give the teams a sneak peak at how they measure up against each other as individual nations.

Leading the English quartet, freestyle and butterfly swimmer Fran Halsall said:

“I’m really looking forward to teaming up with my fellow English swimmers for the Battle of SwimBritain. As elite swimmers we’re all naturally competitive, so there will definitely be an element of sizing up the other teams, especially as it’s the first time we’ve competed as individual nations this season.

“Winning medals at a national and international level is obviously the pinnacle for all elite swimmers, but it’s the hours of training and preparation in the pool that make it possible to go out there and give your best performance.”

Fellow team member, Aimee Willmott added “Challenges like SwimBritain; it’s the preparation that counts so a good training schedule can’t be underestimated.

I’d love to see as many people as possible giving SwimBritain a go later this year and with the training app available to all participants alongside training plans, you have all the tools you need to put in your own medal-winning performance!”

Registration for British Gas SwimBritain is now open and teams can sign-up to join one of Britain’s swimming stars to complete the challenge at the end of the summer.

Available for all participants that sign up, the SwimBritain Training app will help track, log and monitor progress as swimmers around the country prepare to take on the 1000m water challenge.

Also available are instructor-led sessions for all SwimBritain participants at one of over 120 pools nationwide, as well as online training materials at swimbritain.co.uk

Find your nearest venue and more by visiting swimbritain.co.uk or following @BGSwimming and Facebook.com/BGSwimming.