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Wider Open Waters For Brits Post-London

Jan 16, 2013  - Craig Lord

In response to an inquiry report into London 2012 home Games performances by the hosts, Britain is sending a small squad of swimmers to race on FINA's Open Water World Cup series in South America. The report concluded that athletes were not racing enough and were not experienced enough come the high-pressure moments. 

Daniel Fogg, fifth over 10km at London 2012 and one of those who can certainly hold their head high when reflecting on his debut Olympic campaign, leads a squad that includes European Junior 5km Open Water silver medallist Tom Allen, Tom Sunter and Jack Burnell. They are joined by Lucy Charles and Rachel Williamson. 

The cup 10km races will be staged on January 27 in Santos, Brazil and Viedma, Argentina on February 2. 

Berni Dietzig, Interim Head of Open Water for British Swimming said: “Findings in the performance debrief following the London Olympics recommended that our open water swimmers need to race more and get more experience of racing in a range of conditions. This is the first opportunity in 2013 to take on some top competitors and these two races are usually well attended so they will be competitive. 

"The two races will have different conditions; one is in the sea and the other in a river so the team will experience all kinds of currents, swells and flows. Usually they will have a week to ten days recovery time after a 10km race and they won’t get that this time so it will be a big challenge for them." 

Thomas Lurz (GER), one of the most successful open water swimmers in history, was a member of Britain's post-London 2012 inquiry panel.