23 December 2021

Well done to Lara Thom­son and Leah Schlosshan who are 2 of the 47 swim­mers select­ed for the 2021 – 22 Swim Eng­land Junior Squad which will see the ath­letes prepar­ing for future inter­na­tion­al competitions.

Areas such as learn­ing are­na skills, per­for­mance behav­iours and rac­ing phi­los­o­phy are among the top­ics to be deliv­ered on the programme.

On Wednes­day 22 Decem­ber, the team gath­ered vir­tu­al­ly as they are induct­ed onto their first online engage­ment day. Olympian Max Litch­field joined as a guest to share his knowl­edge and atti­tude to obsta­cles with the athletes.

This is part of an over­ar­ch­ing strat­e­gy to bring the team togeth­er vir­tu­al­ly in the first instance, before mul­ti­ple oppor­tu­ni­ties to train and race along­side one anoth­er in 2022.

One such oppor­tu­ni­ty will be com­pet­ing at the Mar­seille Inter­na­tion­al Meet in March 2022 or, alter­na­tive­ly, a bespoke open water event.

This approach will allow the swim­mers to gain inter­na­tion­al and domes­tic rac­ing expe­ri­ences as well as addi­tion­al online learn­ing activ­i­ties and sup­port through­out the season.

A num­ber of expe­ri­enced coach­es and sup­port staff will be work­ing with the squad to fur­ther their devel­op­ment and share key knowl­edge and insight, one of these is our very own Craig Robertson.

‘Enhance the individuals’

Richard Black­shaw, Swim Eng­land head of swim­ming tal­ent, said: ​“We are thrilled to be invit­ing such a tal­ent­ed and enthu­si­as­tic cohort of swim­mers onto the Swim Eng­land Junior Squad for this season.

“The hybrid approach is designed to ensure that the learn­ing they take away can be eas­i­ly imple­ment­ed in their home pro­grammes and allows for col­lab­o­ra­tion with their home coaches.

“The oppor­tu­ni­ties the squad offers will aim to enhance those select­ed, both as ath­letes and indi­vid­u­als in the com­pe­ti­tion arena.”