Five town swimmers picked for England
LOUGHBOROUGH-based swimmers Adam Peaty, Molly Renshaw, Jocelyn Ulyett, Sarah Vasey and Luke Greenbank have been selected to represent Team England at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Queensland, Australia.
Peaty, who trains at Loughborough National Centre, is ranked fastest in the world in the 50 and 100m breaststroke and made the qualifying time for selection earlier in the year.
Peaty is the most successful British male swimmer on the world stage, with five world championships titles to his name. He currently holds world records in the 50m breaststroke, secured at the 2017 World Championships in Hungary, and the 100m breaststroke set in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In both of these events, he broke the world record twice on the way to his titles.
Renshaw is no stranger to the Commonwealth Games, having claimed two medals from four events at Glasgow 2014. She qualified for the World Championships in Budapest after a silver in the 200m breaststroke, making her the top seed in England in that event.
Vasey stormed her way to her first national title at the British Swimming Championships in April and secured herself a seat on the plane to the World Championships in Budapest. She made three finals at her debut world championship appearance, and is currently ranked fastest in England for the 100m breaststroke.
Ulyett who swims for Loughborough University swam a season’s best at the British Swimming Championships 2017, the fastest 200m breaststroke time in the Commonwealth this year. This time secured her first British title and earned her a spot on the World Championships team in Budapest. Although it was her first senior international appearance, Ulyett secured a top 10 finish in the 200m butterfly.
Commenting on her selection, Ulyett said: “It is extremely exciting to be selected to compete for Team England. I feel very proud to have a chance to represent my country at the Commonwealth Games.
“Competing at the Games will be a great experience for me to learn more about myself in that kind of environment. I’m eager to figure out how to optimise the use of the environment to let me race the best I can.”
Greenbank is also relatively new to the senior international scene. He qualified for his first world championships after defending his 200m backstroke title at the British Swimming Championships, and also making the qualifying time for selection for Team England.
The 20-year-old said: “It feels amazing to be selected to compete for Team England, I remember watching the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and wishing I was there competing. Having the opportunity to represent my country at this level is a dream come true.”
The athletes are five of 15 athletes to be announced by Team England following the first phase of selections by Swim England. The remaining athletes will be selected following qualification at the Swim England National Winter Championships 2017 in December.
Team Leader Grant Robins said: “This is an exciting team that has been selected for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. We have a wealth of experience from athletes that know what it takes to win.”