Though the selection meets were ended after the Portuguese National Championships a few weeks ago, on Friday British Swimming officially declared the four members of the team that will head to Barcelona this summer as a part of their Open Water World Championship Team.
The women’s team will be made up of Keri-anne Payne, who is now settling in to her new training home at Warrender, and Danielle Huskisson from the University of Stirling.
Payne failed to medal at last year’s Olympic Games finishing 4th, but she has won the 10km race at the last two World Championships – both in Shanghai in 2011 and Rome in 2009.
She has not raced open water yet this year, but is planning to swim at the Worlds Test Event in Barcelona this month.
For Huskisson, who was the top individual finisher in brutal conditions in Portugal, this is her first senior international team.
The senior member of the men’s team is Daniel Fogg, who finished 5th at the Olympics in the 10km open water swim, and also managed to final in the 1500 in the pool.
He is joined by Jack Burnell, the highest British men’s finisher in Portugal and 4th-place overall.
This gives the Brits a great veteran-rookie partnership, where the experience of Fogg and Payne will hopefully ware off on the younger generation and provide some development in the relatively thin British open water ranks.
Which events they will swim were not specified by British Swimming, though historically they’ve focused on the Olympic 10km race.
Did the US OFFICIALLY name their team yet?
OW ROCKS – no, not yet. Likely that won’t happen until after the pool trials, because the serious crossover contenders will want a chance to see what else they make the team in before deciding to swim open water, or which races to swim. For example, if Becca Mann were to make the team in the 400 IM, she might opt to still swim the 10km race, but maybe decline a second open water event. (Just an example – knowing Becca Mann, she probably wouldn’t…)
So some of these kids who swam at OW Nats don’t know where or if they have a team/trip until after pool Trials? So what do they prepare for? Pool ? More OW? Worlds? WUGS? Doesn’t seem right.