The inaugural AP Race London International Meet, featuring $22,000 in prize money, has begun to announce some of the elite international athletes committed to attend and has officially opened for entries.
The meet, which will serve a hybrid field of professional and local youth swimmers, is scheduled for May 27-29, 2023 at the London Aquatic Center which was built for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Led by Ed Baxter, in concert with the Adam Peaty brand, the meet is the first of a planned series of competitions under the AP Race Events name.
The list of confirmed professionals now includes Chad le Clos, who will race at the London Aquatics Center in long course for the first time since his most famous swim, when he beat Michael Phelps in the 200 fly at the 2012 Olympic Games. A rejuvenated le Clos is now training in Germany.
The list of pros also includes a contingent from Loughborough, the UK’s most famous pro training squad, that is home to swimmers from a number of countries – like Catie DeLoof from the USA and Felix Auboeck from Austria.
Among the professionals who have been confirmed so far:
- Adam Peaty (Great Britain) – 8-time World Champion, 16-time European Champion, 16-time World Record holder, 3-time Olympic Champion
- Chad le Clos (South Africa) – 2012 Olympic gold medalist, 16-time World Champion, 7-time Commonwealth Games Champion
- Sydney Pickrem (Canada) – Olympic relay medalist, World Champion, 4-time LC Worlds medalist
- Marco Koch (Germany) – 3-time World Champion, 3-time European Medalist, former World Record breaker
- Daniel Wiffen (Ireland) – Commonwealth Games silver medalist, European Record holder
- Catie DeLoof (USA) – Tokyo 2020 Olympic relay medalist
- Felix Auboeck (Austria) – 2-time European medalist, 3-time Olympic finalist
- Luke Greenbank (Great Britain) – 2-time Olympic medalist, 4-time World medalist
- Anna Hopkin (Great Britain) – Olympic Champion, World Record breaker, 9-time British Record setter, 5-time European Champion, World Championships bronze medalist
- Jacob Whittle (UK) – World Championships relay bronze medalist, two-time European Champion, Four-time Commonwealth Games relay medalist
Starting to look like a great line up