Olivia Federici, Katie Clark, Genevieve Randall and Jodie Cowie have been named as the 2016 Duet squad after a successful Synchronised Swimming trial.
A total of 14 athletes will now begin training as the senior national team. Olympians Federici and Clark return to the Synchronised Swimming line up alongside Randall and Cowie as they train as Duets ahead of the Olympic Test Event.
The trial saw athletes measured on their flexibility, coachability, stamina and synchro skills, and after working alongside coach Katie Dawkins, the four were selected.
The Olympic Test Event takes place at the beginning of 3 – 7 March 2016 at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre and will see the world’s best aiming to qualify their spot at the Games.
A total of 24 duets will qualify to compete at the Olympic Games and in order to secure the place for Great Britain, the Duet needs to finish in the top 11 overall.
Synchronised Swimming Lead Karen Thorpe is excited to have the quality in depth to select four athletes but is pleased with the standard set by Randall and Cowie.
“This is the most important year in our cycle and selecting the athletes that could make up our Olympic Duet is a really important
landmark,” Thorpe said. “The standard in this country has stepped up this year and to have the depth to select four athletes is excellent.
“We have a great mix of experience and youth with Olympians Katie and Olivia returning to the fold and joining up with Genevieve and Jodie. Katie and Olivia bring maturity, experience and unquestionable determination and Genevieve and Jodie’s hard work has been evident to all throughout this Olympic cycle. It’s going to be an exciting mix as we move towards the Olympic qualifying event.
“I want to pay respect to all of the athletes that attended the trials. We saw a really high standard and it’s exciting to see results from the pathway and programme we have in place. We will have a strong team ready for the European Championships in May in London. The world’s best nations are from the continent and it’s really important for our athletes to learn all they can from them.”
Swimming news courtesy of British Swimming.