Great Britain has announced that they will be sending just 5 swimmers to the European Championships, which is well-short of the near-complete squad of 32 that the Germans are taking. The group that will be representing the UK will be James Goddard, Robbie Renwick, Michael Jamieson, Craig Gibbons and Sophie Allen. All 5 are on the Olympic roster, with all but Gibbons having individual races to swim. The Brits have already declared with certainty that they would not be rested for this meet, rather they would take it as a chance to “sharpen their racing skills”…
The Chinese team has secured the Bath Intensive Training Center pool for their use in the three-week leadup to the London Olympics. Bath, about 100 miles west of London, is home to one of British Swimming’s Intensive Training Centers, where Olympians like Andrew Willis, Stacey Tadd, and Michael Jamieson make their training home. China will bring their elite team, winners of 5 gold medals at last year’s World Championships, including World Record holder Sun Yang to the University natatorium for a good period of acclimation to the weather and time zones before heading into London. That Chinese Olympic squad will begin being named this week at the Chinese Olympic Trials…
New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle, formerly a Cal collegian, has been named the 2011 New Zealand Swimmer of the Year after this past week’s National State Open Championships. She was honored on the strength of finaling at last year’s World Championships in both the 400 and 800 freestyles, as well as taking the New Zealand 800 free relay to an 8th-place finish. The competition for this award was not small, and included her victoring over standout men’s performers Daniel Bell and Glenn Snyders.
Beaverton, Oregon swim coach Rod Harman has been inducted into the NFHS National High School Hall-of-Fame. Harman has won 8 Oregon State Championships since 1959…