Not being ones to let sleeping dogs lie, we thought we’d test the hypothesis and pit GB’s women against their Antipodean counterparts in a virtual dual meet across the Olympic programme. While it’s a bit of fun, the aim was to see whether Australia’s undoubted depth could counter the areas that Britain clearly had some stronger individuals, such as fly and freestyle.

The format was simple; a duel meet using the top two swimmers in each event from the respective Olympic trials. Trials results only were used rather than rankings so that the results were as close together as possible in time. Relay squads were picked using the top 4 in the 100m and 200m freestyle events and the fastest individual swimmers for the form events. A takeover tolerance of 0.5s per takeover was adopted. Results were scored 4-3-2-1 in the individual events and 7-0 in the relays.

The results were as follows:

So perhaps an unsurprising result, in that it’s a win for Australia but when the influence of the clean sweep of relays is discounted, the margin narrows to 70.5 to 59.5. Indeed it would not be beyond the realms of possibility for Gemma Spofforth and Lizzie Simmonds to have taken the two backstroke events which would have made it very tight indeed. Similarly if we considered only the top performer in each individual event, then Britain beats Australia by 7 wins to 6.

But it was the depth of the Aussie crew that told in the end, not only in the dominant relay wins, but also in the individual events; when an event was won by an Australian, the second placed swimmer was also from Down Under. Conversely when an event was won by a GB swimmer, with the exception of the two fly events, it was an Australian who was second and in several cases third as well.

None of which is to play down the GB performance, in what is at best a highly theoretical scenario. Almost certainly the gap would have been bigger leading into Beijing, but the fact remains that while Britain’s top ladies are amongst the best in the world, there is a noticeable drop off behind them by comparison with Australia. It is coming, but it’s this depth of talent that will need to develop over the next Olympic cycle for Britain to cement its status at the top table of world swimming.

Alexander was Norway’s’ first ever Olympic medallist in the pool, taking silver in Beijing over the 100m breaststroke, and would have been one of the favourites for the Olympic crown in London, following his dominant victory in Shanghai last year. While Ryan Lochte may have been the first man to break a world record since the return to textile, it was Alexander a few days before who showed us it could be possible. His 58.71 winning time was just a fingernail shy of the suited mark and remains one of the greatest swims ever seen in the event.

While I didn’t have the privilege of meeting him, it is clear that he was a man held in the highest regard by all in the swimming world who knew him, from coaches and media to team-mates and indeed rivals.

My sincere condolences go out to Alexander’s family, his team-mates and coaches.

All images © 2012 GBSwimstars

Lotte Friis. Photo Vaughn Ridley/Swpix.com

Sarah Sjoestroem. Photo Vaughn Ridley/Swpix.com

It may be 800 years or more since the Vikings ceased their raids into Britain in search of gold to plunder, but another Viking raid of sorts will take place this summer when two of Scandinavia’s finest come to the Olympics with firm hopes of taking precious metal from their British rivals.

Most well known of the pair is Denmark’s Lotte Friis, who over the past couple of years has established herself as the only woman who can realistically challenge Rebecca Adlington for the 800m freestyle crown. Meanwhile Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem has placed herself firmly amongst the contenders in three events and will be matched against Fran Halsall in two and Ellen Gandy in one, placing herself directly against two more of Britain’s brightest medal hopes.

The threat from Friis is already well known, with the 2009 world 800m champion the only swimmer to stay within touching distance of Adlington in Shanghai last year. She believes it will be another titanic battle this summer: “I think it’s a really close race, it could be anybody’s, and I like that because you don’t know who’s going to win until the clock stops” she says.

“But Rebecca is the favourite going in, she’s the world champion, she’s the Olympic champion, and she has the home crowd advantage so obviously she’s the girl to beat.”

Not that having the underdog status is off-putting for the Dane, who is relishing the chance to race with reduced pressure. “I like the fact that I’m not the favourite because that gives me time to focus only on myself; just focussing on what I need to do to swim my best. Hopefully that will be enough to get a medal and who knows if that will be gold silver or bronze.”

On form it would be easy to ink in the names of Adlington and Friis for the top two places at the Olympics, even if the order remains uncertain, but Friis refuses to see it that way. “I feel a little bit like I’m under pressure – that I’m going to win a medal no doubt about it, but I know how little it takes for unknown swimmers to get a medal” she explains. “I did that in Beijing; no-one expected me to take a medal and I still did, so I’m still looking out and not expecting anything at all because you never know what could happen”

And there it is; a parallel to be drawn between the experiences of Friis and Adlington following their gold medal winning exploits of Beijing and Rome, with the Danish public heaping expectation onto their champion in the wake of her 2009 triumph, much as the British suddenly saw an Adlington victory as inevitable post-Olympics.

“We are a really small country and swimming is not that big in Denmark, but in the Olympics, it always blooms and becomes one of the biggest events and with me taking a medal in the big competitions in the last few years, people are looking to me to take a medal, and I start feeling that pressure” says Friis, not that her rivalry with Adlington goes unnoticed, perhaps unlike the reverse situation in the UK. “Already back home people are talking about me and Rebecca against each other, because it was so close in Shanghai so of course they are expecting and are ranking me as a gold medal candidate, but we will see”

“I do feel like people are saying ‘yeah, Lotte is going to win a medal’ as when I got back from Beijing and Rome, everyone was so excited because it was new, but now it’s kind of old news.”

It is from there that the pressure arises, and with such a strong record in the last four years, it only intensifies inasmuch as her success becomes a given. “I felt like when I got back from Shanghai, people were like ‘oh yeah, Lotte won two medals, she was supposed to do that’ where we had Jeanette [Ottesson] who won the gold in the 100 freestyle and people were jumping up and down for her.”

Lotte Friis Competes at the Olympic test event Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

An Olympic gold would certainly have people taking notice however, but with Friis not having swum and 800m fully rested in 2012, it won’t be until the Games themselves that we see how close the race will be. Regardless of the outcome it promises to be one of the best battles of the Olympics in what is the longest pool race in the women’s programme.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the distance spectrum, Sjoestroem has been cutting a swathe through the 100 and 200m freestyle events in the last 6 months, having already established herself as a force to be reckoned with over 100m butterfly by winning the world title in 2009 in a world record time. While that mark, aided by the now defunct Arena X-glide suit, remains out of reach, the 18 year old Swede has shown herself to still be at the top of the tree in the textile era, recording a time of 56.79 at the Olympic test event to sit atop the world rankings, almost half a second ahead of Gandy in second.

Not content with that she also posted a 1:55.23 200m freestyle in London to add to a 53.05 blast in the 100m at the very end of 2011. That swim had ranked officially the best ever in textile until the remarkable recent performance of Ranomi Kromowidjojo, but Sjoestrom is still second in the world in both events for 2012.

Remarkably her test event performances came in a period of intense training. “I just came back from a training camp so I was not really prepared to do well, to do a fast race” she said, with the implicit warning for her rivals that entails.

But her recent surge to the top of the world can be traced back to results in Shanghai last year, where Sjoestroem finished in fourth place no fewer than 3 times. “I only really had first places before” she explains, recalling a series of results that saw her retain the European 100m fly title in 2010 to follow up her 2009 world championship win, “so I needed to know how it felt to come fourth – it’s good to know for the Olympics what can happen – you can learn more from your defeats.”

“I needed that motivation and I did much better training after Shanghai” she continues, “so it was very good for me to have that experience.” That improved training has also seen a revision to her freestyle stroke, part of the reason she now sits near the top of the world rankings

“At the last Olympics I wasn’t even qualified for the relay in the freestyle events. Now I’m first in the 100 and 200 free in Sweden – I’m much faster now having changed it to swim properly!”

Sarah Sjoestroem on her way to a world leading 200 free in London. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

But whatever the threat the Sjoestroem poses in London, Britain can take some credit for her improvement given that she has been guided through her swimming career by an English coach, Carl Jenner.

Jenner hails originally from Brighton and swam for Haywards Heath, before emigrating to Sweden with his wife in 1993. He started coaching at the Södertörns club, which also produced Stefan Nystrand, in 1995 and was head coach by the time a certain young swimmer joined the club.

“Sarah came into our programme as an 8 year old and we started to see this name cropping up in competitions quite often, so we had a look and have tracked Sarah through the squad system, to where she is now” Jenner recalls, elaborating on her freestyle progress by adding “we’ve changed Sarah’s technique and there’s been a progression in the number of metres Sarah now swims compared to 2008. A lot of those metres are freestyle, so while she’s always been a good freestyler, she has developed into an excellent freestyler.”

An excellent freestyler with a real chance of standing on the Olympic podium three times. Friis of course is targeting the medal places as well, but success for the Scandinavians could spell disappointment for Britain. Friis puts it more bluntly. “I’m hoping to spoil the British party”, she says with a smile, before remarking on the sentiments that stalk her on these shores, where people inevitably and understandably, have a parochial eye on the medal places. “When I talk to the British press it’s always “Do good but not too good!”

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Ladies and gentlemen, we are now seeing the beginnings of another stage of human evolution…

Jean Grey: X-men First Class

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Pic: Oliver Davidson

OK, so another stage of human evolution might be stretching the point somewhat, but deep in Derbyshire a quiet evolution of the swimming landscape has been taking place in the progression of Dereventio Excel on the national stage.

The squad was formed in 2003 with the aim of assisting the development of swimming in the Derbyshire region by supporting the local clubs in delivering top quality training and competition via a central elite group. At the time this was a central tenet of the revolution in British Swimming being masterminded by Bill Sweetenham and such a development was of course encouraged.

This was the genesis of the Excel squad, named also for the Latin name of the River Derwent which flows though Derby. From those beginnings, the squad has developed and now regularly places swimmers onto national junior and senior teams, while progressively improving the number of swimmers it sends to national championships.

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To date the squad’s biggest achievement has come in the shape of one of the longer standing members of the group, Molly Renshaw. Having been a Derventio swimmer since the age of 11, her potential was well known to the club, but she announced herself to a wider audience at 2011’s ASA Nationals.

Renshaw had never swum under 2:30 for the 200m breaststroke heading into that meet, but suddenly dropped her best to 2:27.67, earning herself an unexpected trip to the World Championships in Shanghai. She couldn’t maintain that form in the Far East, coming home in 2:28.35 for 20th place in the heats, but the experience gained was invaluable for her main aim – a place in London for the Olympics. To achieve that goal would require a further drop in her best time to 2:26.89 – a feat she achieved, recording a time of 2:26.81 in the trials final, but despite clawing back a defecit of 1.10s over the closing 50m, she couldn’t quite catch Stacey Tadd who secured the one selection berth confirmed to date.

“It’s a bit gutting” said Molly immediately after her race, “but I’ll be back in June and take it from there”, her swim having placed her in pole position to take that second Olympic spot. Selection for the European Junior Championships and a senior call up for the US Open in August softened the blow a little.

Pic: Molly Renshaw

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But head Coach Andi Manley has bigger aims for the squad, working to turn it into a regular producer of internationals:

“Derventio as a whole squad are going from strength to strength, we have now had 6 International swimmers, including 3 of them senior internationals, in the last 2 years, and our aims keep getting higher.” he says. “Everyone is raising their game and improving all the time, that is all the swimmers from the development squad right up to the international swimmers, standards are getting higher and its great to see all the swimmers wanting to improve themselves.”

Manley was himself a handy sprint freestyler, who learnt his coaching trade during 7 years at Loughborough University, taking over the Derventio squad in 2009, after a successful stint with Swindon Dolphins. That sprint pedigree has borne fruit as 50m freestyler Kane Haggett broke 23 seconds for the first time at Olympic trials to book himself a senior international cap at the US open later this year.

Pic: Krissy Tomlinson

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Pic: Abbie Wood

For the club the opportunity to be part of the GBSwimstars project was too good to pass up. Explains assistant coach Kim Hill: “Derventio eXcel and all involved were excited and honoured to be a part of the GB Swimstars project. Simon’s photos are amazing and really capture the essence of swimming stars and future stars around the country. Great Britain are privileged to have someone capture all these moments in the lead up to the home Olympics”

As for the swimmers an X-Men themed shoot was easy to get excited about. “We are all so excited to be a part of the photos for GB Swimstars, we have seen some of the other work Simon has done… they are amazing!” said Jess Cross

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“The photos really allowed us to have fun and try different things, it was a great experience and doing the different looks was great” adds Kathryn Roworth. But it wasn’t always easy, given the need to look mean, notes Krissy Tomlinson, “When we were told it was an X-men type theme, we had to practice our game faces” she says “Which was hard when we were having so much fun!”

You can see the full gallery of photos from the Derventio Excel shoot at the GBSwimstars website here

Pic: Lucy Wood

All images © 2012 GBSwimstars

Molly Renshaw: Still seeking selection despite a FINA A time at trials Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

The dust has now well and truly settled on the British Olympic swimming trials and 38 swimmers will return to the Olympic aquatic centre this week for their orientation camp with selection well and truly secured.

But that will not be the extent of the team that will contest the games in the same waters in July, as 11 individual event places remain and there are still relay squad places up for grabs. These spots will be filled following the ASA National Championships which take place at Ponds Forge in June. The selection policy states that places for individual events will be given to:

the fastest available swimmer(s) achieving the FINA A qualification standard from times recorded in the final of the relevant event at the British Gas ASA Nationals 2012 or times recorded in the final of the relevant event at the Trials by swimmers who have already qualified in the relay or another individual event.

So, if you qualified in one event at trials and swam under the FINA A time in the final of another you could be in line for a second swim if no-one swims faster in the finals in Sheffield. If you’re not already selected you just need to swim the FINA A time In Sheffield and be faster than anyone already in the team.

This approach throws up some anomalies and is slight odd; for example Molly Renshaw (amongst many others) swam under the FINA A time in London in the 200m breaststroke but as she didn’t qualify in another event has to put in another taper just 5 weeks out from the games in order to swim the time again in Sheffield. Whether in that position swimmers and coaches may have opted to swim through the ASA champs if the FINA A time had already been achieved and take the risk that someone else may nip past them is a moot point – they have no option.

But leaving aside the rights and wrongs of the policy, that is what needs to be done. The table below summarises the remaining places in the squad and shows who is in pole position from trials for each, having either done the A time and been selected or in some cases having demonstrated that the required standard is within their capability already. Where no one swam an A time, the fastest unselected swimmer from the trials finals is shown, but clearly qualifiers could come from anywhere.

it’s likely that a number of these spots, in particular in the men’s sprint freestyle will go unfilled, even after the second trials but there is another route to an individual swim for those already selected which is demonstrated in part by the women’s 100m breaststroke. Sophie Allen swam inside the FINA A time in the semi-final at trials, posting 1:08.44, however this does not count under the wording of the selection policy. She has two options; either she sits out the race in Sheffield and hopes no-one swims under the FINA A time, whereupon as a selected athelete already she may then be offered the swim on a discretionary basis, or she can swim in Sheffield and attempt to qualify directly. This is the only event where this particular situation occurs, but those on the team could still get additional swims, even without the A time, once FINA determines where the balance of their additional places for swimmers making the FINA B time will be allocated.

For the relay spots, additional swimmers can be added to take each squad to a maximum of 6. Given the make up of the team which leaves it well covered for the freestyle relay events, it may be a chance to give youngsters some experience as the policy does not give time standards for relay alternates.

In addition it is understood that Dennis Pursley wants to have backup swimmers for every leg of the medley relays which might mean some un-qualified swimmers getting spots on a relay squad and then getting individual swims as above. How this applies will depend on results in Sheffield but as things stand its most likely to benefit the men’s 100m backstroke and butterfly swimmers, with the only gap on the ladies side being in the 100m breaststroke where Stacey Tadd is already on the squad to provide cover to Kate Haywood.

With so many individual places up for grabs there will be an almighty qualification scramble in Sheffield. What’s for sure is that many remaining Olympic dreams will be realised, but just as many could be shattered.

Lochte: can he win 9 golds? He'll need to improve his backstroke to do so

“Can the laidback Ryan Lochte win a record nine golds?” asked Jessica Salter in The Telegraph last week. Such an achievement would surpass the 8 golds won in Beijing by Lochte’s huge rival Michael Phelps and while the man himself stated it was possible, he didn’t give anything away as to how it could be achieved. Phelps’ domination in 2008 was a triumph of logistics, talent and to some extent luck (think of the fingertip victory in the 100 fly and the incredible anchor leg from Jason Lezak), so here are some of the considerations if Lochte is to mount the podium 9 times in London.

Firstly Lochte has to win all of his primary individual events. In Shanghai last year he took an impressive 4 individual gold medals in the 200 IM, 400IM, 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke. His dominance in the backstroke and 400IM last year would mark him out as clear favourite for those events, but Michael Phelps will not have taken his defeats in the 200IM and freestyle lying down and represents a formidable challenge and not one that can be overlooked lightly. But let’s assume that Lochte can prevail as he did in 2011 – four down.

Next it’s paramount that he gets himself the full complement of relay medals. For the 4 x 200m freestyle, that’s a strong possibility – The US being pre-eminent in 2011 and winning the world title by over 2 seconds from France. Then it gets interesting and Lochte faces two challenges – firstly he needs to get into the US team for the 4x100m freestyle and medley relays and then they have to actually win them – neither is a foregone conclusion.

In the 100m freestyle, individually Lochte only ranked 94th in the world in 2011, but this could be as much that he didn’t swim the event tapered. He did swim the heats in Shanghai, splitting 48.28, which could have got him into the final team, and many were surprised he wasn’t picked, so he has a chance there. But can the US win it? Australia won handsomely in 2011 and has the two fastest men ever in textile amongst their ranks in the shape of James Magnussen and James Roberts, making them hot favourites. France, who also beat the US in 2011, also cannot be discounted. It’s tough to see the US taking this one, but then many said the same thing at the 300m mark of the final in 2008.

In the medley relay, while the US will start as favourites, it’s tougher to see how Lochte fits in. He is an incredible all rounder, but this means he doesn’t have the raw speed needed to dislodge Nathan Adrian from the anchor leg or the fly skills to knock out Michael Phelps. Realistically that leaves the 100m backstroke leg for Lochte, but in 2011 he was only the 5th ranked US backstroker, in 53.79, behind Phelps, Nick Thoman, David Plummer and Matt Grevers. His textile best in 2010/11 was a 53.69 from the Pan Pacific Champs, where he would have swum tapered. Breaststroke is not worth considering – Lochte ranked 124th in 2012 in 62.30, excellent for a medley swimmer, but well off the pace needed.

So to make that team, he’ll need to significantly improve his backstroke speed, which seems eminently possible. That done, and three relay victories secured – seven down.

Now it gets interesting, as at this point Lochte has to add extra individual events. As he said himself when asked about winning nine golds, “I know it is possible, it’s just a matter of how many events my body can physically handle in a row.”

The 100m backstroke is the obvious choice as an extra event – he will need to improve to make the medley team in any case and is already a phenomenal 200m swimmer. But assuming he makes through the US trials, in his way stands the formidable Camille Lacourt (although not co-world champion Jeremy Stravius who failed to make the French team) and Ryosuke Irie both of whom swam sub 53 in 2011, and in Lacourts case will be looking to swim sub 52 following his 52.11 in the 2010 European Championships. By far a foregone conclusion, especially when you factor in that the semi finals and final are in the same sessions as the 200m IM in London.

But if we assume that Lochte can pull out a 100m backstroke win, there is still one more event to add. Breaststroke is out. Fly would appear to be a long shot, which really only leaves the freestyle events. Magnussen is the scorching hot favourite in the 100m, so the 400m would seem to be a more logical choice given Lochte is a world class 200m freestyler and 400IM swimmer. Could he beat Sun Yang, Tae Hwan Park, Paul Beidermann et al? It’s hard to say – his only ranked swim in the last 2 years was a 3:55.50 at the Charlotte Grand Prix – hardly evidence of his capability. But this event throws up another scheduling conundrum – both 400 free and IM are on the first day in London, quite a double to attempt. Without Phelps in the IM it’s possible Lochte would win not at full pace, but it would be a tall order.

So there it is – possible on paper, but highly improbable in the context of the programme and his rivals. Lochte is a fearsome competitor however, one who loves the underdog tag, and so if anyone can do it, he could be the man. However, as with Phelps, he will need everything, everything, to run his way, both in the lead up and on the day.

Joe Roebuck put his 2008 disappointments behind him, qualifying for 3 individual events and taking 2 national titles. His win in the 200 fly was a triumph of guts and determination as he held off second placed Roberto Pavoni. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

Spofforth bounced back from a difficult year to secure her 100m backstroke Olympic berth with a perfectly spotted finish that saw her overhaul Lizzie Simmonds and Georgia Davies in the final metres. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

One of the new faces to make the grade for the Olympics, Willmott chased Hannah Miley hard and made her way under the QT to earn her first senior international cap on the biggest stage of all. Photo: Alex Broadway/SWPix.com

Haywood turned her life upside down last year when she upped sticks and moved to Melbourne to train. Things didn’t go entirely to plan in 2011, but the move bore fruit this year as she made the 100m breaststroke cut in her best time for 3 years. Photo: Alex Broadway/SWPix.com

Jamieson was left deflated after the 100m breaststroke; he made the QT but Craig Benson beat him to the spot. He bounced back in the 200m, and while he couldn’t topple his Bath teammate Andrew Willis, he secured a PB and an Olympic berth. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

The only swimmer to break a national record at trials, Gandy confirmed her Olympic potential with two dominant wins. Her pacing in the 200m fly final may have been eccentric, but the talent was clear and she heads to London in fine form. Photo: Alex Broadway/SWPix.com

Halsall unquestionably produced the swim of the week when she posted 24.13 for the 50m freestyle, equalling the best ever in textile from the great Inge de Bruijn. She also added 4 other swims to her Olympic programme. Photo: Alex Broadway/SWPix.com

While still being short of her brilliant best from 2009, there were finally signs of movement towards those heights from Jo Jackson. With her well publicised health problems seemingly behind her she secured a 400m place and a 4×200 relay berth. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

One of the few success on the men’s freesyle front, Renwick secured himself Olympic swims in the 200m and 400m freestyle. He was close to the relay cut for the 400m freestyle relay and may yet force himself into the reckoning for that event. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

The woman who could derail Becky Adlington’s 800m bid passed though London as part of her Olympic preparations. She will aim to dent home nation hopes in August. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

While many were building up the chances of Britain’s women in London, Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem was busy damping down those expectations as she set times of 56.76 for 100m fly and 1.55.53 for 200 freestyle. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

400m world record holder Paul Beidermann popped up for swims over 200m and 400m freestyle at the Olympic pool. He faces quite a battle come July with Yanick Agnel, Tae Hwan Park and Sun Yang. Photo: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com

All images © 2008-2012 SWPix.com

Ellen Gandy - only British Record at Trials Photo: Alex Broadway/SWPix

For those competing at trials, the only numbers worth anything were the numebrs 1 and 2 next to their names on the scoreboard after the final, along with the times recorded of course. For everyone ele, these are the numbers that tell the story of the week.

38 – the number of swimmers selected for London 2012 after trials, including 17 women and 12 men picked for individual events.

9 – the number of swimmers picked only for relays; Caitlin McClatchey was added for the 4×200 freestyle and Jessica Lloyd for the 4×100. 7 men were added for the freestyle relays; only Robbie Renwick from the 4×200 freestyle relay squad was able to achieve an individual berth

4000 – metres raced by Hanah Miley, who swam the 400IM, 400 freestyle, 200IM, 200 Breaststroke and 800 freestyle, reaching finals of all bar the 400 free.

14 – individual spots still up for grabs at the ASA championships in June, 4 on the women’s team and 10 on the men’s team

15 – world leading swims in 2012 from GB swimmers, as the press kept reminding us. Some have already been surpassed, including some on the same night in guest finals, others will go as the trials season begins properly.

0 – number of male sprint freestylers to secure individual selection

996 – the number of international points scored by Becky Adlington’s 400 freestyle, the top swim of the meet by that measure. That was one more than her 800 and 5 more than Fran Halsall’s 50m free textile best time, while Hannah Miley’s 400IM was 7 behind on 989.

13 – number of different clubs represented by individual selected swimmers

16 – swimmers from ITCs selected for individual events. 5 from Stockport, 3 from Bath, 2 from Swansea and 6 from Loughborough. Note that Joe Roebuck and Amy Smith train with the Loughborough University squad and not the ITC

1 – number of British Records broken. Ellen Gandy’s 57.25 100m butterfly was the only national mark set.

5 – Number of swimmers making their third Olympic team; Simon Burnett, Ross Davenport, Jo Jackson, James Goddard and David Davies were all in Athens and then made the team again for Beijing.

3 – most individual events qualified for, a feat achieved by both Fran Halsall and Joe Roebuck. Halsall also goes in the two 400m relay squads, giving her 5 events in total, but when asked ruled out the possibility of trying out for the 800 freestyle relay.