British Swimming names funded swimmers for 2014

Michael Jamieson
Michael Jamieson – probably one of the first names on the funding list. Picture: Vaughn Ridley/Swpix.Com

British Swimming today named the 64 swimmers who will recived funding from the national federation for the the 2014 season. Of those 24 were named to the Podium funding group which targets those aiming for Rio 2016, while a larger group of 40 swimmers was named to the Podium Potential programme, with an eye more on Tokyo in 2020. This latter selection was reduced in size from an initially planned 65 swimmers as a result of funding constraints.

This group represents the first selected by GB Head Coach Bill Furniss and National Performance Director Chris Spice, ostensibly against their new progression approach, which measures a swimmer’s performance along a path of improvement towards a predicted medal winning time in Rio. Added weight is given to performances at the benchmark meet of the year, in this case the World Championships in Barcelona, and decisions are hence not just made on season’s best times.

The podium list raises few surprises about who is on it and more in terms of those who aren’t. Notable absentees include Lizzie Simmonds, currently to be found tearing up the short course backstroke scene in the Far East, former open water World Champion Kerrianne Payne and British 50m backstroke record holder, Georgia Davies. In all, four members of the team that went to Barcelona in July are left without funding, albeit that Dan Wallace’s status in the NCAA would have precluded him from receiving funding he would likely have been offered, while two, Ieuan Lloyd and Ellie Faulkner, are named in the podium potential group.

The potential group lives up to its name, reading like a veritable who’s who of British junior swimming, with a number of senior swimmers, including several members of the 2012 Olympic team swelling the ranks.

British Swimming Head of Performance Pathway Tim Jones was keen to emphasise that the potential group had been carefully considered, when he said “As part of the nomination process for Podium Potential we cast our net far and wide. We undertook a detailed analysis on around 100 young athletes before settling on a high quality, focussed group of 40 based on their predicted progressions and potential for future success”

NPD Spice went on to add “We took a very detailed look at athletes who we think can achieve their goals in Rio or Tokyo and competition for places has been extremely tough.”

For those not named today, there remained a glimmer of hope for a reprieve, with British Swimming in a position to review funding awards in February once their allocation from UK Sport is confirmed.

The funded swimmers named are as follows:

Podium
  • Sophie Allen (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Craig Benson (Warrender)
  • Adam Brown (Auburn (U.S.))
  • Jazmin Carlin (British Gas ITC Swansea)
  • Daniel Fogg (British Gas ITC Loughborough)
  • James Guy (Millfield)
  • Francesca Halsall (British Gas Nat Sprint Prog, Loughborough)
  • Michael Jamieson (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Jemma Lowe (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Craig McNally (Warrender)
  • Hannah Miley (Garioch)
  • Ross Murdoch (British Gas ITC Stirling)
  • Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Roberto Pavoni (British Gas ITC Loughborough)
  • Adam Peaty (City of Derby)
  • Ben Proud (Plymouth Leander)
  • Lauren Quigley (Stockport Metro)
  • Robbie Renwick (City of Glasgow)
  • Liam Tancock (British Gas Nat Sprint Prog, Loughborough)
  • Christopher Walker-Hebborn (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Andrew Willis (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Aimee Willmott (Middlesbrough)
Podium Potential
  • Tom Allen (Swim Swansea)
  • Charlie Attwood (Taunton Deane)
  • Adam Barrett (British Gas Nat Sprint Prog, Loughborough)
  • Anne Bochmann (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Megan Briggs (Warrender)
  • Jack Burnell (British Gas ITC Loughborough)
  • Suleman Butt (Aberdeen)
  • Jonathan Carlisle (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Lewis Coleman (City of Sheffield)
  • Harriet Cooper (City of Derby)
  • Kathleen Dawson (Warrington Warriors)
  • Emma Day (Guildford)
  • Alice Dearing (Royal Wolverhampton School)
  • Eleanor Faulkner (City of Sheffield)
  • Jessica Fullalove (City of Manchester)
  • Nicholas Grainger (City of Sheffield)
  • Isobel Grant (City of Sheffield)
  • Robert Holderness (Millfield)
  • Caleb Hughes (Hatfield)
  • Danielle Huskisson (British Gas ITC Stirling)
  • Calum Jarvis (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Matthew Johnson (British Gas ITC Bath)
  • Ellena Jones (Swim Swansea)
  • Amber Keegan (Nova Centurion)
  • Rachael Kelly (British Gas Nat Sprint Prog, Loughborough)
  • Max Litchfield (City of Sheffield)
  • Ieuan Lloyd (  City of Cardiff)
  • Jessica Lloyd (City of Manchester)
  • Danielle Lowe (Bebington)
  • Charlotte McKenzie (F.I.R.S.T)
  • Stephen Milne (Perth City)
  • Molly Renshaw (Derventio Excel)
  • Duncan Scott (F.I.R.S.T)
  • Elena Sheridan (British Gas ITC Loughborough)
  • Sophie Smith (British Gas ITC Loughborough)
  • Chris Steeples (City of Manchester)
  • Sophie Taylor (City of Leeds)
  • Rebecca Turner (City of Sheffield)
  • Martyn Walton (Hatfield)
  • Abbie Wood (Derventio Excel)