The fate of Britain’s female freestyle relays was one of the selection questions that needed answering in the heat of competition in Budapest. With the qualification deadline looming on 31st May, this was the last chance for the two teams to set times and secure their spots in Tokyo, subject of course to the selectors giving them the nod.
Britain’s swimmers begin their European Championships campaign in Budapest this week in a sort of grey area. For the 28 swimmers already nominated for the Olympic games, this is a staging post to the main event, a meet to swim through and hone racing skills, while not being overly concerned at the outcomes. The Europeans in Olympic year are ever thus but there are nonetheless some big questions to be settled this week in Hungary.
It was a productive five days for Britain with 11 medals won in the Glasgow pool. Leading the way was Freya Anderson who took home two golds and a silver in some record breaking times. Steve, Bob and Katie look back over the competition and are joined by Freya’s coach Alan Bircher to get an insight into her performance.
Three more days of competition went by and Britain gained a further 13 medals in the Tollcross pool. Plenty, then, for Katie, Steve and Bob to dive into as the 2018 European Championships come to a close.
Halfway through the second major meet of the year for Britain’s swimmers and there’s been as much to talk about out of the pool as in it. Katie, Bob and Steve consider whether we should expect more than timing malfunctions at this level of competition as well as looking at what really matters, the medals won in the water.