The England team for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games was confirmed yesterday, with the expected 25 swimmers now certain to make the trip down under in March. Loughborough University provides the bulk of the squad with twelve representatives, while 7 swimmers will make their senior international debut in a long course event. The youngest of those is Francesca Halsall who at 15 gives away 20 years to the oldest member, European Short Course Champion Mark Foster. Only Rebecca Cooke and James Gibson will be defending titles won ion 2002.
The team now faces the daunting prospect of competing against the might Australian team in their own backyard, but it is a challenge that head coach Ian Turner is relishing. “We’ll definitely be going into the lion’s den in March and will be facing a world-dominant Australian female squad, but the team selected has the ability to meet this challenge.
“It will be a very tough meet with strong teams heading to Melbourne from South Africa, Canada and the other home nations, but I’m confident we have a team that can perform in the most demanding surroundings.”
England Team
(Swimmer/Club/Qualified swim coach)
Women
Julia Beckett (Loughborough University/Ben Titley)