The British swimming squad for the Paris Olympics was confirmed today as TeamGB revealed the thirty pool swimmers selected off the back of the recent trials held in London.
The team is headlined by the likes of Freya Colbert, Duncan Scott and Anna Hopkin with Adam Peaty back in the international fold for the first time since 2022. Freya Anderson is also included, as expected, after a bout of glandular fever severely curtailed her programme in London. It’s not clear yet what swims she will be offered, but most likely she will be deployed in the relay events where she has excelled in a GB hat in recent years.
There were no surprises sprung amongst the 13 swimmers who won their events within the nomination standard nor among the direct qualifiers for the relay events, or indeed in the inclusion of all the runners up who also made the nomination standards, but there had been considerable interest in how the selectors would wield their discretion in filling out the team.
Relays were of course a big factor with Jack McMillan and Jacob Whittle getting the nod for the men’s freestyle relays and James Wilby included to provide cover for the breaststroke relay spots. On the women’s side the inclusion of Angharad Evans signposts that the women’s medley relay team will compete in Paris, while Eva Okaro’s first senior selection does likewise for the 4×100 freestyle team.
The biggest surprise, if it can be called that, was the inclusion of Kieran Bird. The Bath man had fallen agonisingly just 0.2s shy of the 400m freestyle nomination time on the opening night in London, but his ability to provide additional cover in the 4×200 freestyle relay appears to have won the selectors over, with him also likely to be given an individual swim in that 400m.
The three open water swimmers were also formally confirmed in the shape of Hector Pardoe, Toby Robinson and Leach Crisp, but there was no word on whether Robinson would have the opportunity to add a pool swim in either the 800 or 1500m freestyles, having won the former and been the runner up in the latter at trials.
Individual event programmes will be determined in due course, but the swimmers headed to Paris are as follows:
Swimmers selected by winning and posting a nomination time
- Adam Peaty
- Ben Proud
- Dan Jervis
- Duncan Scott
- Matt Richards
- Max Litchfield
- Ollie Morgan
- Abbie Wood
- Anna Hopkin
- Freya Colbert
- Honey Osrin
- Kathleen Dawson
- Keanna MacInnes
Swimmers selected for relays:
- Alex Cohoon
- James Guy
- Joe Litchfield
- Tom Dean
- Lucy Hope
- Medi Harris
Swimmers Selected as runners up with nomination times:
- Jonathan Marshall
- Luke Greenbank
- Katei Shanahan
- Laura Stephens
Discretionary selections:
- Jack McMillan
- Jacob Whittle
- James Wilby
- Kieran Bird
- Angharad Evans
- Eva Okaro
- Freya Anderson
Banner image: Speedo/Simone Castrovillari