Olympic and world champions are among an 11-strong British Swimming team heading to Melbourne for December’s 16th FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships (13th – 18th December), as attention turns to the 25m pool after one of the sport’s busiest-ever seasons.
The British team involves a number of notable performers from all three major long-course competitions this year, including sprint freestyler Ben Proud – who secured the historic hat-trick of 50m Freestyle World, Commonwealth and European titles in the space of two months.
Also joining Proud are Olympic gold medallists Adam Peaty, Anna Hopkin and Tom Dean, with Peaty making a return to action on the global stage for GB after missing June’s World Championships with a foot injury, before completing his 50m and 100m career clean sweep with 50m Breaststroke gold for Team England at the Commonwealth Games. Double Tokyo 2020 medallist Luke Greenbank and multiple European podium-placer Abbie Wood are also on the plane.
The World Short Course Championships (taking place at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre) will be the first international taste of short-course action for many of the swimmers since the last edition of the competition in Abu Dhabi last year, which saw Proud claim gold in the Men’s 50m Freestyle and Molly Renshaw take bronze in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke.
Those attending this event for the first time include European champion Medi Harris and world medallist Lewis Burras, as the pair look to finish their impressive senior breakthrough years with strong results and valuable experience in Australia. Distance freestyler Daniel Jervis will look to build into his season at the competition, while Imogen Clark and Isabella Hindley complete a strong-looking British outfit.
Speaking on the team announcement, Performance Director Chris Spice shone some light on the importance of the event for the athletes.
“These World Short Course Championships are a great opportunity for the group to get back into top-level racing early in the season, while also acting as a stepping stone for our ultimate 2023 target of the World Championships in Fukuoka next summer,” he said.
“It’s great that we are able to take a team of this strength and experience to Melbourne, including Adam, who unfortunately had to miss an important chunk of last season, and athletes like Ben and Tom, who had outstanding summers. Anna is an experienced, world-class short-course racer, and it’s fantastic that Abbie is involved too after having to pull out of last year’s World Short Course meet due to illness.
“There is also an important chance for some of the swimmers to experience another world-class arena as part of their ongoing learnings, and we are excited that the team will be able to get involved in more relays across the meet too. We have a great group and hopefully we will be able to continue our solid preparations as we head into the new year.”
British Swimming team for the FINA World Short Course Championships in Melbourne, Australia (13th-18th December 2022):
Lewis Burras, Winchester City
Imogen Clark, Derventio Excel
Tom Dean, Bath Performance Centre
Luke Greenbank, Loughborough Performance Centre
Medi Harris, Swim Wales Performance Centre, Swansea
Isabella Hindley, Brompton Swimming Club
Anna Hopkin, Loughborough Performance Centre
Daniel Jervis, Swim Wales Performance Centre, Swansea
Adam Peaty, Loughborough Performance Centre
Ben Proud, Bath University
Abbie Wood, Loughborough Performance Centre
