Britain’s young swimmers impressed on the junior international circuit in 2015 and this summer British Swimming Head of Performance Pathway Tim Jones is looking forward to continuing to develop the next generation of future Olympians.
The benchmark event of this season will be the European Junior Swimming Championships, held in Hódmezővásárhely (HUN) from 6 to 10 July, and Britain’s team of 26 will be spearheaded by European Games champions Holly Hibbott and Abbie Wood.
Jones will measure the success of the team not only in terms of performance but also by ensuring young athletes adopt fundamental principles with which to carry into the senior ranks of British Swimming in the future.
“Over the past three years I have promoted a number of important philosophical messages around the European Junior Championship events and this summer is no different as we set the priorities for the competition,” explained Jones.
“The event needs to be considered to be part of the journey our swimmers take towards future senior success. All too often the European Junior Championships have been viewed as an end of the road in itself. This isn’t the case - this is just one opportunity, albeit an important one, to continue an athlete’s long term development.”
In Hungary, Jones will be looking to the team to display the racing attributes required for senior success. This will include season's best performances at this benchmark meet.
“We want to see the athletes performing at their best, progressively through the rounds, when it matters most,” explained Jones.
“Our targets for the meet should focus on process and not outcome goals. To this aim, goal-setting sheets will be prepared and distributed to all swimmers to complete and the sole focus will be around detailing their key processes that underpin their performance aspiration.
“Finally, the culture created and behaviours displayed by swimmers needs to be wholly conducive to senior performance and, therefore, we are looking to build a supportive environment where the expectations of every team member are high but the group rises together to meet the challenges that lie ahead.”
In order to support the principles, athletes and coaches will be guided by the experienced Dave Heathcock (Ealing SC) who has been appointed Head Coach for this event.