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Loughborough swimmers to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games
Following the Olympic Swimming Trials held in London’s new Aquatic Centre and subsequent qualification events, 15 Loughborough swimmers have been selected to compete at the 2012 summer Olympics. Although 15 individuals have qualified, they will compete in 21 different events at the Games.
St. James's Place has been proud to sponsor the Loughborough University Swimming programme since 2007. This is the latest in a string of achievements made by individuals from Loughborough, which boasts one of the most successful swimming training programmes in the country.
There is another opportunity for more Loughborough swimmers to make the Great Britain team at the ASA National Championships in June.
The swimmers who will be heading back to the Aquatic Centre in the summer are:
- Roberto Pavoni - 400m IM and 200m Fly
- Joe Roebuck - 400m IM and 200m Fly and 200m IM
- Fran Halsall - 100m Fly and 100m Free and 4 x 100m Free
- Joanne Jackson - 400m Free and 4 x 200m Free
- Liam Tancock - 100m Back
- Kate Haywood - 100m Breast
- Ross Davenport - 4 x 200m Free
- Caitlin McClatchey - 4 x 200m Free
- Amy Smith - 100m Free and 4 x100m Free
Elizabeth Simmonds - 200m back - Daniel Fogg - 1,500m Free
- Grant Turner - 4 x 100m Free
- Emma Hollis - Paralympic 400m Free
Laurent Carnol and Melanie Nocher have also qualified for the Olympics, but unfortunately for Team GB, they swim for Luxembourg and Ireland respectively in international competitions!
On the way to securing the Olympic places, the Loughborough team collected ten gold, eight silver and three bronze medals in the trials. However, the two stand out performances from the squad were given by Joe Roebuck and Fran Halsall who both qualified for three separate Olympic events.
Joe, who failed to qualify for the Beijing Games said: “I'm on top of the world right now. I missed out four years ago and obviously I hung around, kept working and improved and now I've got three Olympic swims and won two golds and a silver at the trials.”
Sprint specialist Fran Halsall said: "I'm in such good form at the moment, so if I can carry that through to the Olympic Games, hopefully I can swim a bit faster there and get another medal.”
The support provided by St. James’s Place allows the squad to benefit from additional coaching, which provides increased one to one time and more individually tailored programmes.
Director of Swimming at Loughborough University, Ian Armiger said: "To have 15 of our team qualify for this summer's Olympic Games is a fantastic result.
"I've said it before, but it’s hard to get over just how important it is to the team to have the support of St. James's Place.
"At the highest level, the margin of victory in the sprint events comes down to the width of a fingernail. The additional coaching that the SJP support enables us to give the team, puts them in the best possible position to get that all important first touch.
"It also helps us to build our strength in depth and support the new guys like James Broady and Jack Burnett. On behalf of the team, I can't say thank you enough. Believe me, without you, it would be a very different story."
Find out more about St. James's Place's sponsorship of the Loughborough University Swimming programme.
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