Today 18 aquatic athletes and coaches were invited to take part in the British Olympic Association (BOA) ‘Britain’s Olympic Ambition 2012’ programme.
The programme, designed to enhance athlete medal success at the London 2012 Olympic Games by providing talented potential team members with an opportunity to experience the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, will see athletes from 33 disciplines spend seven days in Macau and Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games.
Whilst there, athletes will visit the Team GB preparation camp in Macau, the Olympic Village and the Athletes’ Lodge. They will also have a press conference fronted by their mentors, Olympians like Denise Lewis, Ed Coode and Alison Mowbray. In addition participants will be given the opportunity to watch two competition sessions for their specific discipline.
This programme’s focus is based around providing sports specific event exposure and to replicate, as closely as possible, an athlete’s overall Olympic experience.
Commenting on their involvement:
Said Simon Clegg, Team GB Chef de Mission for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games:
“This programme is unique worldwide and is expected to provide a real competitive edge to the participants. With the BOA’s aspirational target to finish fourth in the overall medal table in 2012, and research showing that a significantly high percentage of medallists at any Olympic Games have attended previous Olympic Games, this experience can form a vital part of the athletes preparation for Olympic success.”
-ENDS-
The aquatics athletes and coaches are:
Discipline Athlete/Coach Name
Swimming Coach Robert Greenwood
Swimming Athlete Marco Loughran
Swimming Athlete Jessica Dickons
Swimming Athlete Anne Bochmann
Swimming Coach Marc Spackman
Diving Coach Edwin Jongejans
Diving Athlete Christopher Mears
Diving Athlete Megan Sylvester
Diving Athlete Katherine Hamilton
Synchronised Swimming Coach Loredana Montico
Synchronised Swimming Athlete Cherrry Wilson
Synchronised Swimming Athlete Asha Randall
Synchronised Swimming Athlete Katrina Dawkins
Synchronised Swimming Athlete Helen Morris
Swimming Open Water Coach Stewart Clamp
Swimming Open Water Athlete Alice McCall
Swimming Open Water Athlete Charlotte Woolliscroft
Swimming Open Water Athlete Daniel Fogg
WaterPolo Coach Jérôme Read
WaterPolo Athlete Craig Figes
WaterPolo Athlete Tom Curwen
WaterPolo Coach Sue Langston
WaterPolo Athlete Fran Leighton
WaterPolo Athlete Fiona McCann
Notes to Editors
Team GB is expected to consist of approximately 300 athletes and a further 200 officials. Team GB could be competing in up to 20 sports.
The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will take place from 8th to 24th August 2008.
The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Its role is to prepare our nation’s finest athletes for and lead them at the summer, winter and youth Olympic Games. The BOA delivers extensive elite level support services to Britain’s Olympic athletes and their National Governing Bodies throughout each Olympic cycle and in the UK is responsible for the development and protection of the Olympic Movement.
For further details contact British Swimming Media Officer Gemma Field on 01509 632262, 07917 726431 or email gemma.field@swimming.org
British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain. It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association). British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
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