Seven Welsh Swimmers Preselected for 2014 Commonwealth Games

CARDIFF, Wales, November 5. THE Welsh roster for the swimming portion of the 2014 Commonwealth Games got seven swimmers added to it this week, giving Team Wales some strong ammunition as it begins to build a team for the highly-anticipated event.

Wales’ qualification standards for the Commonwealth Games are more lax than those for Scotland and England, including giving its top swimmers get a pass in terms of having to taper for a qualification meet.

With the world championships serving as one of the qualifying meets, three of the Welsh swimmers earned their spot with swims in Barcelona last summer. Jazz Carlin, Georgia Davies and Jemma Lowe represented Great Britain at the world championships. Carlin could be viewed as the most accomplished of the three, with two Commonwealth Games appearances under her belt. Davies and Lowe trump her, however, with Olympic experience in 2012.

Wales also is allowing times from the U.S. Open and British world championship trials to count for selection. To that end, four men also have been put on the roster. Two of them, Rob Holderness and Marco Loughran, recently wrapped up their collegiate swimming careers in the United States and have returned to the United Kingdom for training. Holderness was a standout breaststroker at Florida State University, while Loughran gave the Florida Gators his talents in the backstroke.

Ieuan Lloyd and Thomas Haffield are the other two added to the roster. Lloyd has been a part of Team Wales or Team Great Britain since the 2010 Commonwealth Games, including an appearance at the 2012 Olympics in the 200 free. Haffield has been a part of the international scene since 2006 and will be attending his third Commonwealth Games, where he’s got potential to medal in the individual medley races.

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