5 Swimmers Who Can Start A British Revolution

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Coverage of the World Championships is sponsored by Wylas Timing

Commentary by Jeff Commings, Swimming World Senior Writer

Though it’s an island nation, Great Britain has never done very well in swimming at the Olympic Games. Sure, the Brits have celebrated a few gold medals in the 120 years since the first Olympics. Henry Taylor won three swimming medals at the 1908 Summer Games, Adrian Moorehouse finally won gold in the 100 breast in 1988 and Rebecca Adlington became Britain’s darling after her two gold medals in Beijing in 2008.

As a team, however, Great Britain has not performed well. Since 1960, the swimming squad has only finished in the top three countries in terms of total medals once, doing that in 2008 on the back of Adlington’s double gold and the new 10k open water swim that garnered three medals for the Brits.

The 2012 Olympics were supposed to be a rousing success for the Queen’s swimmers, but it was disappointing. Team GB only won three medals: a surprise silver for Michael Jamieson in the 200 breaststroke and two bronzes for Adlington. The constant changes in administration over the years certainly hasn’t helped, including three national head coaches within 10 years.

But things have shifted in the past two years. British Swimming CEO David Sparkes became fully invested in the competitive side of the sport. Chris Spice was brought over from administration in land-based sports to create a strategy for British Swimming in 2013. Bill Furniss was also hired as the national team head coach after many years of developing Adlington into the best British swimmer in history.

Suddenly, Great Britain came out of its shell at the international level. Let’s start with the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where the British won a combined 45 medals by swimmers from England, Scotland and Wales. That still wasn’t enough to topple Australia, but the results showed promise.

Adam Peaty and Chris Walker-Hebborn were two surprise gold medalists, while Fran Halsall and Siobhan-Marie O’Connor got some big breakthrough swims against their rivals. That continued to the European championships a month later, where Peaty broke the 50 breast long course world record. It was Great Britain’s first world record in five years, and Peaty’s emergence as the top sprint breaststroker also ushered in a new era for British Swimming.

“That was a great swim by Adam, no question,” Spice said in an email interview with Swimming World. “At the time it had a great, positive effect on the team in Berlin and hats off to him and (coach) Mel Marshall for that performance. There was no doubt it helped provide impetus for our finish on top of the medal table at the European level.”

But Spice noted that the 50 breast is not an Olympic event, and after the European championships, the focus turned to the races that would be contested at the Rio Olympics, even though that was two years away.

Though criticized by many for being too tough, British Swimming set time standards for qualifying for this summer’s world championships that were faster than a few of the national records. But the athletes responded, including a 100 breast world record from Peaty and a few world-leading times that suddenly put a few Brits in medal contention. “We are generally selecting smaller, more focused teams and the selection policy (at nationals) reflected this,” Spice said. “I think we got the balance right with the selection policy and the team that was ultimately selected.”

The result was one of the best international squads Great Britain has fielded in many years. Just about any of the 30 who qualified could find themselves in a semifinal or final at this year’s world championships and/or next year’s Olympics.

British Swimming squad for 2015 world championships

Adam Barrett, Jazz Carlin, Eleanor Faulkner, Nick Grainger, James Guy, Fran Halsall, Calum Jarvis, Rachael Kelly, Thomas Laxton, Jemma Lowe, Hannah Miley, Stephen Milne, Ross Murdoch, Sibohan-Marie O’Connor, Roberto Pavoni, Adam Peaty, Ben Proud, Lauren Quigley, Molly Renshaw, Robbie Renwick, Duncan Scott, Elizabeth Simmonds, Liam Tancock, Sophie Taylor, Jessica Thielmann, Rebecca Turner, Chris Walker-Hebborn, Dan Wallace, Andrew Willis, Aimee Willmott

All of this did not happen by accident. It’s part of a carefully planned and executed quadrennial plan that aims to expand on the goals of 2012, which got a decent amount of swimmers into the semifinals and finals of the 2012 Olympics. The new objective is to “be ranked consistently in the top 4 Swimming nations in the world by the end of the Rio cycle and beyond,” according to the British Swimming Strategy 2013-2017. That’s a big task, considering the countries that often rank in the top four are hard to beat and win at least 10 medals. The United States, Australia, China and Japan bring more swimmers to the championship meets, giving them more medal opportunities.

If British Swimming holds to the original target set out in the strategic plan, the Brits will need a minor miracle to finish in the top five in Rio. The performance target for the 2016 Olympics, according to the strategic plan, is three medals with five medals being one of the nation’s “stretch targets.”

Five medals does seem like a difficult task, but Great Britain could do it. The outcome of this summer’s competition will greatly impact how Team GB approaches the 2016 Olympic Trials, where Spice said the time to qualify for the Olympics are bound to be as difficult or more difficult than the ones to get on the 2015 world championship team.

Among the 30 selected to travel to Kazan this summer, here are five that will make the biggest impact in terms of getting on the medal stand in 2015, and possibly in 2016:

Jazz Carlin

Carlin was supposed to win multiple medals at the 2013 world championships in distance freestyle, especially after posting lifetime bests at the British spring nationals. But she failed to make the top eight in the 800 and 1500, and she finished an agonizing fourth in the 400. Carlin rebounded with medals at the Commonwealth Games and European championships in 2014, and a place in the top three in the 400 and 800 freestyles so far in the world rankings this year. Carlin seems to have shaken off the bad vibes of 2013, and though the battle in distance freestyle is now for second place, she has the ability to swim with the likes of Lauren Boyle, Lotte Friis and Mireia Belmonte. Carlin has been doing well since her performances at the nationals, winning a few events on the Mare Nostrum circuit against decent competition.

Hannah Miley

If there’s anyone who deserves to win at a world championships or Olympics, it’s Hannah Miley. The 25-year-old has been at the top level of the sport as long or longer than most of her rivals, but is still looking for that major international gold medal. Overcoming the major obstacle that is Katinka Hosszu will be tough this summer, but Miley finished 2014 just a few tenths behind Hosszu. Elizabeth Beisel, Maya DiRado, Belmonte and Ye Shiwen could be in the mix as well as teammate Aimee Willmott. Miley was second in the 400 IM at the 2011 world championships and fifth in 2013. Her butterfly appears to be her weak spot, so if she can keep in contact with the field after 100 meters, a medal seems likely. She’ll be one of the athletes the younger Brits will look up to in Kazan, many of whom might have asked for her autograph five years ago.

Photo Courtesy: Ian MacNicol

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor

O’Connor wasn’t much of a factor in the 200 IM at the 2013 world championships, but she’s a major force now, ending 2014 second-fastest in the world. Her gold medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games showed that she’s officially part of the world’s best in the event. It would be great to see her and Miley in the world championships final of the 200 IM, and it could happen. As far as getting on the medal stand, O’Connor is due. The women’s 200 IM field is so closely bunched with each lady exhibiting different skills in each stroke. Now able to swim in the 2:08 range with her top rivals, O’Connor has the ability to outswim just about anyone across all four strokes.

Photo Courtesy: British Swimming

Adam Peaty

Peaty is undoubtedly the star of the British team. As the athlete with the biggest target on his back, he goes in as the only gold medal favorite from Great Britain. As the world record holder in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes, he is very likely to win both. Peaty could also do what no one has done in men’s breaststroke: Win a medal in all three distances. That would start sounding off alarms to herald Peaty as one of the best breastrokers in history … though world records in the 50 and 100 might have already started that conversation. A win – or at least a medal – in the 200 breast would give British Swimming a big jolt in the country’s strongest stroke. With the likes of Andrew Willis, Ross Murdoch and Michael Jamieson all in the mix, Great Britain is ushering in a new age of breaststroke that the country has not seen in decades.

Photo Courtesy: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com

Chris Walker-Hebborn

In a storyline that, in some fashion, mirrors All About Eve, Walker-Hebborn stepped into the shoes long filled by Liam Tancock as the country’s best backstroker while Tancock was healing from surgery. And he didn’t waste any time in emerging from Tancock’s shadow with a 100 backstroke win at the Commonwealth Games and European championships in 2014. Earlier this year, Walker-Hebborn broke the 53-second barrier with a 52.88, putting him at the top of the world rankings. Could Walker-Hebborn do what Tancock couldn’t and win a world championship 100 backstroke title? The 24-year-old made his international debut as a 200 backstroker, and that could help him in a championship final field that will include mostly sprinters.

Photo Courtesy: British Swimming

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Malcolm Neely

8 years ago

Martin Edwards

Peter Scott

8 years ago

Adrian Moorehouse won gold in the 100m Breaststroke in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea not 1984 as stated above. Also David Wilkie won the 200m Breaststroke to claim the only gold not taken by the USA men’s team in 1976, Montreal Olympics.