Peaty, Proud & Hopkin Among British Roster For European Championships

While we await the start of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, British Swimming has revealed its 31-strong roster for this year’s European Championships.

Among those representing the nation in Italy this August is Olympic champion, world record holder and 16-time European Championships gold medalist Adam Peaty.

Having to withdraw from this year’s World Championships due to his foot injury, 27-year-old Peaty is eager to dive in both for the Commonwealth Games and these Euros to put his rehabilitation to the test.

Newly-minted world champion in the men’s 50m freestyle Ben Proud is also in the lineup, as is Olympic champion Tom Dean and Loughborough sprint ace Anna Hopkin.

British swimmers, in particular, have had a whirlwind of a summer, with their own national championships, the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and these European Championships all taking place within a span of months.

British Swimming Performance Director Chris Spice says of the squad announcement, “This event brings to a close an unprecedented few months of competition for our athletes. As ever, we have been impressed by the way in which they have approached two or three such important competitions in short succession, both in their preparation and their racing.

“A smaller British team competed brilliantly at the World Championships last month, and we are excited to see how the swimmers fare as they join up in their Home Nation teams for the Commonwealths. Following that, it is fantastic that we can select a team of such varied experience and talent for the Europeans, with some of our swimmers heading to their fourth Europeans, and others competing in a senior GB cap for the very first time.

“This meet will provide chances for some high-quality competition, but most importantly, we are also keen to see how our younger athletes perform in the senior environment as we look to identify swimmers for Paris 2024 and beyond. We will obviously be missing a few established stars, so this will also be a fantastic opportunity for us to further test the depth of our relay squads with future competitions in mind.

At the 2020 European Championships, which took place last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Great Britain topped the overall swimming medal table. They earned 26 medals in all, including 11 golds. Great Britain dominated the relays, taking gold in 7 of the 9 events.

The following list of swimmers has been named for the European Championships according to the British Selection Policy you can find here.

Athletes selected under section 5.1 of the relevant selection policy

James Guy – Bath Performance Centre

Medi Harris – Swansea University

Lucy Hope – University of Stirling

Anna Hopkin – Loughborough Performance Centre

Matt Richards – Millfield

Jacob Whittle – Loughborough Performance Centre

Athletes selected under section 5.2 of the relevant selection policy

Jonathon Adam – Bath Performance Centre

Kieran Bird – Bath Performance Centre

Greg Butler – Loughborough Performance Centre

Freya Colbert – Nova Centurion

Lauren Cox – Loughborough University

Kara Hanlon – Edinburgh University

Isabella Hindley – Brompton Swimming Club

Cameron Kurle – University of Stirling

Keanna MacInnes – University of Stirling

Jonathon Marshall – FAST

Ed Mildred – Bath Performance Centre

Adam Peaty – Loughborough Performance Centre

Jacob Peters – Bath Performance Centre

Katie Shanahan – City of Glasgow Swim Team

Sebastian Somerset – Loughborough University

Laura Stephens – Loughborough Performance Centre

Alys Thomas – Swansea University

Tamryn Van Selm – Millfield

Mason Wilby – Loughborough University

Athletes selected under section 5.4 of the relevant selection policy