Courtesy: Aquatics GB
A 20-strong athlete cohort has been selected to represent Great Britain at the second edition of the European Aquatics Under-23 (U23) Swimming Championships.
With another busy summer of aquatics action on the horizon, the return of the European Aquatics U23 Swimming Championships to the calendar for 2025 provides a high-level competition opportunity for the 20 British athletes selected following performances at April’s Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.
The team includes a pair of Paris Olympians in Alexander Cohoon and Honey Osrin – with the former a part of the Mixed 4x100m Freestyle relay bronze medal team at these championships in Dublin two years ago – while it’s also a second berth at this European competition for Evelyn Davis, Lucy Grieve and Charlie Hutchison.
Having secured a maiden British title in the Women’s 400m Freestyle last month, Megan Barnes is among a trio of debutants to feature, with Rory Dickson and Niamh Ward additionally obtaining their first exposure to British teams.
Eye-catching races in London showcased the next generation of swimming talent, and British title winning swims for Tyler Melbourne-Smith and Reece Grady respectively in the men’s 800m and 1500m freestyle contests see’s the pair selected for the U23 European competition open primarily to people born 2002-2006.
Seven members of the team who competed at the 2023 edition of the championships have progressed to secure their involvement at this summer’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore – and that course of direction to transition onto the senior team in future years will be the ambition held by those competing at the X-bionic Sphere pool in Samorin, Slovakia from June 26th-28th.
Reflecting on the European U23s team and looking ahead to the competition, Aquatics GB Team Leader for the Championships, Nathan Hilton, said:
“It is an exciting prospect that we have put together a team with great depth to attend the second edition of this competition, one that will offer racing against world-class competitors in a big arena environment.
“As we progress towards the LA and Brisbane Games, exposure to these types of championship conditions play a key role within our strategic pathway to develop the next wave of talent – and provide an excellent opportunity for us to embed outstanding team behaviours as we transition athletes towards our senior team.
“With the calibre of this team including two Olympians and seven European junior medallists – while also exposing three new debutants to British teams – we know that each and every one of them can thrive in this big-meet environment and can use the opportunity to build on performances set the Aquatics GB Championships to underpin world class processes for future international competitions.”
aquatics gb team for the 2025 european under-23 swimming championships, samorin, slovakia (26th-28th june)
* Titles of Aquatics GB Performance Centres are shortened to ‘Performance Centre’ in this list
- Alexander Cohoon, Loughborough Performance Centre
- David Annis, University of Stirling
- Megan Barnes, Mount Kelly Swimming
- Cameron Brooker, Bath Performance Centre
- Evelyn Davis, University of Stirling
- Rory Dickson, University of Stirling
- Nicholas Finch, Chelsea & Westminster
- Joshua Gammon, Bath Performance Centre
- Reece Grady, Stockport Metro
- Lucy Grieve, University of Stirling
- Charlie Hutchison, Loughborough University
- Erin Little, Mount Kelly Swimming
- Tyler Melbourne-Smith, Loughborough University
- Honey Osrin, Loughborough Performance Centre
- Alexander Painter, Millfield
- Darcy Revitt, Guildford City
- Jack Skerry, Bath Performance Centre
- George Smith, University of Stirling
- Matthew Ward, Bath Performance Centre
- Niamh Ward, University of Bath
coaches selected to the aquatics gb team for the 2025 european under-23 swimming championships
- Andi Manley, Head Coach, Loughborough University
- Laurel Bailey, Warrender Baths Club, Edinburgh
- Kevin Brooks, Wycombe District Swimming Club
- Richard Denigan, Loughborough University
- Calum Jarvis, Bath Performance Centre
To check out the British team heading out to the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore this summer, read our announcement here.
