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excellence british swimming annual report and accounts 2011 excellence

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contents 3 4 5 10 14 18 22 23 24 30 33 34 42 chairman s report alistair gray chief executive s report david sparkes excellence profile louise watkin profile vicki lucass european junior championships 2011 international influence corporate world championships 2011 aldershot high performance centre world class programmes analysis of athletes ipc european championships 2011 financial statements front cover rebecca adlington with her 800m freestyle gold medal from the 2011 world championships the majority of the text in this report refers to the period april 2010 to the end of june 2011 whilst the featured major events are from the summer of 2011 2 british swimming annual report and accounts 2011

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chairman s report excellence `british swimming is highly regarded by uk sport and government as the example of good practice chairman s report alistair gray it is with pleasure that i introduce my third annual report as chairman on the activity of british swimming during 2010 we continued to make progress in developing our global position across our disciplines results at the 2010 commonwealth games in delhi and the european championships in budapest represented our best ever performance in both events at the ipc world championships in eindhoven our disability swimmers were fourth on the medals table our achievements in both areas reinforces the view that we are on track for a good performance at the london games in 2012 it has been pleasing to note real progress in two of our other disciplines ­ synchronised swimming and water polo our results at both major championships in synchronised swimming confirmed an improved ranking at continental and world level our women s water polo team also benefited from an extended period of preparation in hungary and demonstrated improved performances over the last two years we have changed the model through which we have developed our men s water polo team with many players playing for clubs outside the uk this along with other changes to preparing the team has led to improved performances our congratulations go to the port athletes their coaches support staff and performance directors in all our disciplines for their continued efforts in enabling our talented swimmers to achieve their potential y your board continue to work closely with the chief executive officer and his executive to implement our strategic plan real progress was made in 2010 not only in the pool but also in our other strategic priority areas our partnership with british gas continues to flourish and in 2010 we worked closely with them on events such as the british gas swimming championships at this point i pay tribute to the efforts of our staff who are engaged in this partnership and to the staff at british gas the sponsorship industry recognised our respective performances in our partnership through the award of the hollis best sport sponsorship and sponsorship of the year for 2010 our other partners and sponsors especially speedo and kellogg s have also responded to our challenge to be the world s leading swimming nation and we have successfully extended our partnership with kellogg s for a further term there have been challenges in other governing bodies of sport around the question of governance e.g the rfu and the fa i am pleased to report that british swimming is highly regarded by uk sport and government as the example of good practice in 2010 we reviewed our performance as a board individually and collectively and this keeps us firmly on our strategic agenda and our core purpose of `british swimming winning as ever i take the opportunity to salute and thank all our dedicated staff and volunteers who serve our sport so well the british swimming family is in good spirits and ready for a once-in-a-lifetime performance in 2012 this year has seen british swimming continue to build on its strong foundations and make real progress in many areas i look forward with my colleagues on the board and executive to delivering an excellent performance through to and beyond london 2012 british swimming annual report and accounts 2011 3

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chief executive s report `all our competitors and coaches have stepped up their preparation and the results in the pool suggest there is more to come chief executive s report david sparkes we can reflect on a further year of steady progress towards the olympic and paralympic games in london in 2012 all our competitors and coaches have stepped up their preparation and the results in the pool suggest there is more to come however the summer of 2011 will be tough for us as we travel to shanghai for the last world championships before the olympics and to berlin for the last ipc european championships before the paralympics i am sure the athletes and coaches will not only be analysing their own results but will also be keeping a careful eye on other athletes from around the world as they fine-tune themselves for london in addition to this august 2011 will see our first olympic test event in marathon swimming in hyde park s serpentine when again our preparation for the games will come under more detailed scrutiny from fina and athletes from around the world this will be followed by more test events early in 2012 as we open london s `jaw dropping aquatics centre we are all committed to delivering the greatest possible british performance in london in 2012 but we are also busy planning the `road to rio as bringing the games to london will have been for nothing if it does not catapult our performance on to the next games in 2016 we have also been working with our many partners like locog to ensure we have the best possible legacy from the games and i am sure everyone who participates as an athlete coach volunteer or spectator will find the whole olympic experience a life-changing one as there can be nothing more powerful for our sport than having the olympic games in your own country so join with me in the tension over the next 12 months wondering what london will bring have no doubt that there will be great moments of jubilation and despair for us all but we will certainly have given everything in the build up to this amazing event 4 british swimming annual report and accounts 2011

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excellence `budapest proved to be britain s most successful european lc championships ever excellence swimming national team environment the first meet of the summer season saw open water athletes at the len cup in israel challenging for selection for the 2010 open water world championships open water european senior championships and open water european junior championships this len cup meet presented an opportunity for british senior swimmers to show their dominance in the open water arena with first and second places going to keri-anne payne and cassie patten respectively and with daniel fogg picking up a gold medal in the men s event podium results continued at the open water european junior championships in holland with gold medal performances for great britain in both the men s and women s events given the previous high standard of british performances globally in senior open water swimming results at the world championships in canada saw the women placed lower than predicted at eighth and 14th in the 10km event and the men forced to pull out of the race as a result of the difficult meet conditions as such the senior open water programme has been revisited and strategies put in place to help re-establish britain as a leader at world level once again the european long course lc championships in budapest was the first senior `pool competition of the summer and was targeted as a preparation meet for swimmers to hone their skills in an un-tapered state however this meet still proved to be britain s most successful european lc championships ever beating the previous best medal tally of 13 with six gold six silver and six bronze medals at `pool development level the european junior championships in helsinki brought some excellent performances from our youth swimmers who took second place on the medals table behind france with a total of five gold seven silver and three bronze medals in addition the two athletes selected to compete at the youth olympics in singapore added two bronze medals to team gb s medal tally following an extremely successful g british holding camp in doha with tending 66 athletes attending from all three es home countries to prepare for the lth commonwealth games the conditions experienced by swimmers in delhi proved allenge more of a challenge nevertheless the ced games produced the best british results eding to date exceeding performance in manchester and with british athletes picking up 38 medals nine gold 16 silver and 13 bronze and breaking seven ds games records one commonwealth wo record and two british records ased predictions based on world g rankings going into wed the meet showed great britain with the potential s for 30 medals and australia 59 however australia fell short of this target achieving 47 medals in an analysis of olympic event performances great britain took 33 medals compared to australia s 37 the games was also a step forward for our men s programme where five out of the nine gold british medals won were from the men s events the competition programme also saw a small representative team of four development athletes participating at the european short course in eindhoven in november and at the portland junior international meet in the usa in december where there w were some excellent were performances from the british youth swimmers swimmers who brought back eight gold seven silver and eight bronze medals in february the british gas gbr open 5

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excellence water swimming team started their 2011 campaign in style racing at the midmar mile event in south africa the mile race attracted 16,500 starters over the two days of racing with a strong international contingent for the elite section prior to the mile the international 10km saw a strong british team race their first marathon of the season with british men taking first second and fifth spots and the british women taking first second and third places the mile race did not disappoint with another one two and three for the british girls and the gb men taking silver and bronze for the second year running the british gas gbr swimming team challenged germany in a duel meet in essen germany in february the gbr team largely comprised of development swimmers and this time lost to germany picking up 195 points compared to germany s 240 the british gas swimming championships 50m in march once again acted as the trials for our major summer championships the meet was used as the first selection point for the 2011 fina world championships in shanghai and also an opportunity for our youth swimmers to qualify for the european junior championships european youth olympic festival world youth championships and from which times will be considered for commonwealth youth games selection these pool trials were also used as the first stage of selection for the british gas gbr open water swimming teams in 2011 the national training programme began in the spring with the national squad and open water talent camps the national squad camp took place at the best centre in majorca with 32 senior athletes training together over a two-week period supported by 26 staff joseph nagy one of the world s leading experts on breaststroke technique was also present to conduct clinics with coaches and breaststroke specialists the open water talent group comprising of swimmers from all three home nations started their camp tour in st felice circeo near rome the team trained in the sea to familiarise themselves with swimming in salt water and currents prior to participating in the 10km event against tough competition in the second round of the european open water cup the group then flew to port grimaud near st tropez in the south of france for the main training phase of the trip however this leg of the tour proved to be somewhat challenging when the team faced france s worst ever regional floods and had to demonstrate superb coping skills after leaving france the team flew back into the uk for the final competition of the tour the british gas great east swim in alton water near ipswich the autumn and winter season was a period of intensive training both at home and away with warm weather camps conducted in the usa australia south africa tenerife altitude training undertaken in sierra nevada and a group of 28 development swimmers attending an eight day camp in dubai as part of our commitment towards ongoing improvement of the national team environment event debriefs were conducted for the european junior championships the world open water swimming championships and the european long course championships key findings have been taken forward with the aim of implementing best practice at future events daily training environment in october the three top british clubs were identified following an analysis of performances at the 2009/10 major international benchmark meets and selected to be world class podium clubs for the 2010-12 period nova centurion achieved podium club status once again and glasgow and garioch were the other l two successful programmes the british gas intensive training centres itcs and the podium and development clubs were given a further nding injection of funding courtesy of british centage gas via a percentage of a £20,000 bonus calculated on their performances at the onwealth 2010 commonwealth games and world open water championships at the end of 2010 a series of itc ok inductions took place at each centre with invitations to local mps itc partners l media as well as itc athletes coaches taff and support staff the purpose of the as inductions was to provide information ure about the nature and purpose of the itcs to recognise achievements to date and to acknowledge the contribution made by all key players f a review of the world class development clubs was undertaken in th april 2011 with millfield manchester ymouth cardiff and plymouth successfully heir maintaining their development club rther status for a further 12 months and cing preston replacing leicester as the fifth ddition top club in addition an athlete pathway tion club recognition award for the top our club placing four or more pool and thletes open water athletes on the world class podium and development programmes oduced has been introduced the award is open to clubs who are not aligned to an itc unded or currently funded through the podium ent or development club programme this 6 british swimming annual report and accounts 2011

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`the process of formulating strategies to optimise performance in rio is underway year former podium club sheffield was identified for this award in our aim to support world class athletes wishing to combine academic and sporting excellence a concept of `swimmer friendly universities is being progressed to encourage universities to sign up to an agreed set of principles that support excellence in sport and academic endeavours in addition british gas via their career development programme has been working in partnership with british swimming to help athletes achieve excellence outside the pool as a starting point the first stage of the programme started with sessions conducted by gordon mcfarland head of hr at british gas at all five itcs with the aim of getting athletes to think about their careers the programme offers advice and opportunities and is designed and tailored to meet individual needs whether athletes are looking for additional income now or are planning to retire after london 2012 the world class pathway parallel to the 2012 games preparations the process of formulating strategies to optimise performance outcomes in rio is underway as a first step in the process a development pathway think tank was convened to examine the strengths and weaknesses of britain s current talent/development swimming pathway the `think tank comprised of representatives from british swimming world class programmes each home country england scotland and wales uk sport and the bsca the findings and recommendations have been presented and a talent directorate group established to develop the future strategic and technical direction of the development talent programmes and to ensure that we have a vibrant system capable of producing podium swimmers for the 2016 olympic games in rio and beyond the april 2010 review of world class development `pool athletes saw the pool overall number in the squad remaining the same and 55 per cent of athletes re-qualifying for the programme the september open water athlete review saw seven open water swimmers placed on the world class development programme five of which secured their place on the programme for a second term following these reviews and movements resulting from the world class podium athlete reviews the total number of development swimmers in the autumn of 2010 reached 43 the commonwealth games were used as the benchmark meet to identify world class podium `pool athletes and with inclusion of open water swimmers saw the world class podium athlete squad numbers increasing from 36 to 42 athletes five of which progressed from the world class development programme the overall findings from the uk sport athlete insight survey proved positive with the majority 84 per cent 7

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excellence agreeing that the world class swimming programme meets their needs and 87 per cent indicating that morale is high and that the world class swimming culture is making a positive contribution towards performances sports science sports medicine sssm with winning margins becoming increasingly narrow it is imperative that we continually assess monitor and are innovative in our approach as such over 20 sssm projects have been identified and are underway these include developments such as a force platform starting block and wedge for measuring power position and reaction swimtrack software providing quantitative analysis of starts and turns via video footage captured above and below water and digitized to accurately determine measures such as velocity and body position and an integrated athlete data management system starfish incorporating competition analysis national screening medical musculo-skeletal and strength and conditioning one of the other key activities being developed off pool deck is a starts and turns technical plan this initiative aims to improve the technical component of performance of world class athletes at international benchmark events by addressing weaknesses in the key impact areas of starts and turns this will be achieved by implementing a targeted and integrated programme that provides athletes and coaches access to world class technical knowledge and resources within the daily and national squad training environments the starts and turns technical plan has set a target of achieving an 80 per cent improvement rate in turns for the british gas gbr swimming team at the 2011 world championships as measured by race analysis comparisons with results from the 2010 commonwealth games to support this plan a starts and turns initiative fund and a starts and turns excellence award has been established to offer incentives to coaches and swimmers providing the tools and feedback mechanisms focusing on technique making small changes working repeatedly on those changes and seeing the consequence of the change will contribute to making a performance difference coach development further investment in the world class d swimming coach development programme r has provided opportunities for coaches to lth experience the commonwealth games first hand and in addition offered upport individual packages of support to nge coaches covering a range of areas dance these included attendance at national domestic and international ces coaching conferences me overseas programme visits f and the provision of coach resource materials 8 british swimming annual report and accounts 2011

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`attention has now been turned to focus on preparations for london 2012 disability swimming following the success at the ipc world championships in august 2010 where the team exceeded all targets to bring home 52 medals attention has now been turned to focus on preparations for london 2012 manchester was announced as the venue for the holding camp for the paralympic games in london 2012 john atkinson national performance director npd for disability swimming believes that by selecting manchester for the holding camp the issue of `home advantage will certainly be achieved manchester is the current home of the national high performance centre and is a world class facility that can deliver on all performance requirements for the british gas disability swimming team in their preparations for london some benefits of utilising manchester are the high quality swimming facilities including exclusive access to a 50m and 25m pool quality strength and conditioning and recovery facilities a secure environment for the team high quality accommodation access to home country institute of sport facilities and effective and secure transfer to and from the airport/railway station accommodation and pool following confirmation of this decision disability swimming have been using manchester for a number of key activities something which they will continue to do in the lead up to london indeed manchester was the venue for british gas gbr disability swimming team orientation camp in march and holding camp later in the year prior to the 2011 ipc european championships and in readiness for the 2012 paralympic holding camp following the orientation camp in manchester a team of 51 athletes and 20 staff travelled to berlin for the german open within the team were a group of development athletes gaining invaluable competitive experience the aim of the german open was to ensure athletes carried out extended volume in warm ups and swim downs and maintained training volumes throughout competition whilst racing hard this was achieved and bearing this in mind the results gained were excellent 10 gold three silver and sil two bronze medals along with one world o 15 european and 26 british reco records shortly following the german open 21 athletes competed at the bt para paralympic world cup none tapered or res rested in the lead up to the competition and n john npd atkinson was particularly happy with the team s performances there have been a number of warm weather camps in january 2011 a team 2011 travelled to doha and then anot another team travelled to majorca for a training t camp between the german ope and bt open paralympic world cup more camps are cam planned in the lead up to londo 2012 london to get the swimmers into a war climate warm to help them avoid illness and ensure maintenance of training a staff and coach development plan is w well underway with a nu number of workshops and conf conferences already taken place inc including a coaches workshop a a and physiology workshop there workshop are a number of oth similar other activities planned a part of as the preparation for london fo british swimming annual report and accounts 2011 9

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excellence profile louise watkin fast facts dob 13th august 1992 born stockholm sweden height 1.64m weight 54kg team/club city of salford coach john stout major achievements 2008 paralympic silver 100m free 2010 ipc worlds gold 50m free 2011 ipc euros 3 gold 2 silver and 3 bronze medals louise watkin centre after beating natalie du toit at the 2010 ipc world championships 10 british swimming annual report and accounts 2011

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`to start with i wasn t winning any medals my family didn t know about disability events so until 2006 i was competing only in able-bodied competitions at 18 most girls are just starting university some want to be teachers some doctors and some just want to go out and experience a bit of the world but for louise watkin the future looks a little different she wants paralympic gold after making a splash in the beijing paralympic games three years ago the city of salford swimmer has gone from strength to strength boosted by her time in china `beijing was such an amazing experience for me getting to compete at such an incredible event when i was just 16 is still a bit hard to believe she said winning a silver and three bronze medals in the s9 100m freestyle s9 50m freestyle sm9 200m individual medley and sb9 100m breaststroke respectively catapulted her to the higher echelons of the sport and into the national headlines along with the rest of her team-mates `i was completely oblivious to how big the event had become back home and how much attention we were getting i didn t realise how big a deal it was until i actually landed back in britain then it hit me louise now looks back on those weeks in beijing as among the best of her swimming career `everyone was happy all of the time it was so special that nobody wanted anything to spoil it the team atmosphere was so good everyone was friendly and supportive and that all added to the experience louise s start in the sport began like that of many others family ties `i tried lots of different sports when i was younger but my sister swam so i just followed her into it `i chose swimming because to me it was a lot of fun i liked going to training and racing and i just really enjoyed everything to do with it but it wasn t success from the outset for louise `to start with i wasn t winning any medals my family didn t know about disability events so i was competing in able-bodied competitions the surrey-born athlete who competes in the s9 category was born with an upper limb deficiency and is missing her left hand but it wasn t until 2006 when she entered her first dse championships that she began to believe she had a talent for the sport `i started to think that it was something that i could be quite good at when she was 14 louise competed as the youngest member of the great britain team in the paralympic world cup and since then she has been to the paralympics as well as european and world championships last summer 2010 she returned from the ipc world championships in eindhoven as part of one of the most successful british squads and with gold silver and bronze medals in her luggage louise also beat her long-time rival natalie du toit in the s9 50m freestyle `to go out there and beat natalie ­ something that i d been working towards for such a long time ­ was amazing she said `it had been in my sights and something that i d been aiming to do so to finally do it at a world championships was incredible but her potentially career-defining moment remains on the horizon `i m really excited about london the city of salford swimmer said `i ve changed clubs recently and i m hoping that the change in environment will help me get to compete in the home paralympics it would be amazing moving clubs wasn t just a matter of swimming `kelly college [a specialist sports college that combines high-level training with education only goes up to sixth form so i d had a great time there but needed to find something new she said now attending manchester college louise is studying for a foundation degree in sport and fitness management `i looked at lots of courses and this one just seemed to fit with swimming and what i would like to do in the future she said `after i ve finished competing i d like to work in sport so it seemed like a good way to get into it it s this kind of commitment ­ the willingness to change her whole life in search of a dream ­ that makes louise one of the best disability swimmers in the world `i think it s a combination of hard work and loving what i do i swim with a great group of people and they make going to training every day fun she added british swimming annual report and accounts 2011 11

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excellence diving a team of 10 athletes competed at the fina world cup in changzho china in june 2010 unfortunately injuries meant that the team was not at full strength but despite this they achieved three top eight places in synchro events and two top 12 places in individual events in addition six of the individual divers made semi-finals in october 13 athletes and five staff travelled to delhi for the commonwealth games the combined medal target for not being available so their gold medal in this event was particularly impressive in addition there were three fourth places achieved in delhi with relatively small differences in score which could have added to our medal tally if these had been converted into bronze medals in early 2011 the british gas gbr diving teams underwent an intensive competition period probably the hardest and most intensive three months of preparation on the pathway to london 2012 in this period the team undertook nine also a number of top four six and eight finishes tom daley and peter waterfield have established themselves as our new synchronised diving pairing for the 10m platform in winning the gold in sheffield they beat the chinese pair only the third time in history that the chinese have been beaten in this event the other times being the 2000 sydney olympic games and the 2005 w world champions championships both times by ru russia in march 2011 a team travelle to turin travelled italy for the european diving euro championships w whilst great britain s main rivals russia germany ukraine and italy were an fielding their a team gre britain great had only taken a b team who were a new generation of divers focused t towards rio 2016 and looking to gain som invaluable some competitive experience the results were extremely promising with seven top eight finishes a two and top four finishes one of the t four top finishes was another new sync synchro pairing jenny cowen and brooke graddon who gra finished fourth in the 10m syn synchro a great result considering this w their first was international performance as a pair there has been a particular focus on synchronised diving a synchro syn assessment camp took place in december 2010 the objective being to strengthen the current gb pairings and if pai necessary form new partnersh in order partnerships to target more medals in 2012 results gained since this camp suggest that this has been successful unfortunately athlete wellbeing has been a concern over the last 12 months with some of our top divers missing the home country diving teams for this event was three to six medals medals despite a recent injury tom daley took two gold medals performing his new list of much higher degree of difficulty dives for the first time at a major event in the men s 10m synchro event tom had to pair up with max brick due to peter waterfield international competitions and two training camps these included the fina grand prix in penza madrid montreal and fort lauderdale fina world series in moscow beijing sheffield and guanajuato european diving championships in turin and training camps in sheffield and guanajuato the british gas gbr diving team returned from most of the competitions with medals in the grand prix the team bought home a bronze from penza and a silver from fort lauderdale a number lauderdale of medals were also won in the world series two bronze medals in beijing a silver medal in guanajuato and a gold in sheffield which was won by tom daley and peter waterfield in the 10m synchro apart from the medals there were 12 british swimming annual report and accounts 2011

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`daley and waterfield beat the chinese pair only the third time in history that the chinese have been beaten in this event competitions through illness or injury itions revention injury prevention and recovery has re therefore been and continues to be a ssue major issue as the expectation levels erformance from performance and training s volumes increases the priority as focus has been on quality tion preparation and careful al seasonal planning the british gas gbr junior diving team have d also had a very successful year in august 2010 etes 12 athletes and eight avelled staff travelled to tucson a america to compete in ior the junior world diving ionships championships gbr finished third in the medal table t against 30 countries with with d two gold medals and ten top 12 finishes 8 from 18 starts which was a very ng t promising result e generation f for our future generation of divers in t n the within the junior programme and outside of competition there has been a n focus on training camps to try and create ess a seamless transition between england ss and tass talented athlete scholarship e scheme programme based athletes o and also on the creation of a common y pathway with a shared philosophy an integral part of this has been an increased ess age awareness at a younger age of the expectations of senior based goals and professional attitudes an important part of this has been providing younger athletes with competitive experiences like the b team selected to compete at the european championships there has also been a focus on coach of target the shortly following t world cup the team travelled to delhi for the games commonwealth gam the performance one target for delhi was o to two medals countries this was across the home cou silver exceeded with a silve medal for england jenna randall olivia in the solo won by je randall also secured a allison and jenna ra despite a malfunction silver in the duet des speaker during their of the underwater s scotland s lauren performance sc won smith also wo a bronze the first ever medal won by scotland in synchronised swimming synchron unfortunately in 2010 unfo were a number there w of injuries within the synchronised synchronise swimming squad following this there is now increased focus on injury an increa prevention preventio and research to the enable t squad to get back fitness to full fit terms of staffing there in ter were a number of changes throughout the year most throu noticeably within the n english institute of sport the support provided by the p english institute of en sport spo is now back to full capacity a number of cap con consultants have also been recruited to work with the squad including the usa coach includ and former olympian tammy mcgregor who provides technical expertise and choreographer stephen miermont another coach former french athlete myriam glez is also coaching part time at the high performance centre in aldershot development the junior programme continues to give rise to a new generation of coaches who are committed to the gbr team philosophy and are willing to facilitate the professional expectations of athletes this is all part of the preparations for rio 2016 and beyond synchronised swimming in september 2010 the british gas gbr synchronised swimming team had an excellent competition at the fina world cup the target was to finish in the top 12 but the team managed to finish in eighth place it is important to note however that neither spain nor france was at this event if they had been it is likely that great britain would have finished 10th but still two places ahead british swimming annual report and accounts 2011 13

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`i would tell people who say synchro isn t really a sport to try it they don t understand how physically hard it is photo courtesy of gbswimstars.com 14 british swimming annual report and accounts 2011

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excellence profile vicki lucass vicki lucass began her synchro career at the tender age of six-and-a-half `i learnt to swim when i was two and i always loved being under the water so my swimming teacher said that i should take up synchro i went to watch a session started the next week and loved it straight away she says the 20-year-old from frimley took to the sport immediately and began etching out her future career as a member of rushmoor synchronised swimming club one of the top clubs in the country she learned the tricks of the trade and was soon noticed as one of britain s top talents at the age of 12 vicki won silver in the 12 and under duet competition at the national age group championships and she went one better in 2004 and 2006 winning gold medals in the 13-14 and 1517yrs categories with emily kuhl as her partner `i have lots of amazing memories from my time swimming with rushmoor before i joined the gbr squad it s a really great club to swim for she said no doubt these memories include being part of the gold medal-winning team at the british championships every year from 2004 to 2007 an impressive feat for any club air miles in 2007 vicki was selected as part of the british junior synchro team to travel to spain for the len european junior championships but it wasn t until 2008 that she began adding up the air miles with the british junior team with trips to sicily st petersburg and madrid for training camps and competitions `i was so happy and excited to be selected for the squad i knew it was a great opportunity to compete for my country and develop my synchro career it was at this point that vicki realised that synchro was destined to be more than just a hobby for her as a regular member of the british gas gbr synchronised swimming team 2009 brought yet more success for vicki with her biggest competition to date the fina world championships in rome the team secured one of its most successful performances ever with a seventh place finish in the free combo under the guidance of world-class coaches including national performance director biz price and assistant coach lolli montico the team is in good shape `it s an amazing opportunity for us all to be working with some of the best coaches in the world says vicki `they bring so much knowledge and experience to the team they have come from different countries which means that they also bring a variety of new ideas and perspectives she adds `many people over the years have influenced me in different ways my family and friends have given me support and encouragement and coaches have given me amazing opportunities her hectic synchro schedule sees vicki train monday to friday with the rest of the british squad at the high performance centre in aldershot along with an additional saturday training session at bisham abbey and flexibility work in her own time `when i first joined the squad i was doing my a levels so i had to go into college after training until i had finished my exams i had to reduce the number i took but i did finish them successfully advanced apprentice in 2010 vicki graduated from the advanced apprenticeship in sporting excellence aase which allowed her to combine her education with a structured training and development route in synchro giving her the tools she needs to work in the sport once she finishes her competitive career but before then she has more pressing matters `london 2012 is my ultimate ambition to compete in the olympic games in front of a home crowd would be amazing we re improving every day which we wouldn t be able to do without the coaches in each competition we are making visible progress and we re now beating teams which a few years ago probably would have beaten us `as a team we are all really close we work well together both as professional athletes and as friends which helps she adds `i would tell people who say synchro isn t really a sport to try it they don t understand how physically hard it is fast facts dob 11th september 1990 born frimley height 1.70m team/club rushmoor coach biz price lolli montico major achievements ecc11 combo bronze wc09 combo 7th team 10th 15th ecc09 combo 5th team 6th british swimming annual report and accounts 2011 15

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