Greenbank to inspire and share success in workshops following Manchester triumphs

Decorated swimmer Luke Greenbank will be aiming to inspire the next generation of backstroke swimmers in Swim England’s Sharing Success series.

The Loughborough-based athlete, who has been pre-selected for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, is set to appear as a guest speaker on Saturday 20 March.

Greenbank will be bringing his backstroke expertise to the session, as well as sharing personal stories which Swim England hopes will help inspire youngsters who have signed up for the workshop.

The series of workshops are stroke-specific and age-dependent and will focus on the technical, tactical, and physical elements of each stroke.

Greenbank is one of a star-studded line-up of current and former athletes who will also be sharing their stories with the attendees.

He was one of British Swimming’s elite athletes who took part in the Manchester International Swim Meet and the more recent British Swimming Invitation Meet, both held at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

The 24-year-old wowed at both events, with his stand-out performance coming in the form of breaking a 10-year British record in the 200m backstroke – after already setting a new personal best in the morning heats.

Touching in 1:55.34, he shaved 0.24 off James Goddard’s long-standing record mark – a swim which has no doubt boosted his confidence ahead of what will be his first Olympic Games this summer.

‘Over the moon’

Speaking after his record-breaking swim, Greenbank said: “I’m over the moon with that! I came into this meet wanting to build on the last one and to do that in the heats gave me great confidence for the final.

“I’ve had my eyes on this one for a while, but I didn’t think I’d break it in-season, I thought it’d be at trials where I could have a go at it.

“It feels absolutely amazing, and obviously it was James Goddard’s record before this and as a kid I watched him swim at an international level, so was he kind of an idol of mine, so to get that record is amazing.”

Greenbank was one of a select number of athletes given the green-light to continue training throughout the pandemic.

He has been working hard behind closed doors with his team in Loughborough, preparing as best he can for this summer’s competitions.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to keep training, and the training I’ve been doing has been really good,” he said. “I can see how I’ve moved it on since last year, and seeing that progress is really giving me a lot of confidence.

“I think with opportunities being pretty limited to get racing in, taking this opportunity is really important – and having that target of Tokyo, it’s the ultimate goal. I am really looking forward to getting out there.”