Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub
British swimmers ‘excited’ to get their World Championships underway
July 22, 2023Following a strong start to the 2023 World Aquatics Championships from Great Britain’s divers and artistic swimmers, the British swimming team are ready to hit the water in Fukuoka, Japan.
Eight-days of swimming competition (July 23-30) at the Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A begin on Sunday as the 28-strong British team look to make their mark just one year out from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
It’s a squad that contains a mixture of youth and experience with a number of swimmers returning to the nation where they made history at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics just two years ago.
Seven Olympic medallists from the Tokyo Games have travelled to the competition with Tom Dean, James Guy, Anna Hopkin, Freya Anderson, James Wilby, Duncan Scott and Matt Richards all looking for further success in the land of the rising sun.
The squad also contains nine debutants to the World stage – including backstroker Oliver Morgan after his stunning hat-trick of golds at the British Swimming Championships back in April.
Lauren Cox, Cameron Brooker, Greg Butler, Luke Turley and Emily Large are also among those who will be making their World Championships debut. Jack McMillan will have to wait for his first appearance for Great Britain after he was forced to withdraw from the squad due to personal reasons.
When and how to watch
Looking ahead to the next eight days, British Swimming Performance Director Chris Spice said: “As ever, the main feeling is excitement among the athletes and staff as we wait to get this World Championship campaign underway.
“Our team has had a great preparation for this World Championships, with some good time together on a training camp in Reims, some excellent racing out at Sette Colli last month and then a really successful holding camp in Kagoshima, both in and out of the water – but now the focus is completely on the arena in Fukuoka and putting in season’s-best performances.
“With one year to go to Paris, we are really looking forward to seeing how our swimmers deliver on the training and preparation they have put in, against the best in the world. The relays in particular will be a really interesting area over the next week, and our efforts in those will be a true reflection of the team.”
Heat sessions for the swimming events will get underway at 2:30am BST each morning with the finals sessions beginning at 12 noon BST.
Live results for the event can be found here and you can watch the action online via the All Aquatics platform or the World Aquatics Recast Channel.
You can also listen to live finals commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, 5Live Sports Extra and BBC Sounds.
