Meet the 31 swimmers who will compete for ParalympicsGB at Rio 2016, including Swansea's Aaron Moores, who broke the S14 100m Breaststroke in the heats and finals of the Qualification Event recently in Glasgow.
Moores is joined on the team by a formidable list of Paralympic multi-medallists including Ellie Simmonds, Charlotte Henshaw, James Crisp, Claire Cashmore and Sascha Kindred.
Also selected today was Ellie Simmonds, who trained for a period at the Wales National Pool, Swansea, a household name in the UK following her incredible performances at Beijing in 2008 and at London 2012.
She said: “It is finally sinking in that I will be going to my third Paralympic Games, and I am so excited. The Paralympic Games is the biggest stage in the world to compete on and I can’t wait for the challenge.”
Penny Briscoe MBE, ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission for Rio 2016, said:
“I am really excited to announce the swimming team for ParalympicsGB today. This is historically a major medal sport for the team. Recent World and European competitions suggest that we could be looking at a big medal haul once again. Their performances at the recent European Championships have demonstrated the strength in depth that we have in this team and how exceptional these athletes are.
“The pool is one of the many places where competition at every Games just keeps getting tougher and it is going to be a real battleground for our athletes again in Rio. I can’t wait to watch them compete and cheer them on.
“I wholeheartedly congratulate them on their individual achievements to reach this stage of being selected for ParalympicsGB and wish them luck in their final preparations.”
British Para-Swimming National Performance Director Chris Furber believes that this team is a reflection on the hard work undertaken by the programme over the last two years.
“We have an exciting and capable team selected for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games,” Furber said.
“At British Para-Swimming we have work consistently on increasing the standards of our team which is reflected in the selection process and it’s a real positive to see 25 athletes achieving the time outright.
“We had an excellent trials that saw not only our experienced athletes stepping up but also 14 debutants fighting for and deserving their place on the team as well.
“The athletes know that the hard work doesn’t end at selection and I am confident that every one of them will go back and focus on achieving the necessary gains in their training and be ready to perform at their best in Rio.”
British Para-Swimming Head Coach Rob Greenwood said: “Over the last two and a half years the selection criteria that has been put in place has been challenging. This year’s selection policy was very similar to the one for last year’s World Championships where we had 14 outright qualifiers whereas this year we have had 25 and selected 31 athletes.
“Last year we created a clear ethos for the team and that has led to athletes really aspiring to be part of that. It’s a really focused group of athletes and there is no complacency at all in terms of being selected and job done. There is a focus around going to the Games and delivering life time best performances.”
Today’s announcement brings the number of selected athletes to a total of 81, across the sports of sailing, judo, table tennis, powerlifting, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball (women’s) and swimming.
Selected athletes (swimming):
Andrew Mullen
Hometown: Glasgow
Training base: Manchester NPC
Aaron Moores
Hometown: Swansea
Training base: Swansea
Scott Quin
Hometown: Edinburgh
Training base: Warrender Baths Club, Edinburgh
Jonathan Fox
Hometown: St Stephen, Cornwall
Training base: Manchester NPC
Ollie Hynd
Hometown: Kirkby In Ashfield
Training base: Nova Centurion, Mansfield
James Crisp
Hometown: Nottingham
Training base: City of Sheffield SC
Tom Hamer
Hometown: Rawtenstall, Lancashire
Training base: Manchester NPC
Michael Jones
Hometown: New Milton
Training base: Manchester NPC
Josef Craig
Hometown: Jarrow
Training base: City of Sunderland
Matt Wylie
Hometown: Washington
Training base: City of Sunderland
Ryan Crouch
Hometown: Manningtree
Training base: Ipswich SC
Susie Rodgers
Hometown: London
Training base: Beckenham
Hannah Russell
Hometown: Ottershaw, Surrey
Training base: Manchester NPC
Ellie Simmonds
Hometown: Aldridge
Training base: Manchester NPC
Claire Cashmore
Hometown: Kidderminster
raining base: Manchester NPC
Bethany Firth
Hometown: Seaforde
Training base: Ards SC (Ulster)
Charlotte Henshaw
Hometown: Mansfield, Notts
Training base: Nova Centurion, Mansfield
Harriet Lee
Hometown: Blaydon on Tyne
Training base: Manchester NPC
Rebecca Redfern
Hometown: Droitwich
Training base: Worcester SC
Stephanie Slater
Hometown: Longridge, Preston
Training base: Manchester NPC
Abby Kane
Hometown: Largs
Training base: Ren 96 Glasgow
Ellie Robinson
Hometown: Northampton
Training base: Northampton Swimming Club
Jessica-Jane Applegate
Hometown: Great Yarmouth
Training base: UEA Norwich
Steph Millward
Hometown: Corsham
Training base: Manchester NPC
Amy Marren
Hometown: Hornchurch
Training base: Romford Town SC
Alice Tai
Hometown: New Milton
Training base: Manchester NPC
The athletes above gained selection after they achieved the nomination standard at the British Para-Swimming International Meet 2016 as per the selection policy.
Jonathan Booth
Hometown: Homlfirth
Training base: Huddersfield
Sascha Kindred
Hometown: Hereford
Training base: City of Hereford SC
Stephen Clegg
Hometown: Edinburgh
Training base: East Lothian
Lewis White
Hometown: Swadlincote
Training base: City of Derby SC
The athletes above gained selection after they achieved a time within 2% of the set benchmark time included within the selection policy (individual).
Tully Kearney
Hometown: Birmingham
Training base: Manchester NPC
The athlete above gained selection at the discretion of the National Performance Director as per the selection policy.
