Great Announcement for the Great Channel Swim

Nova International will formally announce the elite competitors in the Great Channel Swim at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London at 11 am on Thursday, February 4th.




The conference will be hosted by Jonathan Martin, the former Head of Sport of BBC TV, Kevin Murphy, the King of the Channel (shown to the left), Brendan Foster, Chairman of Nova International, MC Stuart Storey and Cassandra Patten, Olympic 10K Marathon Swim bronze medalist who will be participating by telephone from South Africa.

British Swimming is endorsing this event.

Photo of Kevin Murphy from the Mark Robson blog.

Sam's Setting the Stage

Sam Greetham is one of the unsung heroes of open water swimming.

A representative of British Swimming and nominee for the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year, Sam not only helped design the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim course at the Beijing Olympics, but he also is preparing the design of the open water course on the Serpentine for the 2012 London Olympics.

"It’s an unbelievable honor - not just for myself, but also for the town of Scarborough and for the sport I love," said the humble Greetham to the Scarborough Evening News.

With an eye for detail, an utmost concern for the athletes and a keen sense of the growing media interest in open water swimming around the world, Sam is open water swimming's equivalent of a movie set designer: he sets the stage and then lets the stars showcase their talents.

While spurring interest for open water swimming at the grassroots level and helping lay the foundation for preparing the best British athletes for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in 2012, Sam represents the unsung volunteers and coaches who make the sport what it is today and what it will become in the future.

Information on the male nominees for the World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year are posted here. Details on the female nominees for the World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year are posted here.

Open Water Swimming Star in London

Cassandra Patten, the British Olympic 10K Marathon Swim bronze medalist and finalist in the 800-meter freestyle, will give a series of talks, sharing her experiences from the Beijing Olympics and knowledge of endurance training for open water and distance swimming as part of the
London Swimming educational program. London Swimming is part of the Amateur Swimming Association, the national governing body for swimming in England and Wales.

Photo from the Amateur Swimming Association.

Copyright © 2008 by Open Water Source

British Swimming Moves Forward to London 2012

Even before the excitement of 3 British swimmers capturing medals in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Beijing, the British Open Water 5K and National Age Groups Championships were held to great fanfare at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham, England. The event also was site to the 2008 British Open Water Grand Prix Final.

Over 150 young swimmers from 24 different counties and Scottish districts took part. Durham's David Proud took the early lead and led the entire race to win the featured 5K in 59:06.

The British Open Water Grand Prix Final is part of the renewed British effort to support age-group and elite swimmers. These efforts ultimately resulted in 6 medals (2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze) at the Beijing Olympics.

The 5K Open Water Grand Prix series includes 5 separate 5K races in July and August with awards of £50 for first, £30 for second, and £20 for third for each sex.

As British Swimming looks forward to the 2012 London Olympics, the organization hired Dennis Pursley as its Head Coach. As one of the world's most world renowned swimming coaches with a love of hard work and distance training, British Swimming looks to be in good hands.