Veteran Keri-Anne Payne Leads Britain In Rome

With the water temperature at the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome expected to be 26°C (78.8°F) and several good open water races under her belt during the past months, Olympic silver medalist Keri-Anne Payne looks to be one of the pre-race favorites in the 10K.

Keri-Anne will be the most successful international veteran among her British teammates that include Richard Charlesworth (5K), Daniel Fogg (10K), Craig Hamilton (10K), Alfie Howes (5K), Charlotte Wooliscroft (5K), Katy Whitfield (5K and 10K)

British Swimming's Open Water Performance Manager Mark Perry has been at the helm of creating the world's most comprehensive and strategic plan in open water swimming and remains focused on the long term. Mark analyzed his team's medal chances in Rome, "We're mainly going to the World Championships for the experience - everything now is about building a team and working toward London 2012. We would love to come away with a few medals, but we have to be realistic. We can't expect a repeat of Beijing, but there should definitely be some good performances."

Open Water Internationalization - British in Israel for Rome

13 top British open water swimmers will compete in the first leg of the Open Water LEN Cup in Eilat, Israel this weekend, including Olympic silver medalist Keri-Anne Payne (see photo), Daniel Fogg, 2008 LEN Cup silver medalist and up-and-comers Richard Charlesworth, who has been training in Los Angeles at USC, and Charlotte Wooliscroft.

Mark Perry, British Gas open water Team Leader, said, "This event is more about our athletes and how well they compete, not so much about the international competition. It will be used as qualification for the European Junior Championships and the World Championships, so we want to see how well they can perform. It will be a good test for some of our younger athletes. They will have to battle against the heat so it will test their mettle and we’ll see if they are up for it."

The 2009 LEN Open Water Cup sees the best European men’s and women’s open water swimmers compete in five 10K races throughout the year.

The British team includes Richard Charlesworth, Daniel Fogg, Craig Hamilton, Alfie Howes, Gareth Keating, Sophie Casson, Keri-Anne Payne, Charlotte Woolscroft, Katy Whitfield, Catherine Marcoft, Kayleigh Dawson, Eleanor Faulkner and Lucy Worrall.

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association