Great Britain’s top long distance swimmers are training at the University of Bath in the build-up to the World Open Water Swimming Championships, which get underway in Italy next week.  

Open water swimmers Alan Bircher and his German partner Stefanie Biller train at the University with TeamBath Swimming Club coach Andrei Vorontsov. They’ve been joined in the build–up to the World Championships by British team members Cassie Patten and John Owen.

Andrei is coaching the group in the lead–up to the World Championships in Naples and coaches the British team at the championships themselves.

Earlier this month 19–year–old Cassie Patten, from Stockport, won the open water swimming European Cup series title. Cassie’s newfound training partner in Bath, Stefanie, took bronze in the same event.

The two are training together at the moment but will be opponents again in Naples, Cassie representing Great Britain in the 5k and 10k open water races and Stefanie – who is soon to begin studying at the University of Bath – swimming for Germany in the 10k and 25k.

Alan Bircher, who in 2004 became Britain’s first World Open Water Swimming Championships medallist by winning silver over 10k, may contest all three men’s races in Naples – the 5k, 10k and 25k.

John Owen from Edinburgh is the reigning indoor 5k national champion and will swim over the same distance at the World Championships.

City of Manchester swimmer David Proud, who last weekend took the 5k British Championships open water title at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham, and City of Glasgow swimmer Jamie Forrest, who finished runner–up, have also both been training at the University of Bath but do not swim at the Worlds.

The swimmers are currently tapering down in advance of the World Championships, swimming what coach Vorontsov describes as an ‘easy 7k’ in each training session, but until recently they were swimming 8.5k to 9.7k in each of their 10 training sessions a week.

The University of Bath has one of the leading university sports departments in the UK. Under its TeamBath brand, its success is based on the expertise and dedication of staff, and its excellent facilities, used by the community and Olympic medal winners alike.

Members of the media who require further information can contact the TeamBath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd on (01225) 383518 or see the TeamBath website at www.teambath.com