“Awesome experience” as Josh Gammon and University of Bath Student Swimming Club team-mates compete at World Cup
University of Bath student swimmer Josh Gammon says he can take plenty of learning into a huge season ahead after racing at the World Aquatics World Cup in Budapest, Hungary.
The Sports Performance student, who is reigning 200m butterfly British Champion, and training partners Niamh Ward and Jemima Hall all made their senior international debuts at the star-studded competition, which was the third leg of this year’s World Cup series.
Gammon told the Propulsion Swimming Podcast: “It was my first World Cup and to be surrounded by the best athletes in the world was incredible. It’s quite mind-blowing to race alongside people like Chad Le Clos and Ben Proud who I have looked up to since I was a young swimmer.
“I went there to get some experience and put myself in the mix. I personally feel there is no better way to learn than to throw yourself in and see how you get on. The pressure and the environment is completely different to something like the British Swimming Champs where you know everyone you are racing against. Just to experience racing against international athletes was awesome.”
Gammon also spoke about training with the University of Bath Student Swimming Club, the support he receives from the Team Bath Dual Career programme and his Paris 2024 Olympic Games aspirations. Watch the interview in full here:
Gammon was 11th overall in the 200m butterfly in 2:02.38 and also competed over 50m (24.35) and 100m (54.52).
Team-mate Ward went within nine-hundredths of a second of qualifying for the 200m backstroke final, the Civil Engineering fresher placing ninth overall in 2:14.90. She also set a new 50m backstroke personal best of 29.31 and clocked 1:02.79 over 100m.
Hall, who studies Business, raced in three freestyle events with her best result being 12th overall in the 200m in 2:02.24. She also clocked 56.40 over 100m and 4:20.25 over 400m.
The trio were all joined in Budapest by University of Bath Assistant Swimming Coach Andrei Vorontsov, no stranger to the international stage having coached Russia and Sweden at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games respectively.
Ben Proud, who represents University of Bath Swimming Club, won two medals in Budapest – 50m freestyle gold in 21.77 and 50m butterfly bronze in 23.15.
Sports Performance student Sam Williamson, representing Bermuda, had a busy but rewarding week at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
His best result came in the 400m individual medley where Williamson reached the B final and placed 14th overall in 4:40.99. He was also 21st in the 200m freestyle (1:57.37), 22nd in the 200m IM (2:10.51), 23rd in the 200m breaststroke (2:28.54) and 25th in the 100m breaststroke (1:08.13).
Click here to find out more about the University of Bath Student Swimming Club.
