Furniss: Youngsters can learn from Olympians at World Championships
BySportsbeat
Published 05/12/2016 at 16:05 GMT
British Swimming head coach Bill Furniss insists his young swimmers can learn from the likes of Olympians Stephen Milne and Dan Wallace as they head to this year's FINA World Championships, admitting they are a 'stepping stone' towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
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Great Britain will field a youthful team of 16 at the World Championships in Windsor, Canada, when the action gets underway on December 6.
The squad includes Milne and Wallace, who were part of the team that claimed silver in the 4x200 freestyle relay in Rio, as well as fellow Olympians Max Litchfield, Ross Murdoch and Andrew Willis.
The squad also comprises of Hannah Miley, Georgia Coates, Georgia Davies, Molly Renshaw and Chloe Tutton, as well as Adam Barratt, Charlie Boldison, Mark Szaranek, Kathleen Dawson, Laura Stephens and Abbie Wood.
Furniss is hoping the young squad can learn from the experience of competition as part of their early preparations for Japan in four years' time.
"It's predominantly a young team with one or two established seniors but most swimmers will be in Windsor to learn from the experience as they focus on their journey to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics," said Furniss.
"For the younger athletes they will get the chance to compete on the world stage for what could be their first time and the main purpose is their exposure and experience of the environment and to learn from it.
"It's very much a stepping stone and a good start to the four-year cycle to Tokyo.
"It's a short course event so starts, turns and finishes are going to be important and this will be the focus for us.
"We will learn about the specific areas that each athlete needs to work on going forward.
"This meet will highlight areas for improvement as we continue to develop this group of young talent."
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