HECTOR Pardoe has been selected as one of the eight Welsh swimmers invited to join British Swimming’s World Class Programme (WCP) for the 2022-23 season.

The selection forms the latest part of preparations for another World Championship year and another move closer to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The Welsh contingent have been selected after a thorough selection process following an unprecedented year in the pool, on top of an in-depth assessment of their capability to be successful at future Olympics and World Championships, with the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan only seven months away.

Wrexham born former Ellesmere College student Pardoe is among those recognised.

Open water specialist Pardoe joins the Podium Potential group looking ahead to Paris, following his eye injury at the Tokyo Games.

 

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Key competition opportunities and training camp experiences throughout the season are among the benefits for WCP athletes, while there is access to comprehensive support from the world-leading British Swimming performance and sports science and medicine support staff, plus access to a network of national Institute of Sport programmes across the UK.

British Swimming Performance Director Chris Spice is looking forward to seeing the 2022-23 WCP cohort move things on again in the new season.

“The challenge for our swimmers right now is how to follow up a historic Olympic Games and a packed 2022 summer in which our teams showed mental strength and resilience – and we are excited to see how this group of athletes rises to that challenge in the coming months,” he said.

“The next Olympic Games are a year and a half away now, so progressing things in and out of the water towards Paris remains the ultimate goal and something we are excited to work on with this talented group of athletes.”