Olympic Trials 2008

Two of City of Sheffield’s leading swim stars have clinched their place in the Great Britain squad for Beijing this summer.

James Kirton (23) ended his British Championship week at Ponds Forge on a high, finishing second with a personal best in the 200m Breaststroke final, to confirm his participation in the forthcoming Olympic Games. Our very own star, has given spectators at his home venue an insight into what they can expect from him in China with a dazzling display in the heats the evening before securing his selection in the final at Ponds Forge.

The Beijing-bound hopeful, will join Sheffield club-mate James Crisp, after he qualified for the Paralympics in the 400m freestyle and 100m backstroke earlier this week.

Russ Barber, head coach of the City of Sheffield Swim Squad/Council Swim Training Scheme said: “Congratulations to both men. It’s a wonderful achievement for them. We have all worked so hard over these last few years to make this happen, often against massive odds. Can I offer a huge thanks to everybody who has supported us over the years to get to this point, and also everybody that turned up to support on the day.” “We have got to keep our feet on the ground though, because we have a huge job to do, to make sure that we get the best performance at the Games, so it’s head down for the next 4 months!”

What makes their achievements all the more special, is that both underwent surgery at the back end of 2007, and so have had a much shorter preparation time than most of their competitors for these championships. James Kirton was out of the pool for four months with a double hernia, and it was four months also for James Crisp, who needed surgery on a shoulder injury. To come back from those problems and perform so well in a relatively short space of time is testament to their character and ability.

Kirton’s personal best in the 200m Breaststroke of 2:12.93 means that only him and Edinburgh’s Kris Gilchrist achieved the required time to make the cut, making Kirton the number one 200m Breaststroker in England now.

Meanwhile, five other Co Sheffield swimmers showed their metal by gaining qualification times for other GB Teams. Jack Dunn (17) has qualified for the World Youth Championships in Mexico and also the European Junior Championships in the 200, 400 and 1500m Freestyle. Debbie Hall (19) has qualified for the Tri-Nations meet in Canada on the 100+200m Breaststroke, Rebecca Turner (100+200m Free), Ainsley Heseltine (800m Free) and Ellie Faulkner (all 15) gained qualification times for the European Junior Championships in Belgrade (final team to be announced shortly).

Other finalists included Andrew Shepherd, Charlotte Broadbent and Chris Middleton, with our other qualifiers achieving significant improvements also, so well done to all concerned.

James Kirton

James Crisp