Plymouth College was delighted to announce recently that Year 11 pupil and pentathlete, Annabel Denton, had been selected to represent Great Britain at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in October.
Further excitement came when a further two pupils in the Upper Sixth, Liam Davis and Victoria Russell, were selected to represent Zimbabwe and the Bahamas respectively in swimming. Liam said: “It’s going to be an amazing experience! Victoria and I will be travelling to Argentina on the same flight. We are both looking forward to competing and being part of the athlete village. A number of cultural experiences are also being organised for us during our stay. We are also encouraged to watch as many other sports as possible, so we are definitely hoping, schedules permitting, that we will be able to watch Annabel compete and cheer her on.”
Director of Swimming, Robin Armayan, said: “I am thrilled that Liam and Victoria have been selected to represent their home nations at the Youth Olympic Games. Competing in such an atmosphere will be a fantastic experience for them both. They have worked incredibly hard to reach this point and I am looking forward to seeing their performances.”
Liam and Victoria are both boarders on the performance swimming programme run at Plymouth College in partnership with top UK swimming club, Plymouth Leander. Antony James, Plymouth Leander’s Head of Development Squads and Lead Coach of National and Regional Development, and former Team GB Olympian, played a key role in Liam’s success in qualification, having worked consistently with him over last season. Former athletes from this hugely successful performance swimming programme include World Champion and Commonwealth record holder, Ben Proud, as well as Olympic gold medallist, Ruta Meilutyte.