Plymouth College swimmers selected for European Junior, World Junior and World Championships

Plymouth College and Plymouth Leander swimmers selected for European Junior, World Junior and World Championships

Former Plymouth College pupil and Plymouth Leander swimmer, Laura Stephens, has been officially announced as part of the World Championships GB team heading to Gwangju, South Korea in August following her outstanding performance at the British Swimming Championships last week.

The 25-strong British Swimming team boasts a mix of youth and seasoned championship performers, including former Plymouth College pupils and defending world champions, Ben Proud and Calum Jarvis.

Of her success, Laura said: “I am really excited to have been selected for the World Championships after my performances at the British Championships. It is great to see the effort I have been putting into training paying off and making big progress in my racing. I am now looking forward to getting back to work and preparing for South Korea, and also racing at the mare nostrum series in June.”

Following in the footsteps of the senior athletes, Plymouth College Year 11 pupil, Honey Osrin, and Year 10 pupil, Sophie Freeman, also displayed excellence at the British Swimming Championships and have been confirmed as part of the GB team travelling to Russia for the European Junior Championships in July. Honey Osrin has also been selected for the World Junior Championships, which will be held in Hungary, Budapest in August.

A strong squad of Plymouth College and Plymouth Leander athletes competed at the Championships, held in Glasgow from the 16^th to the 21^st April. The GB teams, both Junior and Senior, are selected from this competition and Plymouth College swimmers put a lot of training, hard work, time and effort in to successfully elevate their performances.

Jonathan Cohen, Headmaster at Plymouth College, said: “It is absolutely fantastic to see such incredible results and consistent excellence from Plymouth College pupils. This emphasises our strong relationship with Plymouth Leander, and our leading swimming programme continues to provide excellent coaching alongside a first-class education. The athletes have worked extremely hard and completely deserve this recognition. Their results are an inspiration for our athletes currently within the College, demonstrating what can be achieved through hard work, determination and the right environment for success.”

The Plymouth College and Plymouth Leander partnership commenced in September 2001 and the scholarship scheme has welcomed many pupils who have developed into Olympic and World champions, World, European and Commonwealth record holders and ensures regular international selections for Great Britain and home nations’ swim teams.

Robin Armayan, Director of Swimming at Plymouth College and Head Coach at Plymouth Leander, said: "Plymouth College and PL had an inspiring week at the 2019 British Championships. Our results showed, once again, the depth in strength we have but also the great results of a successful partnership between the club, Plymouth College and Plymouth University. The highlights of the week were the GB selections for Sophie Freeman (coached by Roberto Pavoni) at the European Junior Champs, Honey Osrin selected for the European and World Junior Champs and Laura Stephens who has been selected for the World Champs. After winning the Arena League for the 9th time those results are extremely encouraging and all our athletes are ready to work even hard to perform at their best this summer."