Swimming: Teenager Benson will be in ‘special team’ for London, claims GB coach

Keri-anne Payne was the first to book a spot on Team GB when she won the open water event at the World Championships in Shanghai last summer. At the eight-day trials at the Aquatics Centre that will host this year’s competition, 37 more swimmers made the team with British Swimming estimating up to six more will book an individual spot in Sheffield in June.

Olympic and world medallists Rebecca Adlington, Hannah Miley, Ellen Gandy, Fran Halsall and Liam Tancock underlined their pedigree. There were also noteworthy performances by less established swimmers with encouragement in the men’s breaststroke, all four slots being filled at the first ask.

Craig Benson, just 17, will compete in the 100m months after being crowned world junior champion. The teenager swims out of Edinburgh’s Warrender club, where former Olympic champion David Wilkie honed his skills.

National performance director Michael Scott said: “The men’s breaststroke has been very pleasing. We’ve had 200m men coming down to 100m in the past. Now we’ve got two genuine sprinters.”

For head coach Dennis Pursley, the breakthrough by younger swimmers was the most exciting element of the meet. He said: “They are on an upward progression and theoretically still have a lot of room for improvement.

“There are some challenges of course with the inexperience, but we have that good balance with veterans who are very good at mentoring younger ones, so I think it has the potential to come together and be a special team.”

There were less encouraging factors, such as the men’s sprint freestyle where no-one has yet qualified over 50m or 100m, with Scott describing the latter field as “tightly packed but not what you would call of true world standard”.There is, though, going to be a sprint freestyle relay in London.

Neither is anybody through in the men’s 200m backstroke, which for so long has been the domain of Commonwealth champion James Goddard, who is now concentrating on the 200m individual medley.

Scott revealed those who had qualified were to enjoy an orientation session yesterday, addressed by double Olympic champion James Cracknell. They will then return for a training camp at the Olympic pool next month.

The team for the European Championships in Debrecen in May will consist only of Olympians, but will not be compulsory with some using the second trials in June as preparation and others competing in the Mare Nostrum series in Canet, Monte Carlo and Barcelona as well as the Seven Hills meet in Rome.