European junior champion Matt Richards and Commonwealth gold medallists Georgia Davies and Alys Thomas are among 19 swimmers to have been named on the Swim Wales national senior elite squad.
Also selected are two-time world 4×200 free champion Calum Jarvis, Dan Jervis, double Commonwealth 1500m free medallist, and Chloe Tutton, fourth in the 200m breaststroke at Rio 2016.
Alys Thomas: Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant
Richards, who qualifies for Wales through his Cardiff-born father Simon, won the 100m free at the European Junior Championships in Kazan, Russia, in 2018 in 48.88 while also claiming silver in the 200 and bronze in the freestyle relay.
Such was his trajectory that he had reset his goals for 2020 to securing an individual berth on the Great Britain team for Tokyo rather than being a potential relay member.
The pandemic intervened and the 17-year-old switched training base to Jol Finck at Bath after four years at the Royal School, Wolverhampton with Marc Spackman and Tom Elgar.
It was a decision he had not expected to have to make and one he wrestled with as he told Swimming World last month.
“At first it was like I could see myself in this programme after the Olympics and that slowly became more and more do you know what? I think I need to be here now. The last thing I want to do is come home from the Olympics next year and think what could have happened if I’d have made a move?”
The Swim Wales national senior elite squad in full:
- Alys Thomas
- Kathryn Greenslade
- Georgia Davies
- Harriet West
- Harriet Jones
- Calum Jarvis
- Matthew Richards
- Daniel Jervis
- Xavier Castelli
- William Ryley
- Kyle Booth
- Daniel Jones
- Chloe Tutton
- Freddy Clampett
- Lewis Fraser
- Medi Harris
- Dylan Broome
- Rhys Davies
- Alex Rosser
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