Bumper British line-up set for racing in Berlin

Berlin has been an ever-present part of the World Series programme since the inaugural season in 2017, with the event once again being held at the Schwimm-und Sprunghalle in the Europasportpark (SSE).

The long list of British athletes competing contains 22 members of the team selected for the Manchester 2023 World Championships, with Berlin a stepping stone that provides high-quality race exposure in preparation of challenging for international honours on home soil this summer.

Maisie Summers-Newton (S6), William Ellard (S14), Poppy Maskill (S14), Stephen Clegg (S12) and Faye Rogers (S10) all stood atop the podium in Sheffield as the World Series passed through the UK in March, and the quintet have all been part of the group of British para-swimmers putting in hours of focussed work in the pool and gym in Turkey on a warm-weather camp over the past two weeks ahead of the latest stop on the World Series.

Their attentions now turn to testing themselves against a strong international field ahead of the aforementioned World Championships at the Manchester Aquatics Centre in less than three months’ time.

Last year’s meet in Berlin saw 400 athletes from across the globe compete, with 26 new para-swimming world records set. The fast swimming environment will provide a valuable learning experience for visually-impaired (VI) athlete trio Luke Boyles, Astrid Carroll and Alfie Penfold who, following on from the recent British Para-Swimming camp at Bath University, step up to compete in World Series level competition for the first time.

Fans in the UK can watch heats (8am) and finals (4pm) on the IDM Berlin 2023 live stream each day, with start lists and results on the official event website.

Competing at the Para Swimming World Series Berlin, 11th-14th May:

• Luke Boyles
• Astrid Carroll
• Oliver Carter
• Jordan Catchpole
• Ellie Challis
• James Clegg
• Stephen Clegg
• Rhys Darbey
• Samuel Downie
• William Ellard
• Grace Harvey
• Scarlett Humphrey
• Abby Kane
• Louis Lawlor
• Lyndon Longhorne
• Poppy Maskill
• Tomas Navarro-Barber
• Siena Oxby
• Alfie Penfold
• William Perry
• Scott Quin
• Matthew Redfern
• Rebecca Redfern
• Faye Rogers
• Georgia Sheffield
• Maisie Summers-Newton
• Cameron Vearncombe
• Brock Whiston
• Kieran Williams

IDM Berlin 2023 Website (Start list and Results): https://www.idm-schwimmen.de/home.html

IDM Berlin 2023 Livestream: https://sportdeutschland.tv/internationale-deutsche-meisterschaften-para-schwimmen

International Classification done ✔️🇬🇧🇬🇧
Pre meet training going well ✔️
Ready for racing tomorrow 🏊🏼‍♂️🏊🏼‍♂️🏊🏼‍♂️ at the #IDMBerlin World Para series with @britishswimming and representing GB for the first time 🇬🇧..@CrawleySC1964 @BritBlindSport @TeamSportsAid @Sw_EngParaSwim @speedo pic.twitter.com/vz1QKMVlPL

— Alfie T Penfold (@penfold_alfie) May 10, 2023