PLYMOUTH Leander swimmers Ben Proud, Tom Fannon and Laura Stephens have been selected for Great Britain’s World Class Performance Programme for the 2016/17 season.

Double Commonwealth Games champion Proud is one of just 17 athletes named in the Podium squad, while youngsters Stephens and Fannon are part of 38 other swimmers selected for Podium Potential squad.

Selection took into account an analysis of athletes’ current and past performances to assess their ability to win future medals on the Olympic stage.

Athletes selected on to the World Class programmes are eligible to receive advanced training camp and competition opportunities, access to world-class sports science and medicine services, and enhanced support from British Swimming performance staff and National Institute of Sport programmes across the country. Athletes will also receive targeted financial assistance from UK Sport through the World Class Performance Programme’s Athlete Personal Award (APA).

British Swimming national performance director Chris Spice said: “The sport enjoyed a very successful 2016 but we know that our aims and ambitions don’t end there as we now move forward to the 2020 Olympic Games. This year’s investment is going to enable our talented swimmers to continue to achieve their performance targets as they set their sights on Tokyo.”

British Swimming’s head of elite development Tim Jones said: “The past year has been great with some strong performances from a number of our young and talented swimmers. As we begin the new quadrennial we have used this opportunity to make some obvious investments into a new generation of athletes with a clear focus on Tokyo and beyond.”

Former Plymouth College pupils Joe Hulme and Callum Jarvis are among the other swimmers named in the Podium Potential squad.