PLYMOUTH Leander’s Harry Stewart and former city swimmer Cameron Vearncombe have been named in the Great Britain swimming squad for this summer’s Paralympics in Paris.
The two S14 athletes feature in a 26-strong squad for this year’s Games in France, which includes 15 debutants and 11 returning Paralympians.
Stewart and Vearncombe will both be going to their first Games.
Vearncombe, who swan for Caradon before moving to Leander and who now trains at the Manchester Performance Centre, did compete at last year’s World Championships, while Stewart won a European title at his first senior international championships appearance in April.
ParalympicsGB chef de Mission Penny Briscoe said: “I’m delighted that today, with exactly 100 days to go to this summer’s Paralympic Games, we can celebrate the first athletes to join the ParalympicsGB team for Paris 2024 – our swimming squad.
“Our 26 swimmers represent an exciting mix of youth and experience, and there’s no doubt they all have fantastic potential to make Great Britain proud in Paris this summer. I’m really excited to see the ParalympicsGB team start to take shape and look forward to welcoming athletes from all corners of the UK, across 19 sports in total, in the coming weeks and months.”
Aquatics GB associate performance Ddrector Tim Jones said: “I’m delighted that ParalympicsGB are now announcing these 26 swimmers to compete in the swimming events in Paris in 100 days’ time.
“Our athlete cohort has evolved significantly since the Tokyo Games, and with 15 first-time Paralympians on the team, we know we have great potential to be very successful in Paris.
“Amongst our more experienced team members we’ve also seen some positive performance developments across this cycle to build on results from the past. We travel to the Games with a high-quality group of well-supported swimmers from a diverse range of training locations, which is testament the hard work and commitment from a large number of clubs and their coaches.
“With the team now unveiled, we will forge ahead in the coming months with the comprehensive plans we have put in place for this important pre-Games preparation phase, and I have every confidence we will arrive in Paris ready deliver our best possible performance.”