Four University of Stirling swimmers selected for Euro U23s

Four swimmers from the University of Stirling have been selected to compete in this weekend’s inaugural LEN European Under-23 Championships in Ireland.

Stirling students Evan Jones, Evie Davis, Keanna MacInnes and Lucy Grieve will represent Great Britain in Dublin, supported by the University’s High Performance Swim Coach, Bradley Hay.

It comes just weeks after swimmers from Stirling – Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence – won four medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Japan and 22 medals at the British Summer Championships. The University’s Oliver Carter also represented Great Britain last week at the Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester.

The European Under-23 Championships – which will run from Friday to Sunday (August 11-13) – is an open event, meaning that non-European countries are also invited to attend.

Evie, from south London, is studying maths at the University. Looking ahead to the competition in Dublin, she said: “It’s obviously really good to be selected – it’s a new international meet, so no one really knows what it’s going to be like. It’ll be a good opportunity for us to compete on the international stage. I’m looking for strong heat swims and hopefully challenge for finals.

“I’ve only joined the University this year – and I love that I’ve made the change. The facilities are world class – there’s not much more you could ask for. It gives us the best preparation for going into international competitions like this.”

Lucy, a first-year biology and psychology student, said: “I’m just really excited – we’ve been waiting for it for a while, and I just can’t wait to go. It’ll be cool to be part of the first European Under-23 Championships; it’ll give us a lot of international race experience and I know a lot of people in the team, so it’ll be great fun.”

First-year student Evan said: “I’m feeling good, I’m excited. I think it’ll be a good competition – it’s the first one of its kind, so we are going to it not knowing quite what to expect but I think it’ll be fun and fast.

“I’m trying to go into it with a no-pressure mentality; just give my best and see what happens.”

Keanna MacInnes, who competed at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, just a few weeks ago, said: “I’m really, really excited, particularly off the back of the Worlds – it is really beneficial for the younger ones to race at an international meet. I just want to swim the best times that I can.”