Wednesday, May 4, 2022 Strong Scottish contingent set for July's European Juniors Holly McGill Evan Jones Anna Green Matthew Ward Andrew Bertoli Six young Scots are amongst the 42-strong British Swimming team heading to July's European Junior Championships in Bucharest, Romania. The event - which will take place at the Otopeni Olympic Swimming Complex between 5th-10th July - follows hot on the heels from the World Aquatics Championships - and athletes competing in Bucharest will be hoping to continue their progression towards those top-level senior competitions by putting in some season-best swims and making the most of every competitive challenge against international counterparts. Scottish swimmers, Holly McGill (Heart of Midlothian), Anna Green (Warrender Baths Club), Andrew Bertoli (City of Leicester), Evan Jones (Millfield), Laura Hodgson (Newcastle Swim Team) and Matthew Ward (Mount Kelly) have all been selected as part of the team. Amongst the group, Eva Okaro (Sevenoaks), Leah Schlosshan (City of Leeds), Harvey Freeman (Northampton SC) and Evan Jones (Millfield) all earned medals at the European Juniors in Rome in 2021, and they are part of the cohort boarding the plane to Romania in eight weeks' time. Among the other swimmers involved are rising youngsters Ashleigh Baillie, Phoebe Cooper (both City of Sheffield) and Iona Colbert (Nova Centurions), who all enjoyed eye-catching meets at the British Swimming Championships last month. The full team has been named following those successful British Championships, which featured more than 1,500 swimmers, many of them juniors, across 18 sessions. This year’s 42-strong contingent is one of the largest ever British junior teams to participate in Europe’s premier age-group competition. Speaking on the team selection and looking ahead to the European Junior Championships, British Swimming Head of Performance Development Alan Lynn said: "There were many outstanding swims from our junior athletes at the British Championships, which was even more impressive given the lack of competition opportunities many have had over the past two years. Hearts swimmer Holly McGill, who has been selected for the European Juniors team for the first time said: "As soon as I got the email saying I was in the team, it became my main focus. I'm just so happy to be included. "I have the Glasgow meet first which will help in my preparation, so we will see how well I can do in Bucharest. First though I need to get my exams over with, then the serious swimming will be back. "I've had a really busy start to the year, but also a really good one, to make the A final at the British Champs in the 200 back and do as well as I did was just amazing and something that I will remember forever." The swimming programme at the European Junior Championships will immediately precede the diving programme, hosted on this occasion at the same venue. The British Junior Diving team for that event will be announced in due course. British Swimming team for the 2022 European Junior Championships, Bucharest (5th-10th July): Ashleigh Baillie, City of Sheffield Andrew Bertoli, City of Leicester Charlotte Bianchi, City of Sheffield Oscar Bilbao, City of Hereford Alexander Casey, City of Leicester Iona Colbert, Nova Centurions Phoebe Cooper, City of Sheffield Emma Croker, South Lincolnshire CSS Evie Dilley, Borough of Stockton Kaden Edwards, City of Cardiff Max Elkin, Swansea Aquatics Lucy Fox, Wycombe District Harvey Freeman, Northampton Swimming Club Calvin Fry, Mount Kelly Anna Green, Warrender Baths Chloe Harris, Royal Wolverhampton Robbie Hemmings, Poole Swimming Club Toby Hill, City of Manchester Aquatics Laura Hodgson, Newcastle Swim Team Evan Jones, Millfield Sophie King, Woking Livia Kingsland, Nova Centurion Caitlin Lansom, City of Manchester Aquatics Erin Little, Mount Kelly Jonathan Marshall, FAST Holly McGill, Heart of Midlothian Tyler Melbourne-Smith, City of Liverpool Eva Okaro, Sevenoaks Alex Painter, Millfield Darcy Revitt, Guildford City Sienna Robinson, City of Sheffield Antonio Rodriguez, Swansea Aquatics Reuben Rowbotham-Keating, City of Manchester Aquatics Leah Schlosshan, City of Leeds George Smith, Leamington Lara Thomson, City of Leeds Matthew Ward, Mount Kelly Jacob Whittle, Loughborough National Centre Hollie Widdows, Mount Kelly Cameron Williams, Dartmoor Darts Aquatic Elliot Woodburn, Millfield Matthew Woodhall, City of Sheffield ARTICLE BY BRITISH SWIMMING