Four Welsh Athletes Will Take To The Water in Doha

By James Candy

World champion Matt Richards will headline a quartet of Welsh athletes who are primed and ready for the World Aquatics Championships 2024 in Doha.

The multi-sport event runs from 2nd – 18th February, and with Paris 2024 now less than six months away, the Doha World Championships provides a crucial opportunity for many looking to secure Olympic quota spots or build towards the Games.

Richards and Medi Harris will take to the pool in a bid to secure relay qualifications while continuing to build momentum as part of a 20-strong swimming team.

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Hector Pardoe is out to secure a return to the Olympic stage four years on from a difficult debut marred by injury, and Aidan Heslop will compete in the Men’s 27m event, as he looks to follow on from placing second in the Red Bull Cliff Diving series.

The primary focus for the GB outfit in Doha is securing relay team quota places for Paris 2024.

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The team competing in Qatar has been selected in a bid to maximise the chances of ensuring those lanes are booked for July, as well as ensuring some valuable performance opportunities in the international arena for those involved, ahead of April’s British Swimming Championships – the selection event for the Olympic Games – and the Games themselves in July and August.

Pardoe will be the first Welsh athlete in the water as he takes on the 10km course on Sunday 4th February.

Pardoe – who was10th in the men’s 10km in Fukuoka and seventh in the overall World Cup rankings for 2023 – and third-time Worlds appearance maker Robinson will be in action.

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Team GB can still qualify two Olympic quota spots on both the women’s and men’s sides for the 10km events at Paris 2024.

The top 13finishers in Doha – notwithstanding the three medallists from each event at the last World Championships – will obtain a quota place for their National Olympic Committee.

Aidan Heslop’s World Championship debut in Fukuoka last year saw him complete the hardest dive ever competed at a Worlds event – and he ultimately just missed out on the podium after a strong showing.

He will again be in action in the Men’s 27m event, as he looks to follow on from placing second in the Red Bull Cliff Diving series.

The first two dives take place at the Old Doha Port on Tuesday 13th February, before the final rounds two days later.

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