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- Jazz Carlin And Georgia Davies To Go For Gold Again On Gold Coast
Welsh golden swimming greats Jazz Carlin and Georgia Davies will get the chance to defend their Commonwealth Games titles in Australia in April after being selected as part of a 15-strong aquatics team for the Gold Coast.
They are the only two of Wales’ five gold medallists in Glasgow four years ago who will be returning to the Games. Rhythmic gymnast Frankie Jones had retired, cyclist Geraint Thomas is unavailable and judo player Natalie Powell will be watching on from home because her sport is not included.
Carlin took gold and silver in the 800m and 400m freestyle in Glasgow in 2014, while Davies triumphed in the 50m back and struck silver in the 100m back. They will be joined by the other two Welsh medallists in the pool four years ago, Calum Jarvis and Daniel Jervis.
The first Welsh woman to win gold in the pool since Pat Beavan in 1974, Carlin went on to win two silver medals at the Rio Olympics in 2016 in the 400m and 800m freestyle events. She ended last year ranked fourth (4:07.24) in the Commonwealth 400 rankings behind Australia’s Arlame Titmus (4:04.26) and fellow Brits Holly Hibbott (4:06.37) and Eleanor Faulknor (4:06.90).
Only Titmus (8:23.08) and her Aussie team mate Jessica Ashwood (8:25.61) were ahead of Carlin (8:30.56) in the world 800 metre rankings. Meanwhile, Davies is ranked second in the Commonwealth at both 50 and 100 metres backstroke for 2017.
Olympian Chloe Tutton was ranked fourth over 200 metres breastroke last year and will be looking to get among the medals having finished an agonising, yet superb, fourth in Rio in 2016. It will be a third Games for Alys Thomas, and a first for platform diver Aidan Heslop.
The 15-year-old Plymouth-based diver, whose mother hails from Blaenau Gwent, will become the first Welsh diver to compete at the Games since four-time Olympian, and 1990 10m Commonwealth gold medallist, Rob Morgan. A precocious talent, he won the 10m bronze at the European Junior Championships and bronze at the FINA Grand Prix in Madrid last year.
His victory in the 10m platform event at the Scottish Diving Championships earned him a score that would have secured a silver medal in Glasgow 2014.
TEAM WALES AQUATICS
Jazz Carlin (200 free / 800 free)
Xavier Castelli (100-200 back / 200IM)
Georgia Davies (50-100 back)
Kathryn Greenslade (200 free / 200 back)
Aidan Heslop (Diving – 3m-10m platform)
Calum Jarvis (100-200 free)
Daniel Jervis (400-1500 free)
Ellena Jones (400-800 free)
Harriet Jones (50-100-200 fly)
Alex Rosser (200 free S14)
Beth Sloan (100-200 breast)
Alys Thomas (100-200 fly)
Jack Thomas (200 free S14)
Chloe Tutton (100-200 breast)
Harriet West (100 fly / 100 back)
