Paralympic champion swimmer, Ellie Simmonds, has returned to Glasgow to tell of her excitement at competing in the IPC World Swimming Championships in Tollcross this summer.

 

The gold-medallist visited the Tollcross International Swimming Centre yesterday, ahead of this year's competition which will be held from 13 to 19 July this year.

Simmonds, who won three gold medals at the IPC World Swimming Championships in 2013, will join an 18-strong British team, made up of athletes from all over the country.

Newcomer, Bethany Firth, will make her international debut for Britain after breaking three world records during the qualifying competitions and Sacha Kindred, who has previously represented Britain in every IPC World Swimming Championships competition over the course of his 20 year career, will return to the team for yet another contest.

More than 650 swimmers from over 50 countries will head to Glasgow to fight it out for the prestigious title.

This will be Simmonds fourth time competing in the World Championship competition.

She said:"I'm very excited to be named on the team for the World Championships in Glasgow.

"It's so great to be part of a world class team and competing at my fourth World Championships will be a real honour.

"The World Championships always has top class fields with top class athletes.

"I expect there will be some great racing and great rivalries. It will be tough for anyone to win medals with everyone in the world there.

"The USA are always strong and the Brazilians will be wanting to swim well ahead of their home Paralympic Games next year so there should be some great races."

However, national performance director, Chris Furber, believes the group have the potential to bring home a win for Britain.

He said: "The team we have selected is strong and reflects the goal of the competition which is to win gold medals and qualifying slots for Rio.

"There were some really excellent performances last week in Glasgow and I know the athletes have gone back to their home programmes to continue to work hard as we move closer to the Worlds.

"The expectation is that the standard of Para-Swimming in the lead up to Rio is only going to improve exponentially and we have based our standards this year on this which is why we have a smaller team than previously in this cycle.

"Having a smaller team allows us to give focused and individually tailored support to swimmers who have demonstrated gold or multi-medal potential."

Tickets for the event are now on sale and prices will range from £10 to £15 for adults and are free for everyone under the age of 16.

To buy a ticket for the competition, visit www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Glasgow2015.