The British team were out in force in the first week of October. 50 of Britain’s finest were put through their paces at a GB relay camp from 1 – 4 October, 2009, by head coach Dennis Pursley and British Swimming’s latest big name catch, Jonty Skinner.

Relays are an important part of any major championships when up to 8 people can return home with medals in one event. With the London Games of 2012 on every coach’s planning sheet, the focus of this camp was to make the relay teams at the centre of the squad that will compete in front of a home crowd.

The sports sceintists were also kept busy with filming every takeover from above and below the water. The relay takeover equipment was set up and Jodi Cossor and Gemma Smith woked with Jonty to ensure all the data was captured for analysis. Read more from Jodi and Gemma in our 10 of the BEST section.

VIP guest
British Consul in Palma, Paul Abrey, came to the camp to say hello to some old friends. Paul was on hand to welcome the GB women’s team on their camp in Mallorca before heading to Beijing in 2008, and spent some time catching up with the latest developments and future plans ahead of 2012.

Much of the work involved practising the timing of the starting movement with the incoming swimmer and stepping forward on the block as part of the diving action. The scientists working the cameras were amazed with the clarity of the water and rated the BEST Centre as one of the best in the world for clarity of the water.