TWO swimmers who learned their trade in Shropshire will be in action for Great Britain at the World Swimming Championships this month.
Hector Pardoe and Freya Anderson, both former members of Ellesmere College Swimming Club stars, are in Japan as part of the British squad taking on the rest of the planet's top swimmers at the World Championships in Fukuoka.
Anderson won a scholarship to Ellesmere College as a child and appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to swimming.
Wrexham-born Pardoe trained at Ellesmere College under the tutelage of Alan Bircher from age 11 to 18 and in 2020 he moved from England to train and live in Montpellier, France.
Hector Pardoe ended 15th in the 5km open swim.
Pardoe became the first British swimmer to win a medal at the World Junior Open Water Championships when he won bronze in 2017 and in 2020 broke a British marathon swimming record in going under five hours for a 25,000-metre open water swim.
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Both swimmers are in Japan as part of the 29 athlete strong British squad.
Pardoe was in action on Tuesday morning, ending 15th in the men's open water 5km with a time of 56:46.50.
Anderson will be in action on Tuesday when she competes in the preliminary round of the women's 200m freestyle and will be aiming to secure a place in the following day's final.
Anderson will also be competing in the relay having been part of the British team to win a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2022 with the athlete dropping the 100m freestyle event from her programme.
At the 2023 British Swimming Championships, Anderson topped the women’s 200m free podium in a new lifetime best of 1:55.89 and won the 100m free in 53.48.
Anderson was a preliminary swimmer on Great Britain’s gold medal-winning mixed 4x100m medley relay at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
She has also amassed over a dozen relay medals over the course of three long-course European Championships appearances.
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