Cumbrian and Scottish Borders swimmers chosen to represent Team GB at Paris Olympics

This summer will see two swimmers from the ITV Border region represent Team GB in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in pool and marathon swimming competitions.

Luke Greenbank from Cumbria and Lucy Hope from the Scottish Borders are among the swimmers heading to Paris this summer.

Luke Greenbank from Cockermouth, gained medals in the Tokyo Olympics in both the relay and individual level.

He won silver in the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay team, and bronze in 200m Backstroke. And more success in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where he was part of the team who won gold in the showpiece 4x100m Medley Team.

Lucy Hope from Melrose, made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Olympic Games where she competed as a team in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle and came sixth, and in the Commonwealth Games in 2022 she represented Team Scotland and came sixth in the 200m Freestyle, her best individual international finish.

Speaking on the 33-strong team selected for Paris, Aquatics GB Performance Director Chris Spice - who will be swimming Team Leader at his third Olympics in a few months’ time - said: "This is such an exciting group of athletes that we will be taking to Paris this summer, coming off the back of a brilliant six days of racing at our Olympic selection event in the Speedo Aquatics GB Swimming Championships, featuring world-class finals performances, British records, plenty of personal bests and all of our athletes executing in the arena as we know they do so well.

"That is testament to the swimmers themselves, as well as the coaches and support staff working tirelessly in the background.

"On top of some outstanding individual swims, the collective displays showed that we are in a really good place across multiple relay events, which has been a key focus for us over recent years - and the depth that this team possesses is fantastic.

"As well as 12 Olympic debutants across the pool and marathon programmes, we will have five three-time Olympians and the valuable experiences of so many who were part of a memorable Games in Tokyo.

"So we cannot wait to see how this team comes together with the aim of swimming faster in the summer.

"We know each and every athlete can do that, and that would put us in a very good place in Paris, where we are relishing having packed crowds and plenty of British support roaring us on."

Head Coach Bill Furniss said: "The swimmers have come through a tough selection process and earned the chance to show what they are capable of on the Olympic stage. We have a mix of proven experience and some exciting new talent, and our relay strength is encouraging in many events.

"The challenge for everyone on the team is to maximise the final months of preparation and produce their best performance of the season in the Olympic arena."

Preparing for his third Olympic Games, after golden triumphs at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, triple Olympic gold medallist Adam Peaty said: “I’m thrilled to have made my third Olympic team.

"It’s always amazing to be part of Team GB, but with it being so close to home in Paris this summer, and us having more home fans there supporting us, it’s even more exciting.”

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