The 16 will be whittled down to a squad of 13 over the next week before the British team competes in the largest international water polo event hosted on home soil in the last 10 years.

The LEN European Nations Trophy marks an important stage in development for Britain’s men’s water polo team who have only been training as a squad since the sport gained UK Sport funding in September. 

Britain are set to face European rivals France, Poland, Ukraine, Israel and Ireland in the group stages where a top two finish will automatically qualify them for the quarter-finals. But progression to the knockouts will be a tough task with Britain’s long-established neighbours posing a real threat.

National Performance Director Nick Hume believes the LEN European Nations Trophy will allow the team to gauge their progress after nine months of focused preparations.

“This is the biggest test to date for what is still a very young squad,” he said. “It will give the team an indication of where they’re at towards 2012 and it’s a big event for them because it’s on home soil.

“Because it’s their first major tournament there are no particular expectations on the team. We will be looking to collect wins along the way but this is our first official tournament in Europe in five years so it’s a big test.

“The best teams in the world are from Europe, which makes it by far the toughest continent to compete in. The lads have been improving and training hard but it takes time to put a team together.”

Many of the extended squad are in their early 20s and are the first athletes to come through a development system introduced by Hume in 2002.

“We’ve changed the whole system in the last five years and the player pathway is now radically different,” added Hume. “A lot of the guys in the squad have come through our junior and youth programmes and this is the first real team to reap the benefits of the system we’ve put in place.”

The LEN European Nations Trophy takes place at the Manchester Aquatics Centre from 8-15 July 2006. Great Britain’s group matches take place at 7pm each day from Sunday 8 July to Thursday 12 July. 

The 16 athletes selected as part of the extended squad are as follows:

ATHLETE CLUB BORN  LIVES
Ed Scott City of Manchester Leeds Bolton
Scott Carpenter Sedgefield & District  Darlington Manchester
Andrew Squires Lancaster City Lancaster Withington, Manc
Tom Curwen Lancaster City Lancaster Withington, Manc
Matthew Thresher Bristol Central Bristol Withington, Manc
Mark Banwell Cheltenham Cheltenham Withington, Manc
Sean Ryder City of Manchester Nottingham Manchester
Chris Gilbertson Tyldesley Northallerton Manchester
Rob Rae City of Manchester Manchester Bolton
Rob Parker Cheltenham Cheltenham Manchester
Craig Figes CN Metropole, Spain Bristol Spain
Alex Parsonage Brierly Hill Dudley Dudley
Adam Scholefield Rotherham Metro Leeds Leeds
Matthew Birch Rotherham Metro Rotherham Altrincham
Mike Bourne City of Manchester Birmingham Birmingham
Andy Crawford Bristol Central Newport, Isle of Wight Bath

Day tickets cost as little as £5 per adult (£3 concessions) and can be purchased on www.manchester2007.com or by calling 01527 514 288.

For further details and full programme information, log onto www.manchester2007.com

-ENDS-

For more information contact British Swimming media officer Amanda Overend on 01509 632238, 07876 652 318 or email amanda.overend@swimming.org

The LEN European Nations Trophy takes place at the Manchester Aquatics Centre from 8-15 July 2007 and is jointly funded by British Swimming, UK Sport and Manchester City Council.

British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain.  It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales. (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association)  British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

The LEN European Nations Trophy has been part funded by UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Events Programme, which aims to secure events of strategic importance that deliver a range of lasting benefits. These include economic, social and cultural benefits as well as improving sporting performance by home athletes, encouraging participation and leaving a legacy of facilities and development initiatives. Over 120 sporting events have been staged in the UK through the programme since 1997. More at www.uksport.gov.uk

The LEN European Nations Trophy is part of Manchester City Council's event programme. Media enquiries: Helena Davison, Manchester City Council Press Office 0161 234 3729. For the Council's full calendar of 'Events to listen out for…' the public should call Manchester Visitor Information Centre on 0871 222 8223*, visit www.manchesterlive.co.uk or text 'EVENT' to 60600 for FREE events text alerts/offers - direct to their mobile (subscribers can opt in or out at any time and details/Terms & Conditions can be found at www.eventext.com.
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