Jacob Peters Relishing Return To International Waters With Aquatics GB In Budapest
Jacob Peters returns to the international stage at the World Short-Course Championships in Budapest after missing out on Paris 2024.
The butterfly specialist is among an Aquatics GB team that was reduced to 10 on Sunday when the withdrawal of Olympic silver medallist Ben Proud was announced.
Peters finished third in the 100 fly at the Olympic trials in April behind Joe Litchfield and Josh Gammon despite matching the qualification time in prelims.
While Litchfield booked his ticket for the Games in the French capital, there was to be no second Olympic trip in 2024 for Peters, three years after his debut in Tokyo.
Jacob Peters: Photo Courtesy: Aquatics GB
Now the 24-year-old is set for international waters again at the global short-course meet that runs from 10-15 December at the Duna Arena.
“I’m really looking forward to getting out to Budapest and giving it my best,” he said. “I can’t wait to be around the other members of the team again – last season was a bit of a disappointment for me, so to be back on the team and surrounding myself with all the talent and the amazing athletes that Aquatics GB produce, it’s great.
“I want to go there, enjoy myself, try to get the best out of what I’m capable of at the moment, and then hopefully there are a couple of finals and we can go from there. It’ll be really good to get myself round the team again, get morale high and then hopefully kick on for the rest of the season.”
Peters, who is coached by Dave McNulty at Bath Performance Centre, among an Aquatics GB team that was reduced to 10 on Sunday with the withdrawal of Olympic silver medallist Ben Proud as he continues to build back into his post-Olympic training.
He is one of six GB swimmers in opening-day action when he goes in the 50 fly. Also competing on Tuesday are 15-year-old Amelie Blocksidge in the 400 free.
Eva Okaro (50m fly), Abbie Wood (200IM), Oliver Morgan (100m backstroke) and Max Litchfield (200IM) also go on Tuesday.
With this meet being used as a valuable competition opportunity against a world-class field and so early in the Olympic cycle into 2028, there are some busy individual event programmes, with Wood (200m freestyle, 200IM and 400IM), Morgan (50m, 100m and 200m backstroke) and Angharad Evans (50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke) among those slated to contest three events, while Litchfield is set to race in both IMs and the 200 and 400 free.
Amelie Blocksidge: Photo Courtesy: Aquatics GB
The World Aquatics Championships in Singapore is the major focus for the swimming team as the benchmark meet for 2025, and new head coach Steven Tigg explained how the high-level competition, racing exposure and process of getting through the rounds in Budapest can help the athletes involved at this stage of the season.
Tigg, who’ll be taking charge of the Great Britain team for the first time since he was appointed head coach, said: “We are really looking forward to bringing this team together and getting some valuable early-season racing under the belt as we begin a fresh Olympic cycle towards LA – with the first major focus being about building towards next summer’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
“The World Short Course Championships are always an enjoyable and insightful competition opportunity, which provide a chance to fine-tune technical skills and routines in the high-performance arena.”
Aquatics GB team for World Short-Course Championships, Budapest, Hungary (10-15 December):
Freya Anderson, Aquatics GB Performance Centre Bath
Amelie Blocksidge, City of Salford
Angharad Evans, University of Stirling
Josh Gammon, Aquatics GB Performance Centre Bath
Archie Goodburn, University of Edinburgh
Max Litchfield, Aquatics GB Performance Centre Loughborough
Oliver Morgan, University of Birmingham
Eva Okaro, Repton
Jacob Peters, Aquatics GB Performance Centre Bath
Abbie Wood, Aquatics GB Performance Centre Loughborough
