#1 - Matt Richards

Anna Hopkin was kind enough to join Rob for another episode of the Swim Special. A sprinting specialist, Anna has qualified for her first Olympic Games with her sights fully set on the Tokyo games. This will top off a brilliant season that has also seen her pick up 4 gold medals and a bronze at the 2020 European Championships in Budapest. The DC Trident swimmer chatted with Rob about her unorthodox journey in swimming to get to the top, which included some teenage years out of the pool and a masters degree in the United States. Anna offered some brilliant insights into her mental approach to swimming, her plans for the future, and much more. We hope you enjoy.

Rob spoke with one of the newest faces on the international senior scene, Alicia Wilson. After being held in high esteem at a junior level in the UK, Alicia moved to California to pursue further success in the pool, as well as a high level university education. As a Cal Bear, Alicia won gold in the 200IM at the the 2019 World University Games in Naples. She also won bronze at the NCAAs and gold in the 200 IM at the PAC-12 championships.  The move to the states has certainly paid dividends, with Alicia now having made the Team GB squad for Tokyo. She has also recently competed on her first senior British team at the 2020 European Championships in Budapest.

Rob chatted to Tom Dean about his successes inside the pool, and passions outside of it.  Tom recently stunned the swimming world by clocking a 1:44:58 in the 200 free at the British Olympic Trials, making him one of the favourites for a medal in Tokyo. He will also be a part of the highly touted British 4x200m Freestyle Relay team at the Games. Tom swims out of the national training centre in Bath under the watchful eyes of David McNulty. After having defended gold medals in the 200IM event at the 2017 and 2018 European Junior Championships, he has gone on to establish himself on the international senior scene, taking home 6 medals from the 2020 European Championships, 3 of them being gold.

Rob sat down for an extended interview with British Olympic hopeful, Luke Greenbank.  A talented youngster trained out of Cockermouth in the north of England, Luke burst onto the scene by breaking the 200m backstroke junior world record at the inaugural 2015 European Games in Baku. Since then, he has gone on to win medals at European Championships, a gold in the memorable 4x100m Medley relay final at the 2019 World Championships, and a bronze at the same competition in the 200m backstroke which qualified him for Tokyo 2020.  After breaking the long-standing 200m backstroke British record earlier this season, Luke is looking to Tokyo with high hopes.

This week, ISL News was pleased to have the Litchfield brothers on the Swim Special with Rob Hilton.  Since the podcast, both brothers have qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Max will be looking to improve on his 4th place finish at Rio 2016 in the 400IM, and Joe will look to take on the world’s best with fellow Brit, Duncan Scott, in the 200IM. Both recently medalled at the 2020 European Championships in Budapest.

Before the British Olympic Trials, Rob sat down for an extended interview with Abbie Wood, to talk about her life inside and out of the pool. Abbie was one of the most fervent breakout swimmers of ISL Season 2, and has since gone on to establish herself as one of the best 200IM swimmers in the world, as well as qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in the 200 Breast and picking up a number of medals at the 2020 European Championships. Follow us on instagram at @iswimleague_news

Rob sat down for an extended interview with Matt Richards before the Olympic trials in the UK to chat about his ambitions, career, tattoos, and much more.  Matt was the 2019 European Junior Champion in the 100m Freestyle. He recently qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a Welsh record in the 100m Freestyle at trials to finish second, and a stunning swim in the 200m Freestyle of 1:45.77 to finish third.