Leah Schlosshan eager to dive into busy summer with fast start at British Swimming Championships in Sheffield

For Sheffield is once again the gateway to the aquatics world as Ponds Forge hosts the British Swimming Championships from April 4-9.

As well as the prestige of national titles, 1,000 or so swimmers from the length and breadth of the British Isles are bidding to achieve qualifying times for a glut of major competitions.

July’s World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, is the headliner that the likes of James Guy and Tom Dean will be aiming for. Adam Peaty would have been too but he announced this week he is on an indefinite break.

But for swimmers a little earlier in their careers, July’s European Juniors in Belgrade, September’s World Juniors in the Mediterranean resort of Netanya, Israel, and a new continental Under-23s meet crowbarred into August in Dublin, mean this week in the Steel City carries huge significance.

One athlete hoping to earn selection for as many as possible is Leah Schlosshan of the City of Leeds Swimming Club, who last summer went to the European Juniors in Bucharest and shocked even herself by winning gold in the 200m individual medley.

“It’s certainly a busy summer ahead,” said Schlosshan, who also has to negotiate a driving test in May and her A-level exams.

“The British Championships is such an important event for the year ahead because all selection decisions are based on those races.

“World Championships in July will be really hard to get into and would be amazing, it would put me in a great place for next year in terms of the Olympics.

“If I don’t get the qualification times, which are very hard and only a select few athletes will, then my aim is to get as close as I can to them, and again in the summer get even closer to them or the Olympic qualifying times to show that I’m in a good place for next year.”

The 18-year-old comes in to the Sheffield meet in good spirits, with a strong block of training behind her and more importantly, the mental belief that at the European Juniors last year she proved she can perform on the big stage.

What she accomplished out in Bucharest, winning the heat, the semi-final and then the final in a time of 2.13:49 – two seconds shy of the Olympic qualification time – has changed her mindset going into 2023.

“It has definitely given me some confidence that I am capable of more than I expected,” the Bradford Grammar School pupil told The Yorkshire Post.

“I set out aims last year and the aim was to get a medal at Europeans Juniors, but not to get a gold.

“So I’ve learned a lot from that experience, not just getting the medal and the time that I want, but as an athlete I think I’ve matured. It’s definitely given me more hunger.”

The working relationship she has with her long-time City of Leeds coach Richard Denigan, who also served as lead GB coach for this European Juniors, is about more than just the practical aspect of swimming, it is about building a mental strength within his pupil.

“Richard keeps saying to me this is only the start, so hopefully I’m capable of much more,” says Schlosshan.

“We have a meeting at the start of every season (in September) before we get into the grit of training, to discuss goals.

“Because of what happened in Romania I can now aim higher. Richard always aims high for me, he always believed I was capable of a lot more.

“Since the Europeans I’ve had more confidence in my training but also how I conduct myself at these major meets.

“The more experience you gain you go into the competitions a lot more chilled.

"I’m still nervous, but I’m so much more developed than when I was at 15, 16.”

Befitting of Schlosshan’s all-round approach, she has a busy programme in Sheffield, racing her favoured 200m and 400m IM as well the 200m breaststroke and 200m freestyle.

All of which is good preparation for the big one next year.

“Paris is definitely in my line of sights,” confirms Schlosshan, an A* student at GCSE, who still plans to study medicine at university but will now take a gap year to try and make the Olympic squad.

“I want to see what I’m capable of this summer, then I’ll be in a better place of seeing where I’m at.”