Rafa Maciel

Japan were awarded a walkover but I think it may have been because Nigeria didn't have enough players available to compete. Quadri Aruna had withdrawn from the squad before the competition begun and Bode Abiodun was late arriving. They are however competing today against so assume they haven't withdrawn.

Don't think any of the action we've seen this week will have all that much relevance when it comes to Paris. If the guys aren't hitting the target times when we get to the British Champs in April then may have to reconsider the medal prospects but from what I've seen so far, the majority of the GB swimmers are producing faster times than they were at the same time last year which can only be viewed as a positive sign for the rest of the year.

Looks like the season kicked off in earnest this weekend: HERO Abu Dhabi - Women's Elite 1.) Rebecca Henderson 2.) Noelle Buri 3.) Martin Berta HERO Abu Dhabi - Men's Elite 1.) Ben Oliver 2.) Thomas Litscher 3.) David List Shimano Supercup Massi La Nucia - Women's Elite 1.) Pauline Ferrand Prevot 2.) Nicole Koller 3.) Savilia Blunk Shimano Supercup Massi La Nucia - Men's Elite 1.) Tom Pidcock 2.) Samuel Gaze 3.) David Valero Serrano Action continues this weekend with the Internacionales Chelva GSport Challenge.

In a sign of how relaxed the GB squad have been about these championships, I understand that Matthew Richards was still in heavy training at altitude two weeks ago. Whilst it is disappointing that he didn't make the podium, 47.82 is still half a second quicker than he was swimming at the same time last year.

Cairo marks a return to competition for Joe Fraser after sitting out 2023 with injury and illness. So far: Floor - 11.833 Pommel - 14.666 Floor score is pretty poor but that's a decent pommel routine. He'll be on the horizontal bar tomorrow.

Ross Cullen did not make a single World Cup final across 2023 and his best result was a 1st at round 4 of European Cup in April which was devoid of most of the top names. Granted he looked in decent form at Rotorua before he went off course in the semi-finals but there is nothing in his results which would suggest he could be challenging for medals without a fairly dramatic shift in performance. Am becoming increasingly aware that I am coming across as the prophet of doom when it comes to prospects, but I do try to be as balanced as possible.

In some ways I can see it as a good thing, but then again, if you are a gymnast from the likes of Fiji or Samoa, are you really going to be able to travel to Hungary to compete or is this going to be another Oceania championship which is basically v

Understand from Gymnastics New Zealand that the Oceania Championship for Rhythmic Gymnastics is taking place in conjunction with the European Championships in Hungary from 22-May.

I'd argue that the women's team pursuit should be a lot higher than 7th in terms of likely gold medalist.

Confirmed start lists for the Oceania track cycling championships: Women's Team Pursuit: - Bryony Botha / Emily Shearman / Nicole Shields / Ally Wollaston - Sally Carter / Claudia Marcks / Sophie Marr / Keira Will With the exception of Nicole Shields who is replacing Samantha Donnelly, this is the same squad that New Zealand had at the Adelaide NC last week. For Australia, their big names are back on the road so they are fielding what was the Australia B team from Adelaide NC. There is a 3rd team riding under the name of Captain Marvel Women's Team Sprint: - With Ellesse Andrews nursing collarbone injury, Sophie De Vries comes into the squad, joining Rebecca Petch and Shaane Fulton. - Have 2 teams competing. Australia 1 replicates the team used at the NC in Adelaide with the exception of Kalinda Robinson who replaces Breanna Hargrave and joins Molly Mcgill and Alessia McCaig. Men's Team Pursuit: - Daniel Bridgwater / Keegan Hornblow / George Jackson / Tom Sexton (Nick Kergozou reserve) - John Carter / Graeme Frislie / Conor Leahy / Liam Walsh (Kurt Eather reserve) For NZL, this is definitely a 2nd tier squad with only Tom Sexton being part of the bronze medal winning team from Glasgow last year. Both Sexton and Hornblower were on the squad in Adelaide last week. The Australian team is a bit of a Frankenstein mash up of the 2 teams they had in Adelaide last week but like NZL, they too are missing their big named road riders. Men's Team Sprint: None of the big names are here and don't have a national squad riding - although there is a team listed under Te Awamutu Sports Cycling. There does seem to be something inherently unfair that a championship like this awards full points when there are only 2 nations competing whereas if it was to be classed as a Regional Games, it wouldn't offer any points at all.

Whilst it was disappointing that he couldn't improve on his semi-final time, I'd say there were a lot of positives that he will take away. It would have been great if he could have had 3 swims under 59 seconds but his 58.60 was the fastest he's swum since Tokyo and he does seem to now be consistently in the low 59s which wasn't the case at the end of last year in the World Cup events. Going into Tokyo, Peaty swum 58.87 in February 2021 and going into 2016, he was 1:00.05 so if you're a glass half-full kind of person, it could be argued that he is currently on par with previous performances. It will be difficult to replicate the times he achieved in Rio and Tokyo but I think it is too early to be discounting his medal prospects.

So miss out on the quota because they didn't take part in the World Champs. Given the pairing were in Doha, it seems a strange decision for them to have not taken part.

Entry lists for the Oceania Championship are up: OTC24-Master-Database-Entry-List-for-Website-at-1-Feb.pdf (cyclingnewzealand.nz) The format is pretty horrible so couple of thoughts: There's no Matt Richardson in the sprint events for Australia, but they do have Cornish and Hoffman so should still be able to take top spot in team sprint. In the team pursuit, Aaron Gate isn't listed against the event, but not sure that should be taken as gospel. They will have Keegan Hornblow, Nick Kergozou and Tom Sexton. Ellese Andrews appears on the entry lists but not sure she will be on the start line after breaking her collarbone in Adelaide.

dislodge from Olympic quota spot by just 0.03 seconds

On the women's side, I'd agree with you - GB's position is pretty much entirely on Shriever which makes it difficult to keep pace with nearest rivals. Emily Hutt is one of the best in the under-23s, but the points on offer aren't great. For the men, we've got 4 world class riders so it would be a real shame if they can't find a way to get 2 into Paris. Unfortunately none of them had a great weekend although Ross Cullen looked good in round 2 until he had an issue in his semi-final.

She's planning on flashing her bits and bobs on Onlyfans apparently. (and by bits and bobs I of course mean her medals )

Estimated Olympic rankings after 2024 World Cup Round 2: Men 1 - 14327 2 - 10926 ------------------------------------ 3 - 8198 4 - 7499 5 - 7435 ------------------------------------ 6 - 7171 Women 1 - 14600 2 - 11809 --------------------------------------- 3 - 10151 4 - 9466 5 - 8692 ---------------------------------------- 6 - 8497

BMX Racing World Cup - Round 2 Rotorua Men's Elite: 1.) Joris Daudet 2.) Cedric Butti 3.) Niek Kimmann Women's Elite: 1.) Saya Sakakibara 2.) Bethany Shriever 3.) Manon Veenstra

In order for to dislodge in the 4x100m, their target time is 3:41.74 - around 0.4 faster than they achieved in their heat swim.

Adjusted Olympic rankings after 2024 World Cup Round 1: Men 1 - 13769 2 - 10401 ------------------------------------ 3 - 7718 4 - 7191 5 - 7043 ------------------------------------ 6 - 6924 Women 1 - 13950 2 - 11102 --------------------------------------- 3 - 9685 4 - 8856 5 - 8501 ---------------------------------------- 6 - 8010

BMX Racing World Cup - Round 1 Rotorua Men's Elite: 1.) Romain Mathieu 2.) Joris Daudet 3.) Simon Marquart Women's Elite: 1.) Saya Sakakibara 2.) Laura Smulders 3.) Bethany Shriever

The only race that really matters this week is the men's 4x100m relay - we need the team to post a time that will put them in to the top 16 and get the quota. Anything beyond that will be regarded as a bonus by British Swimming.

Decidedly meh kind of performance from all of the men - Kye Whyte doesn't make it out of the 1/8 finals and the rest of them drop out in the 1/4 finals. They're going to lose a lot of ground to and it looks like they could drop behind . British women faring better - Shriver safely through to semi-final of elite event but so too Sakakibara and Reynolds of . Emily Hutt in the final of the under-23s

Entry list for stage 1 - Rotorua, New Zealand are available. 2024.01.31_-_Rider_Entry_List.pdf (ctfassets.net) In terms of Olympic quotas, on the men's side, and are nailed on for 3 quotas. will get 2. That leaves two more nations who will get 2 quotas and the fight is between & who are separated by 100 points. On the women's side, the main focus from Olympic quota perspective will be between and - and really that comes down to the fight between Saya Sakakibara and Bethany Shriever.

Men's Kayak Cross Time Trial: