The 87 players competing in the U12s tournament, running until Saturday 5th November, come from as far afield as Ecuador, South Africa, Uzbekistan, Japan, the United States and Ukraine.

The indoor tennis courts at the Sports Training Village will stage four events during the week – boys’ singles and doubles, and girls’ singles and doubles – and the singles competitions is being played in a round-robin format.

It is the second time the Junior International Bath has taken place, with the singles titles in last year’s inaugural event going to Oluwajomiloju Aminu and Sevil Parvis.

Play gets under way at 10am daily and the tournament is free to watch, with great vantage points from the tennis balcony.

Visit teambath.com/tennis to find out more at tennis at Team Bath.

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office

The event at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre replicated the Tokyo competition schedule, with heats in the evening and finals the following morning, and took place while swimmers are in a heavy training load.

Despite that, James Guy got the competition off to an eye-catching start as he led a British Swimming National Centre Bath one-two in the men’s 100m butterfly in a time of 51.16 – just one tenth of a second slower than he clocked when winning bronze at last month’s European Championships. Jacob Peters was runner-up in 52.71.

“This meet is a prep meet, trying new things before Tokyo,” said Guy. “I’m in a great place, I feel really confident with what I’m doing. I think having that balance between swimming and lifestyle at home is really important. Everything is coming together quite nicely.”

Guy then placed third in another high-quality men’s 200m freestyle final (1:46.49) behind National Centre Bath training partner Tom Dean (1:46.46), the Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholar pushing winner Duncan Scott close for the third time in a month following the Olympic Trials and the Europeans.

Ben Proud, who is training with Mark Skimming’s student swimming squad in the build-up to Tokyo, clocked 21.93 for victory in a 50m freestyle final that saw National Centre Bath swimmer Matt Richards finish third in a new Welsh record time of 22.59. Proud went fastest again in Sunday’s 50m butterfly final, clocking 23.65 to finish ahead of Peters (23.87), while Richards was runner-up in the 100m freestyle (49.20).

Fellow freestyle specialist Anna Hopkin, a University of Bath Sport & Exercise Science alumna, continued her fine form in the build-up to her debut Olympic Games by winning the women’s 50m (24.83) and 100m (53.56) races.

National Centre Bath swimmer Holly Hibbott produced a composed performance to win the women’s 400m freestyle in 4:12.58.

The first final of the week saw Santander Sporting Scholar Luke Turley finish runner-up to Olympian Daniel Jervis in the 1,500m freestyle in 15:21.26, a result that was replicated in the following morning’s 800m final as Turley clocked 7:59.53.

Freya Anderson was runner-up in the women’s 200m freestyle (1:59.26) and Brodie Williams was third in the men’s 400m individual medley (4:24.13). There were also third-placed finishes in their respective 200m butterfly finals for Santander Sporting Scholar Jacob Greenwow (2:02.69), behind Sports Performance graduate Jay Lelliott, and National Centre Bath swimmer Emily Large (2:11.39).

Visit www.teambath.com/swimming to find out more about swimming at the University of Bath, including public swim-fit sessions in the same pool used for training by Olympic and Paralympic stars.

Courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

The Rio 2016 bronze-medallist, who has already been named in the Team GB squad for this summer’s Games, would normally spend some of the cold, dark months on warm-weather camps overseas and competing abroad but the global pandemic has forced her and coach Rhys Davey to adjust their plans.

Instead they have been working solidly at the Team Bath Sports Training Village – home to British Triathlon’s regional National Performance Centre – for the past ten months, making the most of the multi-sport facilities and working alongside other aspiring Olympians to hone their preparations.

“To be here in the position I am with 100 days to go, I think I’ve done really well,” said Holland, who was ITU World Champion in 2018. “I actually think it has gone about as well as it could have done so far. I know I have done my biggest-ever and most consistent winter training block, all of it, every single second, in the UK.

“It has been a little challenging, the weather has made it really trying at times and the lack of daylight is a factor for an athlete who spends a huge amount of time outdoors. I’ve had to do a fair bit of my cycling indoors, which is never as fun as being outside, but we’ve adapted to make it work and I’m really pleased with what I’ve been able to do.

“We’ve been really lucky that we’ve had access to the Sports Training Village here in Bath for virtually the entire time the pandemic has been going on. I came back at the end of June and have had access all the way through since then [through the Government’s elite-sport Return to Training protocol].

“I’ve been able to use the swimming pool and the gym the entire time and we’ve just started using the outdoor athletics track again as I make my training more race-specific. Having that access has been invaluable.

“The people who have been able to train at the STV have all been focussed on pretty much the same goal as me – we’re all trying to get to the Olympic Games. I’ve had chance to swim alongside some of the top GB swimmers, when we’ve had different pool allocation times in previous years, and it’s been really inspirational to see them go about their business. It also keeps things fresh, seeing how they do things differently.

“Everyone has been so focussed on the Olympic Games and even though we’ve been thrown some crazy circumstances we are all doing our very best to get on with it and hopefully be in the right shape to take on the world in July.”

Before then, Holland is hoping to put her hard work in training into practice during World Triathlon Championship Series events in Yokohama, Japan, in May and Leeds in June. She has only been able to compete once during the past 13 months, in Germany in September, and is grateful to know her Tokyo place is secured.

“Being pre-selected for the Olympic Games this year has been massive, especially under the stressful circumstances we have found ourselves in,” said Holland, who will be competing at her third Games after London 2012 and Rio 2016.

“Trying to restart racing in mid-May and not knowing whether you have a slot in the team, or even which competitions are going to happen, would have been really difficult. Knowing I have that in my pocket and all I need to do is focus on being the best I can be right at the end of July has been absolutely invaluable to me.”

Visit www.teambath.com/triathlon to find out more about the British Triathlon programme based at the Team Bath Sports Training Village.

Courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.