The British Gas Great Scottish Swim this coming Saturday will bring together newcomers and Olympic veterans to its one-mile event in Strathclyde Loch, North Lanarkshire.

British Gas Great Scottish Swim is the biggest swim in Scotland with over 2,000 entrants and will attract swimmers of all shapes, speeds and sizes, including Scottish TV personality and BBC newcaster Jackie Bird (shown on left).

In the women’s elite heat, Larisa Ilchenko of Russia, the Olympic 10K champion and 8-time world champion, will face off – again – against Olympic silver medalist and 2009 world champion Keri-Anne Payne and Olympic bronze medalist and 2-time world championship silver medalist Cassie Patten, both of Great Britain.

In the men’s elite race, the top five pre-race favorites each come from different countries with Russia’s Daniil Serebrennikov, the British Gas Great Scottish Swim defending champion, facing Great Britain’s Dave Carry, a double Commonwealth Games champion, Germany’s Thomas Lurz, an Olympic bronze medalist and 8-time world champion, Australia’s Brendan Capell, a 2004 world champion, and Bulgaria’s Petar Stoychev, the English Channel record holder and dominant swimmer on the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix circuit.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones