British Olympic silver medallist Jazz Carlin relishing the prospect of first major open water challenge

The athlete is among the names to watch when the action gets under way.

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Olympic silver medallist Jazz Carlin (GBR) practised on the open water swimming course at Loch Lomond for the first time on Sunday and declared herself ready for her first major challenge away from the pool.

Carlin, who came second in the 400m and 800m at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, has battled back from pneumonia earlier in the year to make the Glasgow 2018 European Championships team.

She'll be taking part in the Open Water Swimming this week at Loch Lomond.

“I am feeling good. I put in a great block of training and I'm looking forward to getting back in the water,” Carlin said.

“For me it is a new challenge, something different. I love chasing the boys in training and trying to sit on their feet."

The Open Water swimming competition gets underway on 8 August and opened for official training today.

“It took us a couple of laps to get used to it but it’s an amazing venue. It’s great to be on home turf and try to it out. We are looking forward to it, it’s a nice temperature and we’re feeling good,” Carlin added.

“We’d love to bring back some medals and, hopefully, we can get people out watching. I’ve been at some events where it’s that close at the finish you never know what will happen.

“I am not one of the more experienced ones but it will be good to get stuck in and see what I can do.”