The Danish swimming team attending the Olympics

There are four strokes used in Olympic competition at the London 2012 Games: Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. In total there will be 950 athletes competing in Swimming, Which features no fewer than 34 medal events.

The Swimming competition will take place in the dazzling Aquatics Centre, built in the Olympic Park especially for London 2012 in Stratford, which I went to see in November a few weeks ago.

At the last five Olympics Games, Denmark has only gained one medal in swimming, this was in 2008, were Lotte Friis won bronze at 800 meters freestyle.

Denmark has already qualified at a few of the disciplines to London 2012:

Lotte Friis, 400 m freestyle and 800 m freestyle.
Jeanette Ottesen, 50 m and 100 m freestyle samt 100 m butterfly.
Mads Glæsner, 400 m freestyle.
Rikke Møller Pedersen, 100 m og 200 m breaststroke.
Pal Joensen, 1500 m freestyle.

Lotte Friis and her dancing partner Mads Vad at come dancing

Lotte Friis, 23, qualified to the Games at the world cup in Shanghai in July in 2011, where she came first in the 1500 meters freestyle. Friis has become very famous in Denmark after winning her medal at the 2008 Games and attending the Danish version of strictly come dancing (vild med dans).





Friis has made a lot of Danish records in different strokes. She also holds the world record for the 1500 metres freestyle.






Another qualified girl is the 23 year old, Jeannette Ottesen, who won gold in the 100 meter freestyle category at the world cup 2011. She came 17^th in 100 metre freestyle stroke at the Olympics in 2004, when she was only 16 years old.

London will be Ottesen´s third Olympics to attend, but this could be her chance to win her first Olympic medal.

The four Danish girls: Pernille Blume, Mie Ø. Nielsen, Lotte Friis, Jeanette Ottesen have qualified for the team stroke in both 4x100 freestyle and 4x100 medley.

Mads Glæsner, who has qualified to 400 metre freestyle, also attended the 2008 Olympics. Glæsner´s latest results at the VKM in Dubai in 2011, he came second at 1500 m freestyle and fifth in the 400 m freestyle.

Friis at the World Cup 2011

Ottesen on 100 metre butterfly

We still have a chance for more Danish athletes to qualify for London 2012, by qualifying indirectly through the B-qualification.