Britain has established a Target Squad of 139 swimmers to focus on success at a home Olympic Games in London, 2012. The group comes together for the first time this weekend in Nottingham at the start of a journey of discovery and development.

On offer to them: coaching advice, sport science education and training opportunities aimed at ensuring peak performance in summer 2012.

British Swimming stated: 'It is expected that swimmers identified for the Target Squad will progress through the British Swimming World Class Pathway of World Class Development and World Class Podium programmes as they continue to develop and progress.'

The programme will be lead by British Swimming Director of World Class Programmes John Atkinson, who worked on the programme with Bill Sweetenham before the Australian returned home prematurely last year. Atkinson said: 'Originally we identified the top six performers in every Olympic event in the age groups we were targeting. We looked carefully at performances, ensured athletes were advancing within their event and attached results from international competitions to chart their progression. This criteria is based on times needed for international events throughout a swimmer's development. We set these out and looked at who has regularly reached these markers for their particular age group and which athletes are improving all the time. It's a fantastic opportunity for these athletes and I'm certainly looking forward to leading the group. It's a collection of some of the most exciting swimming talent I've seen, together with a selection of coaches that are continually delivering world class swimmers.'

Athletes, parents and coaches will be introduced as the Target Squad at the East Midlands Conference Centre on Saturday where they will hear from British Swimming Acting NPD Michael Scott as well as representatives from UKSport and the British Olympic Association.

Even more thrilling for the youngsters: David Davies, Graeme Smith and Paul Palmer will be there to chat to them about the road to winning Olympic medals, while James Goddard and Cassie Patten, with an eye on medals this summer ahead, will talk about life on the international race circuit.

More information and a full list of Target athletes can be viewed at British Swimming.