From the 9th to the 22nd May, the Olympic Aquatics Centre in London will be hosting the prestigious LEN European Aquatic Championships.

This elite event, not held in the UK since 1993, is one of the foremost swimming events in the world, and will be the last major competition before the teams head out for Rio this summer. Europe’s finest from swimming, diving and synchronised swimming will be brought together in East London.

The British diving team comprises 14 divers, including champion medallists Tom Daley, Jack Laugher and Chris Mears.

All eyes will, undoubtedly, be on Daley, competing in his home training pool. This athlete is still only 21, but considered a veteran in his field. In the synchronised diving he partners Dan Goodfellow, who is one of several young divers showing the upcoming British talent in diving.

There will be eight British swimmers – James Guy, Adam Peaty, Andrew Willis, Max Litchfield, Ben Proud, Siobhan Marie O’Connor, Jazz Carlin and Hannah Miley – all come to the Aquatics Centre having gained automatic qualification for Rio.

James Guy, world gold 200m freestyle champion, and one of the ambassadors for the championships, is looking in impressive form having won three titles at Glasgow.

For the women’s team, Commonwealth Gold medallist Jazz Carlin, another freestyle specialist, unable to compete in the London Olympics due to illness, is striving for success this year. She put in some very good performances in Glasgow and will be aiming not to disappoint here at the Europeans.

Synchronised swimming, an event growing in popularity, sees a first with the introduction of official mixed-gender synchro competition, taking place during the first week of the championships.

With 51,000 tickets available for these championships, spectators have a great opportunity to see Europe’s finest swimmers and divers battling it out for medals.

The medals themselves are a stunning new design, which features the contours of the iconic roof of the Aquatic Centre and will be a most coveted addition to the athletes’ medal cabinets.

Team GB will unquestionably be looking for a better performance than the 2012 Olympics, and try to use the home crowd to their advantage.