Ellen Gandy announces she will switch allegiance and compete for Australia
Tuesday 4 December 2012 12:48, UK
Image:Ellen Gandy: Has announced that she will switch allegiance and compete for Australia
World 200 metres butterfly silver medallist Ellen Gandy has announced that she will switch allegiance and compete for Australia.
Supportive
"The last five years (living in Australia but competing for Britain) have been really, really difficult, especially the travelling.
"A lot of the time I felt like I was in limbo because I didn't feel Australian but I didn't really feel British either because I wasn't there all the time.
"It's not that I don't like Britain any more, but Australia has always been so supportive of me as a foreign athlete. They have never treated me as an outsider."
The swimmer has now applied for Australian citizenship and will have to sit out the next 12 months of international competition, including missing next year's World Championships in Barcelona, in order to fulfil criteria for changing allegiance.
Her next major international competition could be the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which will see her return to British shores in 2014.
