BURNETT AND COOK LOOK GOOD FOR MELBOURNE
Two of England's form swimmers were rewarded tonight as Wycombe
District's Simon Burnett and City of Newcastle's Chris Cook
swam qualification times at the Swimfit.com Commonwealth Games
Trials in Sheffield.
Burnett upset the record books with an electric swim in the
50m Freestyle to beat veteran sprinter Mark Foster who has
dominated the event for the best part of 20 years.
American-based Burnett, who set a new British Record in the
200m Freestyle two days ago, added another one to his collection
when he bettered Foster's previous best of 22.13. He went
22.12 to take gold and qualify for the English team.
"That's the first time I've swam the 50m Free since
I was 17," said a delighted Burnett. "My best time
coming into the meet was 23.13 so I'm pretty shocked at how
fast I was.
"My target for the Trials was to try to take all three
British Records but I thought the 50m would always be the
hardest one. I just hope I can continue to show this kind
of form in the 100m Free tomorrow.
"I've really enjoyed myself this year. I didn't come
back for the Trials in March and I didn't go to the Worlds.
My plan for the year was to put together a solid base of training
and it's paying off. It's just great to be swimming."
Foster, who won silver in 22.46 was magnanimous in defeat:
"It wasn't a bad time, in fact it's the fastest I've
been since the World Championships in 2003," he said.
"It was a really good race. I've been watching Simon
coming through, but that was a special swim tonight."
Loughborough University's Chris Cozens won bronze in 22.78.
Cook, who finished sixth in the 100m Breaststroke at last
week's World Championships, put in an exhaustive performance
to dip below the qualification standard for Melbourne.
In one of the toughest races of the night, Loughborough University's
James Gibson led the field to the 75m mark but in a thrilling
finish Cook turned on the power to seal the victory in 1:00.70.
Gibson held off rival Darren Mew (University of Bath) to
finish in second in 1:01.85 and Mew took the final podium
place in 1:02.03.
"I've been trying to hold on to my form since we came
back from Montreal," said an exhausted Cook. "I'm
feeling pretty tired so that was a good time for me.
"It's been a while swimming in the shadows of the likes
of Gibson, Whitehead and Mew but I've put in a lot of hard
work to get to where I am and I'm enjoying being here. Now
I've made the time I plan to get stuck in to a hard block
of training."
After qualifying for the 800m Freestyle just yesterday, City
of Glasgow's Rebecca Cooke was back in the water and set a
new British record in the 400m Individual Medley.
The 22-year-old took more than a second of her previous best
to seal the gold in 4:45.52. European Junior bronze medallist
Hannah Miley (Garioch) won silver in 4:47.76 and University
of Bath's Stacey Tadd was bronze medallist in 4:50.99.
"To be honest I wasn't expecting to put in that kind
of time," admitted Cooke. "I felt tired this morning
after the exertions of yesterday. It felt pretty good in the
Fly leg and I just built from there, really.
"I've not done a lot of medley work this season as my
main concern was the Freestyle and the World Championships."
In the women's 50m Breaststroke, Loughborough University's
Kate Haywood was agonisingly close to the Commonwealth qualification
standard as she recorded a time of 31.70 - just over a tenth
of a second off the mark needed for Melbourne.
The World Championship finalist was reflective about her
swim.
"The Worlds were very good for me - they've given me
a lot of confidence but I really wanted that time and it was
just inches away," she said. "Sometimes it's easy
to lose your stroke and over-rev and I think that may have
been the difference tonight."
In the same event, Wrexham's Lowri Tynan set a new Welsh
Record to take silver in 32.64 seconds and Warrender's Fiona
Booth won bronze in 32.76.
Katy Sexton (Portsmouth Northsea) also threatened the qualification
standard with a strong swim in the 200m Backstroke. Sexton
finished off what was a competitive race to take gold in 2:12.28.
University of Bath's Jo Fargus won silver in 2:12.56 and Karen
Lee of Loughborough University won bronze in 2:13.74.
In a close-fought 200m Butterfly, 2003 National Champion
Matthew Bowe took back his title with a time of 1:56.92. Bowe
pulled back the lead in the second 100m to touch home ahead
of Stirling Swimming's Mark Lewis who finished in 1:59.67
and Joe Roebuck (Loughborough University) who took bronze
in 1:59.97.
"Obviously I would have liked the qualifying time, but
to be honest my training has been geared to the 100m,"
said Bowe. "I'm pleased with a lifetime best and I hope
to go even better in the 100m."
Melanie Marshall, who has just returned from a disappointing
World Championships in Montreal, will be boosted by her win
in the 200m Freestyle event. The Loughborough swimmer, who
looked like she might make the qualification grade at the
half way point, couldn't quite hold the pace but finished
ahead of the field for the gold in 1:59.86.
Fellow World Championship squad member Joanne Jackson (Durham
Aquatics) finished second in 2:01.34 and 17-year-old Kate
Richardson of Kingston Upon Hull was third in 2:01.72.
"I did my best but it's still not good enough,"
said Marshall. "I feel like I've been chasing times all
season and now I'm going to have to do it again in December.
"I did go for it tonight and I really tried but I found
it hard to bring the race back. I need to get into some serious
training when I return home."
In the 100m Butterfly City of Birmingham's Terri Dunning
won the gold in 1:00.95.Sixteen-year-old Justine Clark of
City of Coventry set a new British Age Group record for silver
in 1:00.96 and Loughborough University's Rosalind Brett won
bronze in 1:01.04.
Scotland's Gregor Tait (City of Cardiff) lead the way in
the 200m Backstroke and won Gold in 2:00.10. Personal best
times were required for the remaining podium places as Stephen
Mellor (Stockport Metro) and David O'Brien (Stirling Swimming)
took silver and bronze in 2:01.34 and 2:02.65 respectively.
"That was all about racing and I feel like I've had
a lot of races over the past couple of weeks," said Tait.
"The World Championships weren't lucky for me again,
but I hope to change my fortune at the Commonwealths in Melbourne.
"It's not been the greatest summer for me but I've got
to get back after a short break and put in some hard work.
"It's been a long four weeks and I feel absolutely exhausted
but we have to race hard in conditions like these - it makes
us stronger."
Swimmers were off the qualification mark in the multi-disability
events and despite gold and a new British Record for Claire
Cashmore of Kelly College in the 50m Freestyle, her time of
31.07 was just outside the time for Melbourne.
In this event, where medals are awarded to the swimmers closest
to their respective world record times, Incas' Lara Ferguson
won silver in 32.09 and Kate Grey of Thornbury took bronze
in 32.67.
In the men's multi-disability 100m Freestyle, James Crisp
(Nova Centurion) was closest to his record and won gold in
1:00.63, Matthew Walker of Marple took silver in 1:04.38 and
Robert Welbourn (Lincoln Vulcans) won bronze in 56.50.
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