DAVIES POSTS LIFETIME BEST TIME IN RECORD FINAL
British Olympic 1500m medallist David Davies swam a lifetime
best in the world’s fastest ever 800m Freestyle but
was unable challenge for a medal over the shorter distance
at the World Championships in Montreal.
With very little experience of the non-Olympic event, Davies
faced a field with speed more suited to the 800m event and,
despite a big effort that saw him lower his best time, he
was left in the wake of a World Record.
Australia’s Grant Hackett showed the type of form he’s
in by beating Ian Thorpe’s previous best standard of
7:39.16 when he touched in 7:38.65 to take gold after destroying
the field.
Laresen Jensen of the U.S. was second in 7:45.63 and Russia’s
Yuri Prilukov took the bronze in 7:46.64. Davies finished
sixth in 7:51.54.
Davies (City of Cardiff) was pleased with his performance
as he intended to use the event as a warm-up for his main
focus of the World Championships.
“It was a good race to sharpen up for the 1500m on
Saturday but it was a very tough event to be in. It was fast
out there and the waves those big guys were making were huge.
“It’s a lifetime best for me in an event I’ve
only really swam competitively once or twice. There were some
big swimmers in the field and 700m further at the weekend
will suit me a lot more. I can’t wait for it to come
around.”
Mel Marshall’s attempt at the Women’s 200m Freestyle
final ended badly for the Loughborough University swimmer
who could only manage seventh in what was a surprisingly slow
final.
Marshall is capable of much more than she showed at the championship
pool tonight so much so that her semi-final time, the night
before, would have given her the bronze.
Gold went to Solenne Figues of France in 1:58.60, Frederica
Pellegrini of Italy took the silver in 1:58.73 and Yang Yu
of China in 1:59.08 grabbed the bronze. Marshall finished
in a disappointing 1:59.36.
“It felt like I’d gone out hard and I messed
up my pace a bit. I know I’m better than that but it’s
what’s you do today that counts and I have to go away
and deal with knowing I got it wrong,” said an angry
Marshall.
“I’m really annoyed with that performance, it
was rubbish and I need to make sure it doesn’t happen
again.
“I’ve got the 4x200m Freestyle Relay tomorrow
and I need to make sure I’m in there with the right
frame of mind now.”
Britain looked in contention for a medal when Chris Cook
got off to a flying start in the final of the Men’s
50m Breaststroke but was unable to keep his swim together
as the sprinters came past him with just 15m to go.
For the City of Newcastle swimmer it has been a fantastic
meet as he contested the finals of both the 50m and 100m events
while lowering his lifetime bests on three occasions.
Tonight he eventually finished fifth in 28.00 while gold
went to German Mark Warnecke in 27.63, Mark Gangloff of the
U.S. took the silver in 27.71 and Kosuke Kitajima of Japan
in 27.78 took the bronze.
“I really enjoyed that race,” said Cook. “I
would have liked to have got a medal but it wasn’t to
be. Those boys were fast and I’m more suited to the
100m event but it was a great experience for me to be in that
final.
“I had a great start and was right up there with 35m
gone but it was hard to keep it together with the big guys
coming through.”
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