DAVIES SETS MEET RECORD TO WIN GOLD IN SPAIN
Great Britain scooped two medals of each colour as Olympic
bronze medallist David Davies set a new championship record
in the 1500m Freestyle on the final day of the Mare Nostrum
meet in Barcelona.
Davies (City of Cardiff) clocked home in 15:08.51 seconds,
nearly ten seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Romania's Dragos
Comen took silver in 15:17.44 seconds and bronze went to Przemyslaw
Stanczyk of Poland in 15.25.85 seconds.
Chris Cook (City of Newcastle) continued his medal-winning
form to pick up a second gold in as many days. The breaststroke
specialist took the top spot in the 100m Breaststroke with
a time of 1:01.76 seconds. Russians Dimitry Komornikov and
Grigory Falko took silver and bronze in 1:02.03 seconds and
1:02.13 seconds respectively.
For the second day in a row, University of Bath swimmer Darren
Mew was kept out of the medals, clocking in fourth in 1:02.60
seconds. Scot Kris Gilchrist finished eighth in 1:04.29 seconds.
Also doing the double was Lincoln Vulcans talent Lizzie Simmonds
who collected her second backstroke silver of the weekend,
this time over the 100m distance.
The 14-year-old put in another lifetime best performance
to take silver in 1:02.60 seconds, a short touch behind Olympic
silver medallist Stanislava Kamorova of Russia who won the
race in 1:02.56 seconds. China's Chen Yanyan finished third
in 1:02.84 seconds.
In the men's event, Gregor Tait (City of Cardiff) picked
up his second bronze of the meet with a time of 56.43 seconds.
Russian Arkady Vyatchanin won gold in 55.49 seconds and Romanian
Razvan Florea took silver in 55.99 seconds. Once more Stockport
Metro's James Goddard finished in fifth with a time of 56.71
seconds.
Goddard's club mate Kerri-Anne Payne was in better fortunes
and a personal best swim in the 400m Individual Medley secured
her the silver medal. Her time of 4:46.74 seconds was just
off the British record and challenged gold medallist Liu Jing
of China who clocked home in 4:46.18 seconds. Sara Perez Sala
took bronze in 4:49.23 seconds.
In the men's 400m Individual Medley Loughborough University's
Joe Roebuck equalled his performance in the shorter event
to grab his second bronze of the meet.
His performance of 4:24.75 seconds saw him take the bronze
easily in a fast race where winner Laszlo Cseh of Hungary
set a new championship record of 4:12.59 seconds. Poland's
Pawel Korzeniowski won silver in 4:19.32 seconds.
British coach Sean Kelly praised the squad:
"The team did really well," he said. "They
raised their performances from yesterday and put in some great
swims.
"I'm really happy with how the meet's gone. Everyone
worked really hard at the training camp and they've worked
even harder during competition.
"There's a great atmosphere amongst the team. A lot
of the swimmers didn't know each other before and they've
really come together. They've raced against Olympic and World
medallists, handled the pressure well and taken it all in
their stride.
"Some of the young girls are competing in Canet and
Rome this week to gain more experience in international competition
and they'll be looking to improve on the times they've set
this weekend.
A small group of the swimmers will compete at the next two
Mare Nostrum
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