YOUNG GIRLS EXCEL AT FINAL MARE NOSTRUM MEET
Britain enjoyed another successful evening in the pool as
all four swims of the day resulted in progression to the finals
and two bronze medals at the Mare Nostrum in Rome.
The Italian meet is the third meet in ten days for a young
squad featuring rising talents Lizzie Simmonds (Lincoln Vulcas),
Jessica Dickons and Jemma Lowe (both Borough of Stockton).
The team has been put through their paces as they compete
under fatigue and learn to handle the pressures that accompany
training through competition and travelling.
Simmonds picked up her fifth medal of the series with a bronze
in the 200m Backstroke. The 14-year-old set a new British
age group record of 2:13.64 seconds, behind gold medallist
Stanislava Komarova in 2:12.66 seconds and silver winner Louise
Ornstedt of Denmark in 2:12.86 seconds.
Dickons also won bronze with an impressive display in the
400m Individual Medley which saw her clock a new personal
best time of 4:54.46 seconds. Austria's Anja Klinar won gold
in 4:47.70 seconds and Liz Warden of Canada took silver in
4:52.03 seconds.
Lowe withdrew from the medley final to concentrate on the
Butterfly B final where she won bronze behind girls more than
five years her senior as she clocked 1:02.22 seconds.
Head coach Graham Bassi was pleased with his young charges'
performances:
"All three girls made the finals tonight which I'm really
pleased about," he beamed. "They've bounced back
well from a tough meet in Canet.
"Lizzie's bronze was the third time she's lowered the
age group record this week. She had a really good swim.
"Jessica had her best swim of the week and Jemma broke
the five minute mark for the first time on the 400m Individual
Medley.
"It's been a week of highs and lows and today was definitely
a high. Rome is a great place to swim, the atmosphere's really
upbeat and we're hoping for a great day tomorrow to round
the series off."
The Rome Mare Nostrum takes place from 11-12 June
at Club Natació Sant Andreu in Spain. Heats
begin a 9.30am and finals are at 4pm local time.
View the official website on www.marenostrumswim.com and
see results on www.fcnatacio.org
British swimmers taking part are: Keri Anne Payne (Stockport
Metro), Terri Dunning (City of Birmingham), James Goddard
(Stockport Metro), Simon Birch (Stockport Metro), Gregor Tait
(City of Cardiff), Ross Hughes (Stirling), Arthur Downing
(City of Sheffield), Stephanie Proud (Chester le Street),
Hollie O`Connor (Kingston upon Hull), Matt Bowe (Loughborough
University), Stephen Mellor (Stockport Metro), Tom Haffield
(City of Cardiff), Mark Lewis (Lewisham), Joe Roebuck (Loughborough
University), David Davies (City of Cardiff), Chris Cook -
training (City of Newcastle), Lizzie Simmonds (Lincoln Vulcans),
Jess Dickons (Borough of Stockton), Jemma Lowe (Stockton),
Mark Foster (University of Bath), Darren Mew (University of
Bath).
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