ADLINGTON ADDS TO EURO SWIM SQUAD
Nova Centurion's Rebecca Adlington became the third British
swimmer to dip below the European Championships qualification
standard as she set an impressive best in the 800m Freestyle.
The 17-year-old led from the start and forged a strong lead
early on, to finish more that 13 seconds ahead of the field
in 8:30.40. Cassandra Patten of Plymouth Leander won silver
in 8:43.58 and Keri-Anne Payne (Stockport Metro) took bronze
in 8:46.21.
"I didn't want to go out too fast, I just wanted to
make sure it was nice and smooth," said a delighted Adlington.
"When I saw I was with Cassie Patten I knew I had to
build on that. I was just so desperate to hold my pace, to
keep it relaxed and to make sure I didn't hack at my stroke.
"I haven't been anywhere near 8:39 for two years so
that was a massive PB. I wasn't expecting that at all."
Double Commonwealth medallist Ross Davenport won the first
domestic title of his career with gold in the 100m Freestyle.
The University of Bath swimmer swam a strong second leg to
improve on his third position at the turn and touch home in
50.42.
"That was OK," he said. "It's been a long
couple of weeks and I'm starting to feel it. It's hard trying
to hold your form over that amount of time. That's my first
ever British title. It's strange to become Commonwealth Champion
before you hold a national title.
"I never like losing, so to get the win is very satisfying,
although it's a big difference when you haven't got 10,000
people cheering you on."
Loughborough University's Chris Cozens won silver in 50.53
and Craig Houston of Stirling Swim won bronze in 50.79.
In the 200m Individual Medley, Loughborough University's
Joe Roebuck ousted Commonwealth Champion Gregor Tait from
the top spot with a two-second PB of 2:01.97. Tait (City of
Cardiff) took silver in 2:02.33 and Euan Dale (Loughborough
University) won bronze in 2:02.50.
"That was a great race," beamed Roebuck. "I
saw that I was leading after the fly and I just really tried
to hold on to take the gold.
"I didn't know where I was on the Breaststroke leg,
but I put my head down and gave it my all. It was great to
get a PB and qualify for the Europeans."
In the 100m Backstroke, 15-year-old Lizzie Simmonds (Lincoln
Vulcans), who posted a qualification time over 200m in last
night's session, leads the field into tomorrow's finals. In
the 200m Breaststroke, local lad James Kirton (City of Sheffield)
was fastest through to the finals and Ros Brett (Loughborough
University) heads the group into the final of the 100m Butterfly.
Mark Lewis (Beckenham), Kirsty Balfour (City of Edinburgh),
Matt Clay (Swansea) and Joanne Jackson (Durham University
Aquatics) all progressed fastest in their respective events
- the 200m Butterfly, 50m Breaststroke, 50m Backstroke and
200m Freestyle.
In the multi-disability events, two records fell in the women's
50m Breaststroke event. First, Kate Arnold of Torfaen set
a new British Record of 44.10 in the SB8 classification in
this morning's heat, before Swansea's Liz Johnson bettered
her by recording a new European standard of 48.04 in the SB6
class.
In the other finals Nyree Lewis (S6, Leominster) won gold
in the 100m Backstroke, ahead of Natalie Jones (Colchester
Phoenix) and Natalie Massey (Stockport Metro), while City
of Sheffield's James Crisp topped the podium in the men's
event, with Andrew Lindsey (Incas) and David Hill (Kelly College)
coming in second and third.
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