BALFOUR WINS GOLD TO ADD TO EUROPEAN TITLES
Britain's Kirsty Balfour took gold at the European Short
Course Championships in Helsinki tonight as she continues
a remarkable year that has seen a return of six medals from
major international meets.
The European Champion in the 50m, long course pool added
the short course (25m) title in the Women's 200m Breaststroke
with an emphatic victory despite the fact the 22-year-old
is currently in training for the World Championships in March
and went into the final without rest.
It's a mark of how far the City of Edinburgh swimmer has
come over the past 12 months where she has lowered British
records on numerous occasions, won silver and bronze at the
Commonwealth Games, and won two golds and a silver at the
Europeans (50m) this summer.
Balfour took nearly a second off her own British Record tonight
when she touched in 2:21.82 ahead of Anne Poleska of Germany
in 2:23.12 and bronze went to Beata Kaminska of Poland in
2:24.87.
"I was relieved as I touched the wall because I wasn't
quite sure how close the other girls were," said Balfour.
"It was a relief but I was very surprised with the time
and the result because I'm in training and not race prepared.
"I wasn't sure of my pace out there and just tried to
build into the race, to get faster and faster. I felt a bit
of pressure and there was a moment before the race when I
wasn't sure if I could do it because I was so nervous but
it all came together and I can learn from that."
Liam Tancock (Loughborough University) was agonisingly close
to a medal in the Men's 50m Backstroke but just missed out
on a bronze.
Germany's Helge Meeuw and Thomas Rupprath took gold and silver
in 23.70 and 23.92 respectively with bronze going to Lubos
Krizko of Slovakia in 24.19 just ahead of Tancock in 24.25.
"I the 50m events you just know you're going to be in
the mixer and anything can happen," said Tancock. "But
I'm pleased, given my workloads at the moment, with my performance
and my time. I've been consistent throughout and I'm looking
to going again in the 100m event."
Chris Cook (City of Newcastle) also finished just outside
the medals in the Men's 100m Breaststroke when he came home
in fourth.
Gold went to Oleg Lisogor of the Ukraine in 58.14, silver
to Valeriy Dymo of the Ukraine in 58.64 and Norway's Alexander
Dale Oen took the bronze in 58.70. Cook was timed at 59.25.
"I feel like I've lost and tenner and found a fiver,"
said Cook. "To come fourth is disappointing but I have
to be happy with how I swam considering I'm not ready to race
due to my preparation for the World Championships.
"This competition for me is about exposing my weaknesses
in the short course pool so I can work on them before we get
to Melbourne. There are always parts we can improve upon and
it's about finding the areas that will make me a better swimmer."
Rebecca Adlington (Nova Centruion) looked to have hold of
a deserved bronze in the Women's 800m Freestyle but in the
final 50m she was pushed out of the medals and into fourth
in an event that was dominated by Laure Manaudou of France.
Manaudou spent 750m of the race under World Record pace and
left the rest of the field to fight for the other medals.
It was a battle that Adlington was very much apart of but
swimming from lane eight she was caught unsighted of the rest
of the field and as the wall loomed she was touched out into
fourth.
Manaudou won in 8:12.24, Russia's Anastasia Ivanenko took
the silver in 8:18.09 and bronze went to Erika Villaecija
Garcia of Spain in 8:20.09. Adlington finished in 8:20.42
with team mate Becky Cooke (City of Glasgow) just behind in
8:20.48.
"I'm just so tired after that race," said Adlington.
"It took a lot out of me trying to get near the pace
of the race which well inside the World Record. It was difficult
to see where the field was from lane eight but it was an experience
for me and something I'll learn from."
City of Liverpool's Fran Halsall finished sixth in the final
of the Women's 100m Freestyle in 53.85 and Lizzie Simmonds
(Lincoln Vulcans) came home seventh in the Women's 100m Backstroke
final.
In the final event of the night the British quartet of Halsall,
Mel Marshall, Amy Smith and Ros Brett (all Loughborough University)
went in the Women's 4x50m Freestyle relay and finished fifth
in 1:39.63.
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