BRITAIN DOUBLES EUROPEAN MEDAL HAUL IN HELSINKI
Britain doubled their medal tally on day three of the Helsinki
European Short Course Championships when they won three medals
in a productive night in the pool.
The British performance of the night goes to the Women's
4x50m Medley Relay team who set a new British Record in the
heats and then broke it once again in the final to claim a
hard-fought bronze in one of the races of the session.
Lizzie Simmonds (Lincoln Vulcans), the youngest swimmer on
the team at 15-years-old, lead off with the backstroke leg
before handing over to Kate Haywood (Loughborough University)
for the breaststroke, Ros Brett (Loughborough University)
for the fly leg and Fran Halsall (City of Liverpool) brought
home the freestyle in a split of 23.80 to take the bronze.
Gold went to Germany in 1:47.55, the Swedes took the silver
in 1:48.14 and Britain were just behind in 1:48.26 despite
Halsall clawing back at her Swedish rival.
"That was a great race to be a part of," said Simmonds.
"All of the British girls are more 100m swimmers so to
go up against the 50m specialists and get a medal is just
amazing."
Brett (27), as the oldest member of the British quartet,
is a seven-time European Short Course swimmer and was delighted
to win another medal.
"I'm just happy to be up there on the podium with this
great team of young swimmers. They're fantastic talents and
together we make a great team. I'm sure this is a unit that
can go on to the World Championships next year and build on
this success."
University of Bath swimmer Darren Mew responded in perfect
fashion to the disappointment of his 100m Breaststroke performance
earlier in the week to take the bronze in the 50m event with
a powerful display.
Gold went to short course specialist Oleg Lisogor of the
Ukraine in 26.50, Alessandro Terrin of Italy took the silver
in 26.92 and Mew finished on 27.23, just ahead of team mate
Chris Cook (City of Newcastle) with 27.27 in joint fifth.
"That was a great reaction to my performance over 100m,"
said Mew. "I messed up earlier in the week but put it
right tonight.
"The 100m has been my best event all season so I was
a little over confident going into the earlier race and I
came unstuck because we have some world class breaststroke
swimmers in Britain and the others guys took the top two spots.
"Tonight I prepared myself mentally for the race and
gave it everything I had. It may have been scrappy but it
was always going to be in the 50m event.
"I feel I'm coming back into my best shape and I've
enjoyed a great year under my new coach Kim Swanwick at Bath.
My plan now is to put it right for the 100m and take that
to Melbourne next year."
In the fastest Women's 400m Freestyle race in history, Britain's
Jo Jackson (Derwentside) took the bronze with a brave swim
despite Laure Manaudou of France setting an incredible pace
to win in a new World Record time.
Manaudou went 3:56.09 to take gold, Frederica Pellegrini
of Italy finished with the silver in 3:59.96 and Jackson took
the bronze in 4:01.48 - just outside her own British Record.
"I went out there and gave the best I could but that
pace was just amazing from Laure," said Jackson. "I'm
delighted to come away with a medal because I'm in heavy training
at the moment preparing for the World Championships.
"I would have liked to have gone faster and come away
with a record but it will have to wait. The World Championships
are my priority and there are things about my race that we've
identified this week and I need to work upon those. That's
what this meet is about for me."
David Davies (City of Cardiff) couldn't repeat the medal
he won 12 months ago in the same competition when he finished
fifth in the Men's 1500m Freestyle with a very tired performance.
Yury Prilukov of Russia swam the second fastest 1500m Freestyle
of all time to win in a new European Record time of 14:16.15,
Poland's Mateusz Sawrymowicz took the silver in 14:28.43,
and Sebastien Rouault of France grabbed the bronze in 14:39.06
with Davies behind in 14:40.65.
"That was a tough race for me," said Davies. "Since
I've been back from my injury my main objective has been to
get fit, make the World Championship team and prepare for
Melbourne to make sure I'm at my peak come next March.
"I swam well in Eindhoven last week but trying to back
that up this week in Helsinki has proved too much. I got outclassed
on turns which is something I've got to work on but it didn't
help being tired coming into the meet without any great rest.
"It was a very fast race and I couldn't be where I wanted
to be given I've been working hard towards qualifying and
Melbourne."
Kate Haywood and Kirsty Balfour (City of Edinburgh) will
contest the Women's 100m Breaststroke on the final day when
they finished theirs heats second in 66.97and first in 67.23
respectively to claim a place in the final.
Matt Clay (Swansea Performance) and Gregor Tait will race
in the Men's 100m Backstroke final after they qualified fifth
and seventh fastest in 52.75 and 53.33.
Butterfly swimmers Terri Dunning (City of Birmingham) and
Ros Brett will also feature on the final night after both
qualified for the final of the 100m event in 58.67 to place
Dunning sixth and 59.08 for Brett in seventh.
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