HALSALL SETS NEW CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD IN 50M FREETYLE
Fran Halsall (City of Liverpool) set a new championship record
of 25.28 as she won gold in the women's 50m freestyle at the
European Junior Championships in Mallorca. The silver went
to Kromowidjojo of Netherlands in 25.81 and bronze to Stepanyuk
of Ukraine who touched in 26.05.
Earlier in the evening Halsall also won silver in the 200m
freestyle as she was edged out of the top spot by Belmonte
of Spain who touched in 2:01.61 ahead of Halsall's 2:01.93.
Bronze went to Etienne of France in 2:02.00 whilst Rachael
George (Hatfield) finished in sixth recording 2:03.63.
"I went into the 200m with high expectations of myself
and it didn't come off tonight but it made me more determined
for the 50 so I guess in the end it was a positive,"
said Halsall.
"I didn't expect to go that fast in the 50 and get the
record. I looked up and thought wow, I'm ecstatic!"
The second gold of the night came from Lizzie Simmonds in
the women's 200m backstoke who finished in 2:12.78. She led
from the start and moved away from the field down the third
50 to touch nearly three seconds ahead of her nearest rivals.
Russians Zueva and Shlapakova took silver and bronze in 2:15.48
and 2:15.83.
"The race went well pacing wise but I did zig-zag a
bit hitting the lane rope," said Simmonds. "It feels
wicked to have won the gold."
A silver medal went to Jemma Lowe (Bo Stockton) in a close
fought race behind Dara of Hungry. Lowe touched in 1:00.74
behind Dara's 1:00. 55 and Italian Bianchi won the bronze
in 1:01.05. Jessica Dickons (Bo Stockton) was fourth with
1:01.15.
After her race Lowe said "That's the most nervous I've
ever been. My target was gold as I got the silver last year.
My pb would have won it but I did all I could today."
The men's medley relay team collected Britain's last medal
of the Championships with a surprise bronze. They finished
in 3:48.68 behind Spain with the gold in 3:47.63 and Poland
only just beat them for silver with 3:48.64.
The team of Marco Loughran (Guildford City) on the backstroke,
Max Partridge (Co Sheffield) on the breaststroke leg, Christopher
Chasser (South Aberdeenshire) swimming the butterfly and Robbie
Renwick (Co Aberdeen) bringing the team home with the freestyle
were helped by David Waslin (Kingston on Hull) who swam the
freestyle leg in the morning heat to qualify the team for
the final.
"It shows the British have guts, " said Partridge.
Loughran added " We pulled something spectacular out
the bag tonight."
This is now the most successful European Junior Team who
has competed outside Britain, with a total medal tally of
seven gold, five silver and two bronze.
Head Coach Bill Pilczuk said: "Tonight was an excellent
finish to the European Junior Championships, the best ever
off-shore. I'm very please with the way Fran handled herself
as she had a quick double, she's a very tough competitors.
"Lizzie came through in the 200m backstroke right on
her pb and Jemma's swim was really solid.
"The men's medley relay followed suit from the 4 x 100
freestyle to race and take an unexpected medal showing the
tenacity of the boys and to finish the
meet on a high note."
In other finals tonight Jessica Dickons (Bo Stockton) swam
a pb of 2:18.80 in the Women's 200m individual medley, but
it was not quite enough for a medal and she finished in 4th.
Helena Thornton (Nova Centurion) finished 6th with a time
of 2:20.18.
In the Men's 200m breaststroke Andrew Rodgie (Carnegie),
after a pb in the heats, took well over a second off his best
again in the final to record 2:18.16 giving him 7th spot.
Robbie Renwick (Co Aberdeen) finished 8th in 51.62 in the
men's 100m freestyle and Alexandra Warren (Bath University)
was 7th in the women's 100m breaststroke when she recorded
1:12.48. In the men's 100m backstroke, Marco Loughran (Guildford
City) was 8th in 58.21.
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