CARRY GOLD CLOSES IMPRESSIVE TOUR FOR BRITAIN
David Carry stood on the top step of the podium for the second
time in as many days as Britain's swimmers concluded their
Mare Nostrum at the final leg in Barcelona.
The Loughborough University swimmer took the men's 400m Individual
Medley title in the most exciting race of night but he was
forced to fight all the way by British team mate Joe Roebuck
who eventually took silver.
Roebuck, also of Loughborough, led from the start but was
in Carry's sights as the pair turned into the freestyle finish.
With 50m to go Carry still had a lot to do with a second-and-a-half
deficit over the impressive Roebuck to make up.
Carry brought it home, however, in 4:21.59 ahead of Roebuck
in 4:22.58 and Travis Nederpelt of Australia was third in
4:24.73.
"It's great to come away with three gold medals from
this tour," said Carry. "I think the squad and I
have done well against fields of real quality and all the
while we're training as well.
"My aim tonight was to swim a solid time after all the
racing I've faced over the past week. Kicking at the end to
overtake Joe hurt a lot. It was very hard but I hate getting
beat and managed to drag something out to get the victory.
"Joe had a stunning swim but I managed to claw it back
at the end. I've taken a lot of confidence from this tour
and I felt that coming through tonight."
Britain added two further medals, bringing their total for
the Barcelona leg of the Mare Nostrum to 16, on the final
day's action with young Hanah Miley going close to the British
Record on her way to silver in the Wome's 400m Individual
Medley.
The 16-year-old from Garioch, Scotland looked very strong
but was pushed at the very end into the silver medal spot
by Olympic bronze medallist Georgina Bardach of Argentina
who took gold in 4:44.80.
Miley touched in a new Scottish Record of 4:44.96, just outside
of Rebecca Cooke's British standard of 4:44.60, and bronze
went to Spain's Mireia Belmonte Garcia in 4:46.13.
"I expected anything was possible but to go that fast
wasn't supposed to happen," explained Miley. "It's
faster than I've ever been and I'm in no shape to do that
because I'm tired from all of the training I've been doing.
"My aim was to just go faster than my heat swim but
just how fast I could go, I just wasn't sure.
"I've enjoyed this tour and will be outdoor training
these next two weeks where I'll take the opportunity to train
in a 50m pool with some really great swimmers."
Mel Marshall (Loughborough University) brought her tour to
an end with bronze in the Women's 100m Backstroke.
Gold went to Tayliah Zimmer of Australia in 1:01.69, Aussie
team mate Sophie Edington was second in 1:02.11 and Marshall
was third in 1:02.29.
"I got an especially bad start which didn't help me
but I was pleased with the way I came back at the race.
"The starting block felt a bit slippery and once I was
in the water I was always playing catch up. It's not a bad
thing to have someone in your sights and I thought I swam
them down well but left it just too late."
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