BRITAIN ADD MEDALS TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOTAL
Britain signed off from the fastest World Championships in
swimming history with a further two medals on the final night
to take their total to four from the pool and one from the
Olympic open water event.
Olympic medallist David Davies (City of Cardiff) equaled
his bronze medal finish of two years ago in the Men's 1500m
Freestyle in what was his first major final since recovering
from a foot infection for a large part of last year.
The 22-year-old went into the final featuring Olympic and
defending World Champion Grant Hackett (Australia) as well
as Olympic silver medallist Larsen Jensen (USA) but the danger
come from other quarters.
Gold went to young Mateusz Sawrymowicz of Poland, who lead
the race from the first third, in a time of 14:45.94 while
Russia's Yury Prilukov took the silver in 14:47.29 and Davies
the bronze in 14:51.21.
"To get a medal is fantastic but I feel I may have missed
a chance to become World Champion after Hackett and Jensen
failed to finish in the medals," said Davies.
"It wasn't quite there tonight but I can't be too disappointed
as I have another World Championship medal and it's the third
fastest swim of my career.
"It was a great performance from the young Polish swimmer
and he's a worthy champion with that time."
Britain's second medal came from Liam Tancock, with a bronze
already to his name, in the Men's 50m Backstroke.
The Loughborough University swimmer looked strong in a very
tight race to take the bronze in 25.23. Gold went to Gerhard
Zandberg of South Africa in 24.98 and silver to Thomas Rupprath
of Germany in 25.20. Matt Clay (Swansea) came home fifth in
25.32.
"It's another medal for me at a World Championships
but its not really the time I was after," said Tancock.
"I over revved my arms a little and didn't achieve what
I wanted which was a personal best time.
"These meets are all about gaining experience for the
Olympics and I'm learning all the time. The week has gone
well for me and I'm looking forward to getting back in the
water and preparing for a strong challenge in Beijing."
Britain's Men's 4x100m Medley Relay finished just outside
of the medals in fifth but set a new British Record at the
final event of the Championships at the Rod Laver Arena in
Melbourne.
The quartet of Tancock, James Gibson (Marseille), Matt Bowe
(Swansea) and Simon Burnett (Wycombe) returned in 3:36.18.
Gold went to Australia in 3:34.93, silver to Japan in 3:35.16
and Russia took bronze in 3:35.51.
"We were all expecting a little bit more tonight,"
said Gibson. "We put ourselves into it completely but
didn't really get the result we wanted.
"We thought we were on our way to a medal and it's hard
to take but we build now for the future."
Kate Haywood (Loughborough University) went in the final
of the Women's 50m Breaststroke, and improved on her entry
position to finish seventh in 31.82.
Gold went to Jess Hardy of the U.S. in 30.63, Leisel Jones
of Australia took the silver in 30.70 and Tara Kirk of the
U.S. the bronze in 31.05.
"I'll get back from here, take a few days out of the
water and then look to next year," said Haywood. "I'm
pleased with how it's gone here, given my broken preparation,
and I'll use it to get ready for Beijing.
"I'm top eight in the world in an the Olympic event
and my aim is to improve on that. It was good to race another
final tonight and it leaves me with confidence."
At a World Championships that saw America take the sport
of swimming to new levels and where 14 World Records tumbled,
National Performance Director Bill Sweetenham has a clear
picture of what the British athlete needs as the clock counts
down to the Beijing Olympics.
"We always want more than we get at this meet,"
said Sweetenham, "but what we've seen over the past eight
days is that swimming has moved on enormously. The US has
surprised the world with its depth within its team and the
quality produced.
"In our key events this meet has shown we are still
where we want to be but there are areas that we need to look
at, evaluate and improve on.
"This meet has challenged not only Britain but the entire
world. What we've seen is swimming evolve and we're now entering
a new era."
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