LOWE TAKES SECOND TITLE IN MANCHESTER
Borough of Stockton's Jemma Lowe claimed her second crown
of the British Swimming Championships after setting her third
Welsh record of the meet - in the 200m Butterfly.
The 17-year-old, who celebrated her birthday this week, set
a new Welsh record of 2:10.94 in yesterday's heat and was
just outside that this morning to win gold in 2:11.12.
Local girl Cassie Patten (Stockport Metro) finished in second
place to take the silver in 2.14.17 with Emma Smithurst (Derventio)
taking bronze in 2.14.90.
Lowe was delighted to lower her 200m best yesterday but would
have liked her title-winning race to be faster.
"I am happy to take the gold," she said. "I
was a little disappointed with my time this morning but it
was my final event of the competition. I've set new personal
best times in all of the butterfly events so it has been good.
"It is strange because normally I have someone to follow
such as Terri Dunning, but I was the one leading this time
so it was a good experience."
In the men's 200m Backstroke, Benjamin Stasiulis of France
won the gold in 1.58.81, with Marco Loughran (Guildford) taking
silver in 2.01.14, knocking more than half a second off the
Welsh record he set in the semi-finals. Scott Houston (Stirling)
went home with the bronze medal in 2.02.97.
Loughran believes the French competition has boosted his
performances in Manchester.
"Having the French guy in the backstroke races with
me has really spurred me on," he said. "I've improved
my times by two to three percent in all my events which is
fantastic. I honestly think that if I hadn't been racing Stasiulis,
I wouldn't have made the improvements I did. I can't wait
to get back in to training and build on the progress I've
made."
Loughborough University's Joe Roebuck successfully defended
his British 400m Individual Medley title, out-pacing training
partner Euan Dale and finishing within the qualification standard
for this summer's World University Games.
"That was a good swim so I'm happy," said Roebuck.
"I've been trying to post a qualifying time for the University
Games all week and I'm glad I've finally done it."
With only British record holder David Carry missing from
the Championships, Roebuck was surprised to claim the title
so easily.
"I expected Euan to take the lead early on as he is
strong on the backstroke and breaststroke and he came close
to the British record yesterday, but I'm glad to take the
win and retain my British title."
Roebuck touched in 4.19.93 with Lewis Smith (Warrender) taking
silver in 4.23.80 and Thomas Haffield (City of Cardiff) winning
the bronze medal in 4.25.80. Dale finished fourth in 4:25.91.
In a thrilling final to the men's 100m Butterfly, Clement
Lefert of France held off the rest of the field to take gold
in 54.23. City of Newcastle's Andrew Mayor was agonisingly
close to taking the British title, but finished just behind
Lefert to take silver in 54.45, with Michael Rock (Everton)
in bronze position in 54.74.
There was another French victory in the women's 400m Freestyle.
Coralie Balmy put in a commanding performance to win gold
in 4.11.34, ahead of Hannah Miley (Garioch) who took silver
in 4.15.01 and Cassie Patten (Stockport Metro) who claimed
the bronze in 4.15.92.
For Miley the silver topped off an excellent meet and proved
her potential after missing selection to the World Championship
squad by the narrowest of margins.
A new British record in the 400m Individual Medley has ranked
her top 16 in the world, and entry into all 200m events at
this championships has allowed her to identify areas for improvement
to boost future medley chances.
"These Championships have allowed me to see what other
areas I now need to concentrate on," said Miley, "It's
been good to see which areas I've made positive changes in
and it's provided me with indicators to allow me to swim faster.
I haven't tapered for this event either so it was great to
get the times I did.
"Not having the World Championship swimmers here has
meant there wasn't as much pressure on me. I think it was
a good thing as I'm not sure if I would have swam as fast
as I did if they were here. Either way, it was good for me
to be able to see the benefits of the training I have done."
For Patten, the bronze marked the end of a busy period of
competition that saw her return from Melbourne with open water
silver in the 10k.
"I'm a competitor so it's great to come back to Britain
and compete in these Championships. I love to swim whether
it's in the pool or in open water so it has not been hard
to come back and race," she said.
"I've tried not to think about winning the silver medal
in Melbourne while I have been here because you never want
to become complacent as an athlete. I've really enjoyed myself
and the meet has gone well for me which is good."
Another win followed for France when Coralie Dobral edged
out Kerry Buchan (South Aberdeenshire) to take gold in the
women's 200m Breaststroke. Her winning time of 2:29.16 was
a tight margin ahead of Buchan who took silver in 2:29.27.
The bronze medal went to Debbie Hall (City of Sheffield) who
finished in 2:30.17.
France again took the top spots in the men's 800m Freestyle
with Xavier Lepretre touching home in 8:17.08 and compatriot
Romain Beraud taking the silver in 8:1.85. Allen Lindenberg
(Borough of Waltham Forest) took the final podium place in
8:24.41.
Liz Johnson (Swansea Performance) was the winner of the women's
MD 200m Individual Medley, with all three podium spots filled
by athletes in the S6 classification. Johnson touched in 3:30.38
for gold with Natalie Jones (Colchester Phoenix) finishing
second for silver in 3:31.20 and Boldmere's Eleanor Simmonds
taking bronze in 3:31.28.
"I'm surprised to beat Natalie but it's great to win
the gold," said Johnson. "That race really hurt
but it's a good sign the S6 classification swimmers all finished
together. It would have been an interesting race if we were
all in the middle lanes."
Although the Beijing Paralympics is set to follow tradition
and hold finals in the evening, the British Championships
provided a good opportunity for swimmers to test their capabilities
in morning races.
"I have been swimming fast times in the evening heats
and luckily I've been able to convert that into strong performances
in the morning," added Johnson. "It's always good
to practice swimming fast in the morning as there will be
events where you need a fast heat time to progress to the
finals."
Sascha Kindred (Leominster) took gold in the men's event
with a time of 2:49.28 with Robert Welbourn (Lincoln Vulcans)
winning the silver in 2:24.58 and David Ellis (Derventio)
taking the bronze in 2:30.56.
In the men's 4x200m Freestyle, Loughborough University took
another team title with gold in 7:24.11. It was a close fight
for silver between University of Bath and City of Edinburgh,
with the former taking silver in 7:39.10 and the Scottish
side settling for bronze in 7:39.35.
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