RECORDS FALL ON SECOND DAY
City of Liverpool's Fran Halsall dominated the second day
of the ASA Swim 21 National Youth Championships and ASA National
Championships (50m) 2007 claiming two British Records.
Halsall claimed her first record of the day in the 100m Freestyle.
She swam a fast heat and going into the final she looked in
an excellent position to win gold.
The final saw Caitlin McClatchey close behind Halsall, but
the 17 year old claimed the gold and the new British record
in a time of 54.56 seconds.
The Loughborough University swimmer McClatchey took silver
in 55.25 seconds, with team-mate Mel Marshall just behind
finishing in 55.64 to claim bronze.
The World Championship swimmer was not content with just
one British record tonight, she went out hard in the final
of the 50m Butterfly and dominated the race, touching in a
time of 26.74 seconds to claim her second record.
Silver went to Borough of Stockton swimmer Jemma Lowe who
finished in 27.56 seconds. Bronze was won by Terri Dunning
(Co Birmingham) in 27.69.
Halsall was happy with her impressive performance.
"I'm really excited," she said. "That was
fast and I'm not rested for this meet. I'm hoping to go quicker
but the plan is to look at that in Japan at the end of the
month. I haven't been focusing on the 100m Freestyle.
"This year has been about the 200m, I'm to add variety
but it seems my sprinting has benefited. My training has been
going well but I missed four weeks through a shoulder injury
earlier this summer."
In the semi-final of the 200m Individual Medley Liam Tancock
(Loughborough Uni) showed his dominance in the pool with an
excellent performance to claim a British record time of 1:59.91.
Tancock finished his heat this morning with a fast time of
2:01.51 seconds and looked promising for the record going
into the final.
In the final, Tancock took an early lead and extended it
in the backstoke leg of the event. He touched in 1:59.91 to
smash the British record by almost two seconds.
The double World Championship bronze medallist finished ahead
of team-mate Euan Dale - and Stockport Metro swimmer Michael
Rock.
Of his victory Tancock commented: "Everything I'm doing
is focussed on the Olympics but a new British record is a
real bonus for me especially in an event that I use to add
variety to my programme.
"I'm swimming very well and I've not rested for this
meet so it's looking great for the rest of the season. I'll
be looking to go faster in Japan and then concentrate on my
Olympic preparation."
Elizabeth Simmonds (Lincoln Vulcans) continued her excellent
form from the European Junior Championships by claiming gold
and a new Age Group record in the 200m Backstroke final, touching
in a time of 2:10.87.
The 16 year old dominated the race from the start and finished
ahead of Loughborough University swimmer Stephanie Proud -
who claimed silver in 2:13.76. Bronze was won by Tannith Prout
in 2:16.78.
Simmonds has come straight from the European Junior Championships
and is on the team for the Japan meet at the end of August.
"That hurt me a lot," she said. "It was a
hard race and I'm so happy to come away with gold and a new
record. I knew I had to go out fast and I was looking to go
better than I did yesterday it didn't feel great but I came
through with a punishing swim.
The men's 50m Butterfly saw Mark Foster (Bath Uni) take a
comfortable victory over Benjamin Hockin (Swansea Performance)
and Benjamin Hutchinson (Loughborough Uni).
Foster put in a tough performance to claim the gold in 24.04
seconds. Hockin took the silver finishing in 24.39 and Hutchinson
won bronze in 24.76.
"I've been keeping myself in shape and swimming a couple
of times a week," said foster. "I've done no butterfly
preparation so it's great to swim as fast as that. I like
just standing up and racing people. It's something I enjoy
and it felt good again tonight to be in that environment.
I don't have the best fly stroke but I had great rhythm tonight
and it gave me a great result."
Bexley swimmer Xavier Mohammed put in an excellent performance
in the 17-18 year age group 200m Individual Medley to take
the British title.
Mohammed finished strongly in a time of 2:05.10 seconds to
claim the gold. William Purnell (Warrender) secured the silver
medal touching in 2:05.36 seconds, James Johnson (Newcastle)
won bronze in 2:06.48.
The European Junior Championship squad member Mohammed was
pleased with claiming the title but knows he has more to give.
"It's good to put in a fast performance after a disappointing
time at the European Junior Championships last week,"
he said. "That was a pretty good swim and I feel like
I'm getting back to my best after a frustrating few weeks.
"I'm excited about this week, I've already won two medals
but I want to improve on that."
The Men's MD 100m Butterfly final saw Dervis Konuralp swim
hard to smash the British record in the S13 category.
The Greenwich swimmer took the record in a time of 1:02.83
and gained 893 points. Dave Ellis (S 13, Derventio) claimed
the silver in 1:04.59 and 822 points. Bronze was taken by
Thomas Brown (S9, Bo Newham)
After the victory, Konuralp said: "My training has been
going very well and to put in a performance like that is a
testament to the work we are doing. I was hoping for a time
in the low 1:03s so that was great. To do it here gives me
a lot of confidence. We are a year out from Beijing and everything's
looking very good."
The closest final of the evening was found in the 100m Breaststroke,
which saw five athletes swimming neck and neck to claim the
gold.
It the final 5m Darren Mew (Bath Uni) looked to take the
lead over James Gibson (Loughborough Uni) and Kristopher Gilchrist
(Co Edinburgh).
Mew touched in 1:01.27 to take his first title of the competition,
Gibson took silver in 1:01.51 and Gilchrist took the bronze
in the 1:01.65.
"That is a good time for me at this stage of the season,"
said Mew. "I've been working hard and racing often without
rest so with that in mind the time was good and it's always
nice to win that difficult British title."
The 17- 18 year age group 100m Freestyle saw Christopher
Fox (Offshore Centre, Australia) put in an impressive performance
and finish the exciting final in a time of 50.89.
The final saw Fox take the lead after the first 50m and push
hard to take the victory over Adam Brown (Hatfield) - who
took the silver in 51.52 seconds. Bronze was won by Grant
Turner (Bath Uni) in 51.58.
Fox trains alongside Marco Laughran and Chris Alderton and
the first two days of competition have seen many of the boys
training at the offshore centre reach finals.
"We are used to pushing each other in training at Southport
so to have so many guys in the final tonight provided a real
push," he said. "It's great competition, and it
makes us better swimmers. It's the second meet in two weeks
for me and I've tried hard to make sure my motivation's up
there.
"I'm happy with the swim. The guys were talking and
we knew what was needed to win, I'm just glad it was me. I
return to Australia on Monday with the guys but we've enjoyed
the past few weeks in Britain, despite the rain."
Kate Haywood went out hard in the final of the 100m breaststroke
to claim her first gold of the competition. Swimming against
the World silver medallist Kirsty Balfour (Co Edinburgh),
Haywood swam an excellent race and touched in 1:08.19 seconds
- just outside her personal best time.
Balfour took silver in 1:09.74 and Wrexham swimmer Lowri
Tynan finished in 1:10.74 to take the bronze.
"I've been injured for the last eight weeks so to get
close to my PB is a great result. A shoulder injury forced
me to just work on my legs but I feel that's really benefiting
me at the moment. I felt strong even though I've not had the
training background I usually have. It looks good for the
season ahead and to Beijing."
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