BRITISH SQUAD GETTING OFF TO WINNING START
Britain's 4x100m men's Freestyle relay team got the European
Junior Championship squad off to a winning start when they
took silver on the first day of competition in Antwerp.
The medal winning quartet of Chris Fox, Adam Brown, Ryan
Bennett and Grant Turner put in a sterling performance as
they finished behind a strong German squad in 3.22.36.
After putting in a performance of intent in the morning heats,
qualifying to the final after clocking a time of 3.23.87 finishing
behind highly rated Italian team, the boys went into the final
with high hopes.
Chris Fox began the British challenge in the final and at
Adam Brown's take-over the team were in second place. Brown
took the Brits into first place after completing his 100m
stint with Ryan Bennett taking over at the third leg.
Bennett carried on the good work of the two leading boys,
and when Grant Turner dived in to lead Britain into the final
100m the team were lying in silver medal position.
Turner swam his leg in 59.08 to seal the silver medal for
the British team, claiming the first podium place of the meet.
"It's great to win a silver medal", said Fox. "We're
all really happy to get the first medals of the competition."
"We've been working hard in the relays in training and
it's fantastic to come away with a medal," Brown commented.
"Obviously we would have liked to come away with the
gold but we are all really happy with silver," said Grant.
Fox, Brown and Turner are based at the Offshore Centre on
the Gold Coast in Australia and with relays being a focus
for the squad during training, Chris Nesbit, Head Coach at
the Centre was pleased with their performances.
"We've been focusing on the relay since last year's
European Junior Championships so it was fantastic for the
boys to come away with a silver medal," said Nesbit.
"They have all been doing regular relay practice for
the past year and we've specifically been targeting this event.
Myself and the guys were all hoping to take gold but I'm really
happy with their performances and the silver medal,"
"Over the past two years, six Offshore Centre athletes
have won medals in the relay at the European Juniors, taking
silver both times so six medals is a great achievement for
them."
In the men's 50m Butterfly, James Doolan, also based at the
Offshore Centre progressed through the heats (25.47) and the
semi-finals (25.00) to progress into the final.
Ranked third fastest going into the final, Doolan put in
a strong performance to finish sixth in 25.17, setting a new
personal best through every stage.
Doolan was pleased with his swim and is looking forward to
the rest of the competition.
"I was happy with my performance," said Doolan.
"It was great to make the final and put in a good swim
but I am looking forward to the 100m Butterfly and hope to
get a top six finish."
Also featuring in the men's 50m Butterfly was Adam Brown
who finished in 20th place, setting a new personal best time
of 25.52 and narrowly missed out on a semi-final place by
0.04 seconds.
In her first major international competition, Emma Smithurst
finished 6th the women's 400m I.M in a time of 4:55.22 after
clocking 4:54.80 in the heats.
Robyn Matthews finished 11th in the same event, touching
in 4:59.11, with Sophie Allen in 15th finishing in 5:00.26.
Smithhurst progressed to the final of the women's 200m Butterfly
after coming third in the heats with a time of 2:17.53. Her
semi-final time of 2:16.70 sees her ranked second fastest
going into tomorrow's final.
In the men's 400m Freestyle, Xavier Mohammed finished in
12th position, recording a time of 3:59.12.
The women's 100m Freestyle saw three of the British contingent
make top 16 times for a place in the semi-finals. However,
with only two swimmers per nation able to progress to the
semi-finals, only the top two could continue.
Rebecca Turner (57.81) and Lauren Collins (57.91) moved into
the semi-finals, with Turner setting a new personal best time,
but Ellen Gandy (58.02) lost her place to leave her in 18th
place.
Collins progresses to tomorrow's final after her semi-final
swim. Her time of 57.70 sees her through, however Turner misses
out after finishing 13th in 58.39.
Marco Loughran put in a fantastic performance in the men's
100m Backstroke and is ranked fastest qualifier in tomorrow's
final. His time of 56.21, 0.01seconds outside his personal
best in the morning heats after leading from the start saw
him through to semi-final.
Leading the start in the semi-final and recording a time
of 56.29 sees him go into final as fastest qualifier yet again.
Chris Walker-Hebborn swam well in the heats of the 100m Backstroke
to finish in 57.88 and move in the semi-final. He joins Loughran
in the final after a solid performance, clocking 57.77 and
setting a new personal best time in the heat and then again
in the final.
Defending women's 200m Backstroke Champion Elizabeth Simmonds
put in a series of commanding performances throughout the
day, and will look to take the title once again when she competes
in the final tomorrow evening.
In the heats, Simmonds won in 2:13.07 with her first 100m
inside Commonwealth record pace. Her dominance continued as
she won her semi-final convincingly, touching in 2:13.45.
Zoe Hester finished 14th the same event in 2:22.97 after
coming through with Charlotte Broadbent coming 18th in 2:19.04.
Robert Holderness will feature in the final of the men's
200m Breaststroke after his semi-final time of 2:18.85 sees
him ranked eighth.
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