CHARLESWORTH POSTS NEW DISTANCE BEST
Just one week after Britain celebrated open water success
at the World Championships in Melbourne, Hatfield's Richard
Charlesworth has swum a best ever indoor 5k time at the British
Swimming Championships in Manchester.
The 18-year-old member of Britain's Offshore Centre team,
an elite group of hopefuls combining training with studying
at The Southport School on Australia's Gold Coast, powered
through the 100 lengths of the 50m pool in 53 minutes and
12 seconds - the fastest ever 5k indoor time in British history.
French visitor Anthony Pannier set the pace from the start
to take an early lead, but Charlesworth stayed within reach
for a late challenge that ensured he came home first. Pannier
was second in 53:23.3 ahead of open water specialist Simon
Panting (Northampton) who touched in 55.18.6.
Charlesworth was delighted to take the British title in a
new British best.
"I wasn't expecting to go that fast so I'm really pleased,"
he said. "Having a bit of foreign rivalry certainly helped.
It felt like Pannier went out at 1500m pace, but I kept chasing
him and slowly chopped away at his lead.
"I'm in my second year at Southport now and the training
there is definitely paying off. It's a great training environment
with everything on site. The 5k is hard work and I've got
to get back in the pool later for the 400m Freestyle."
In the women's 5k, recent open water convert Rachel Jack
took the British title in 59 minutes, 4.6 seconds. The City
of Leeds swimmer touched home within the qualifying standard
for the European Junior Open Water Championships in Milan
later this year.
"That wasn't as fast as last year, but I've had a few
up and downs recently so I'm pleased with that time,"
she said. "I was aiming for a PB, but I'm just happy
to get the European qualifying time. That gets me to Seville
and from there I can qualify for the European Juniors.
"I've only been doing open water for a year now and
I'm really enjoying it. And I'm even more motivated now it's
part of the Olympic programme."
In the same event, Alice McCall (Wigan) won silver in 59
minutes, 10.2 seconds and Plymouth Leander's Sophie Collier
took bronze in 59 minutes, 32.9 seconds.
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