DAVIES TAKES SILVER ON FINAL DAY
David Davies helped Britain claim its 24th medal of the competition
on a day that saw the host nation celebrate its biggest medal
haul at a World Swimming Championships (25m).
Swimming at the MEN arena in Manchester, Davies entered the
arena to rapturous applause and the crowd pushed him all the
way to his first World Swimming Championship (25m) medal.
Davies, who was competing in the 1,500m Freestyle, took to
the blocks looking confident but suffered from a poor start
and touched at the first 150m in sixth place. But the Olympic
medallist showed his strength in the event as he kept a good
pace and began moving up and entered the 500m in second place.
Russia's Yuriy Prilukov had taken the lead early on and turned
well within the Championship record at the 900m mark.
Davies continued in second place and as he entered the 1,200m
he extended his lead over Poland's Mateusz Sawrymowicz by
almost four seconds. The British record holder tried to close
in on Prilukov but it was too much for Davies and the European
champion touched in a time of 14:22.98 to take the gold medal
and the Championship record.
The British Champion touched in a time of 14:36.30 to take
the silver medal to add to his already impressive international
medal tally.
"I can't believe I just swam that time," Davies
said. "If you had told me last week I would have got
that time I would have taken it. I was having a tough time
in training as you do sometimes but I didn't want to pull
out of this event because the atmosphere is amazing. The crowd
were great out there and I am pleased with that result."
The bronze medal went to Sawrymowicz in a time of 14:43.37.
Britain's Michael Unsworth also swam in this evening's race
and finished in 10th place overall in a time of 15:12.03.
Britain's Liam Tancock continued his medal winning run by
claiming the bronze in the men's 100m Individual Medley.
The final proved to be another world record breaker with
Ryan Lochte (USA) going out hard after only 20 minutes previously
winning silver in the men's 200m Backstroke.
Slovenia's Peter Mankok took the race out quickly over the
first 50m but it was Lochte's powerful turn that gave him
the lead going into the final 25m.
Tancock kept up with the pace throughout and after 100m found
himself in second place, but touched in a new European record
time of 52.22 to take the bronze medal - this is Tancock's
fourth medal of the competition.
"It's a fantastic achievement for me," Tancock
said. "When I came here I would have been happy with
one medal. To get four is unbelievable and I've had a great
time.
I hope what the team has done this week inspires others to
get into the water, if we have then its job done."
Mankok finished in 52.21 to take the silver medal, while
it was Lochte who took the gold in a new world record time
of 51.15 - this is the second time the world record was lowered
in two days.
Fran Halsall also took home her fourth medal of the competition
after performing excellently in the final of the women's 50m
Freestyle.
Halsall showed her sprint strength in a world record breaking
final as she looked strong throughout. At the first turn,
Halsall touched in third place behind the Dutch pair - Marleen
Veldhuis and Hinkelien Schreuder.
Veldhuis extended her lead in the final 10m as she looked
on course to break another world record. She took almost half
a second off her six-month old world record after touching
in a time of 23.25. Schrueder claimed the silver in a time
of 23.83.
Halsall claimed a personal best time and the bronze medal
after finishing in 24.11, this takes her tally up to one silver,
and three bronze medals throughout the week.
"To get four medals here is a dream come true,"
she said. "It's the most memorable birthday I've ever
had and I'm pretty happy with myself.
"The crowds have been amazing, you get such a buzz on
the blocks and I heard the cheers all the way down that last
25m."
Jemma Lowe claimed her first medal of the competition in
the final of the women's 100m Butterfly as she shaved almost
two seconds off the British record time.
Lowe found herself in second place at the 50m mark after
an excellent start and she continued to push ahead as she
came up against the speed of Felicity Galvez (Australia) in
the next lane.
Galvez turned for the final 25m well on course to break the
world record and Lowe looked impressive as she kept up with
the speed.
Galvez touched first in a time of 55.89 to take gold and
the 60th world record of the Championships. America's Rachel
Komisarz beat Lowe to the touch to take the silver medal in
a time of 56.32.
Lowe touched in 56.84 to take the bronze medal and claim
a new British record.
"I'm really pleased to have finished with a medal,"
Lowe said. "These past two weeks have been very hard
with a great deal of pressure. The crowds have been amazing
they just gave me so much energy tonight. I've taken a lot
of confidence from my week and this will help over the coming
weeks."
Britain's Ellen Gandy touched in a time of 58.10 to take
8th place overall.
Caitlin McClatchey secured her third medal of the competition
after an excellent race in the women's 200m Freestyle final.
McClatchey found herself in sixth place at the 100m, but
fought hard to come back at the World champion, Kylie Palmer,
in the final 50m.
The British champion swam an excellent final 25m as she moved
from fifth place to claim the bronze medal in a time of 1:55.15.
"It was just to have a controlled first 100m, just to
try and stick to the girls next to me because I knew they'd
go out quite quick and then to try and bring it home strong
at the end," McClatchey said. "I'm just so pleased
to have won a medal, before coming in I didn't expect to do
as well as I have done at this meet, just because I am not
a short-course swimmer."
The Australian claimed the gold in a time of 1:54.41, while
the silver went to the Netherlands' Femke Heemskerk in 1:54.65.
Mel Marshall, who also swam in the final, touched in a time
of 1:56.10 to finish in joint 5th place overall.
Gregor Tait went out in the men's 200m Backstroke final looking
strong and after gaining a good start, the British champion
found it too hard to keep up with the pace of the leaders.
Austria's Markus Rogan was turning well inside the world
record at the 100m mark and remained in the lead as he smashes
the world record in a time of 1:47.84.
Tait failed to make an impact on the medal standings but
after touching in a time of 1:51.66 he broke the British record
as he finished in 6th place overall.
"I can't ask for anything else, a best time, British
record and sixth in what's possibly the toughest final where
2 guys smashed the world record," Tait said.
The men's 4x100m Medley Relay saw Britain's team break the
British record as they competed in a world record breaking
final.
The team struggled against the pace of the Russian team as
they swam well within the world record. The Russian team touched
in a time of 3:24.29 to smash the world record and claim the
gold medal.
The British team touched in a time of 3:28.38 to take the
British record and finish in 5th place overall.
Elizabeth Simmonds took part in the women's 50m Backstroke
final in a race that smashed another world record.
Simmonds struggled to keep up with the quick pace and finished
in 8th place overall in a time of 27.79.
"It is just an event that I particularly enjoy and I
didn't expect to win anything, so it was just fun to be here,"
Simmonds said. "I think the whole team is going to chill
out for a few days and then get back into hard training for
the Olympics."
The world record was claimed by Sanja Jovanovic (Croatia)
in a time of 26.37.
Throughout the competition the British contingent claimed
a total of 24 medals and broke 42 British records on their
way to third place in the Championship Trophy and their best
result at a World Swimming Championship (25m) in history.
Head Coach Chris Nesbit emphasises the importance of the results
this week to continue the team's momentum towards Beijing.
"This is a fantastic result for Great Britain,"
Nesbit said. "Coming to this amazing show off the back
of the trials, everyone was on a high and we've managed to
carry that forward this week.
"The athletes took great energy from an amazing set
up and the wonderful support of the home crowd. It's the best
event of its kind that I've ever been to.
"The team will take great confidence from these past
two weeks which will help enormously as they prepare for Beijing
and 2012.
"We have to put these great results into context, however.
Without taking anything away from the athletes and coaches,
we wont be seeing a repeat of these results at the Olympics.
The whole world will be in Beijing in a 50m pool and it might
as well be a different sport. Medals will be very hard to
come by but we are heading in the right direction."
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