MILEY CLAIMS EUROPEAN RECORD
Garioch swimmer Hannah Miley broke a seven-year-old European
record in this evening's heats of the 400m Individual Medley
at the British Swimming Championship (50m).
Miley held the British record for this event going into the
competition but in the penultimate heat had to watch Stockport
Metro's Keri-Anne Payne go out and break Miley's four-month-old
record after finishing her heat in a time of 4:38.48. Payne
swam an excellent race and held onto her lead throughout to
meet the FINA 'A' qualifying time.
The British champion, Miley, went into her heat hungry to
re-claim her record and prove her all round ability. She went
out quickly and carved herself a large lead as she hit the
150m mark, she carried on pushing hard and turned for the
final 100m well within the European time.
After swimming an impressive race Miley touched in a time
of 4:33.24, which not only meant she re-claimed the British
record but gave her the European record also.
"I am still shocked by that to be honest," she
said. "I really just didn't expect that time. I am really
pleased because I am getting closer to the world's best all
the time and it is looking good for Beijing."
The women's 200m Freestyle saw one of the closest heats of
the competition with both Caitlin McClatchey (Loughborough
University) and Rebecca Adlington (Nova Centurion) chasing
the British record.
Swimming in the final heat the two athletes turned well within
the record and swam length for length up until the final 25m
when the strength of Adlington showed through as she smashed
McClatchey's record by almost a second after touching in 1:56.66.
"I didn't expect that. I have never been that quick
before and after a punishing week I never dreamt I could go
that fast," Adlington said. "I haven't done sprint
work for a while, but it just shows we have a great 4x200m
relay team and I want to be a part of that."
McClatchey took the second spot and met the vital qualifying
time after finishing in 1:57.09.
Three other athletes also met the FINA 'A' qualifying time.
They were Joanne Jackson (Derwentside) touched in 1:58.58,
Fran Halsall (City of Liverpool) who finished in 1:59.13 and
Mel Marshall (Loughborough University) in a time of 1:59.15.
The men's 200m butterfly saw one athlete meet the vital qualifying
time, Stockport Metro's Michael Rock dominated his heat and
touched in a time of 1:57.01 to keep him in with a chance
of achieving his second nomination to the British Olympic
team.
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