RECORDS CONTINUE TO FALL AT NATIONAL CHAMPS
Britain's top swimmers broke four British records on day
two of competition at the British Swimming Championships (50m)
as they aimed to secure the FINA 'A' qualifying time in this
evening's heats.
Mark Foster became the only man to meet the FINA 'A' qualifying
time in this evening's heat of the men's 50m Freestyle.
At 37-years-old, Foster could become one of the oldest athletes
at this year's Olympic Games if he finishes in the top two
spots in the final.
The Bath University swimmer, who took time out from the sport
after the Commonwealth Games in 2006, proved his sprint ability
with an impressive display in his heat and touched in 22.29.
"I am really pleased to have met the time but I have
to go away and seriously think about whether to make myself
available for the Olympics," Foster said. "I only
want to go to be competitive but the world is moving on all
the time. On the international circuit swimmers are going
a full second faster than that time.
"I am going to look towards tomorrow first as I take
everyday as it comes and I still have to finish in the top
two against some top class guys. I always wanted to make that
time so for me that was a fantastic achievement."
The British record in the men's 200m Individual Medley was
lowered three times throughout the heats of this evening's
competition.
City of Edinburgh swimmer Gregor Tait was the first athlete
to break the record in heat four and was the only swimmer
in his heat to reach the FINA 'A' qualifying time when he
touched home in 1:59.15.
After the disappointment of yesterday's 100m Backstroke James
Goddard (Loughborough University) went into his heat knowing
he had to pull something impressive out of the bag.
The former Olympian swam a strong heat from the start and
showed an impressive final 50m to touch home in 1:58.43 to
lower the British record again and also claim the Commonwealth
record. Finishing in second place in this heat was Joe Roebuck
(Loughborough University) who finished in 2:01.12, both Goddard
and Roebuck achieved the FINA 'A' qualification time.
It was then left to Liam Tancock to cap the series of impressive
heats, the Loughborough University swimmer had seen his British
record smashed and went into his heat knowing he had to perform
strongly to qualify fastest for tomorrow's finals.
Tancock looked impressive from the start and took the lead
with a powerful Backstroke lap, club-mate Euan Dale closed
the gap on the world medallist over the final 50m, but Tancock's
aim to re-claim his British record was too strong for Dale.
Tancock touched home in 1:57.79 to break the British and Commonwealth
record again and meet the FINA 'A' qualifying standard.
"I have never seen a record lowered three times in three
races before it was so exciting and I am so happy to be a
part of that," Tancock said. "I was looking to add
another event to my Olympic programme and I thought the 200m
IM would be a good one to add and would benefit my 100m Backstroke.
Medley racing for me is a lot of fun coming up through the
junior ranks I did practically all the events and it is good
to combine that in one quick race."
Dale also met the required time after finishing in 1:59.90,
this now means that five men will be going into tomorrow's
final aiming to finish in the top two spots.
Five athletes met the FINA 'A' qualifying standard in the
women's 100m Backstroke making it one of the toughest finals
of tomorrow.
Gemma Spofforth (Portsmouth) broke the British record with
her strong swim in heat number six. Spofforth swam an impressive
50m and kept her lead throughout to touch in the new record
time 59.89.
"I have just come off the back of the NCAAs (US Collegiate
Swimming) where things went very well for me so to keep it
going in that direction here is amazing," Spofforth said.
"I have been working very hard and I was really looking
forward to coming back to Britain and doing something pretty
special."
Portsmouth swimmer Katy Sexton also kept herself in contention
of Olympic nomination by finishing her heat in a time of 1:01.61.
The final heat saw three women meet the vital qualifying
time with Lincoln Vulcans swimmer Lizzie Simmonds finishing
ahead of Fran Halsall (City of Liverpool) and Melanie Marshall
(Loughborough University). Simmonds touched home in a time
of 1:01.27, Marshall finished in a time of 1:01.44, Halsall
finished in 1:01.57.
Rebecca Adlington (Nova Centurion) stole the show in the
women's 400m Freestyle heats, swimming in heat four she showed
her power and true potential with an impressive performance.
She broke the British record after finishing in 4:04.91 and
lowered her personal best time by five seconds and also met
the qualification time for her event.
"I felt really good," Adlington said. "I have
been swimming very well and to get a five second PB and the
record is just amazing. It hasn't sunk in yet to get the Olympic
time but I still have to get the top two spots in the final.
My 400m usually follows the 800m, so normally I feel quite
tired swimming this event but I felt fresh tonight and I am
excited about the rest of the week."
The only other athlete to achieve the FINA 'A' time in the
heats was Joanne Jackson (Derwentside) who finished her heat
in 4:05.38.
Three athletes met the FINA 'A' qualifying time in the men's
100m Breaststroke, Chris Cook (City of Newcastle) was the
first to meet the time finishing his heat in 1:00.54. James
Gibson (Loughborough University) pulled out his best time
since 2003 touching in 1:00.39. Kris Gilchrist was the final
athlete to meet the vital time after finishing in 1:01.40.
Britain's disability athlete's continued to look strong in
today's finals as they took their British record total up
to seven with an impressive swim from Claire Warne (Flitwick)
in the Women's 50m Backstroke in the S5 category to break
the British record.
Overall Fran Williamson (Colchester Penguions) took the gold
medal in the S3 category in 1:04.79 with a total of 861 points,
silver went to Danielle Watts (City of Oxford), who swims
in the S1 category, when she finished in 1:31.57 with 724
points, while Warne took the bronze with 482 points in a time
of 52.08.
Earlier in the evening, the men's and women's 100m Breaststroke
saw some promising performances from all athletes.
Liz Johnson (Swansea Performance) swam just inside her world
record time and took the gold medal in the S6 category in
the final in 1:41.20 to gain a total of 989 points. Nova Centurion
swimmer Charlotte Henshaw took the silver medal in 1:42.88
with 941 points, also in the S6 category.
Bronze was claimed by Nyree Lewis (Leominster) finishing
in 1:50.10 with a total of 824 points in the S5 category.
The men's event saw Sascha Kindred become British champion
after a strong swim and achieving a time of 1:26.03 with total
of 891 points in the S7 category. Silver was won by Gareth
Duke in 1:33.02 with 819 points in the S6 category. Also swimming
in the S6 category was Matt Whorwood swam in a time of 1:33.25
and took bronze with 813 points.
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