British Olympic Trials: Five More Spots Clinched on Olympic Roster; Sarah Sjostrom Smokes 200 Free Guest Final

LONDON, England, March 5. THE British Olympic Trials kept on rolling, with five more Olympic roster spots being filled during the Olympic test event being held at the London Aquatics Center.

While Britain has decided that second-place finishers must have a better time than a top 16 world ranking from last year, relays are chosen first by filling in spots with individual event qualifiers, then “remaining places will be filled by the 'available' swimmers with the fastest overall times in the 100m Freestyle and 200m Freestyle events irrespective of whether the times were achieved in the heats, semifinals or final.”

FINALS
Men's 200 free
FINA A: 1:47.82; British Second-place Qualifier: 1:47.37
Robert Renwick was the only man to secure a spot on the Olympic roster individually, as he posted a 1:47.33 to win the race. That time surpassed the FINA A cut, but fell short of his earlier season best of 1:47.25 from semifinals.

Ieuan Lloyd finished second in 1:47.68, also beating the FINA A cut time, but not faster than Britain's more difficult qualifying standard for second-place finishers, which is a top 16 ranked time from last year, stated as 1:47.37 on British qualifying documentation. Lloyd, however, is likely to be pulled in on the 800 free relay with his time as he has the second-best time from all 200 free heats this weekend.

Robert Bale took third in 1:47.85, while Ross Davenport placed fourth in 1:48.05, also both likely earning spots on the 800 free relay contingent for Britain.

Jak Scott (1:48.61), David Carry (1:49.20), Alfie Howes (1:49.92) and Thomas Greenfield (1:51.09) also swam in the finale, and should still have a chance at a later date to pick up the second qualifying spot.

Women's 100 back
FINA A: 1:00.82; British Second-place Qualifier: 1:00.33
Britain filled a pair of Olympic roster spots in the women's 100 back as Gemma Spofforth (1:00.19) and Georgia Davies (1:00.21) both bettered their respective required qualifying standards. Spofforth moved to fourth in the world rankings, while Davies took fifth overall.

Elizabeth Simmonds, who had entered the day as the top-ranked British swimmer in the world with a fifth-ranked 1:00.53 from earlier in the meet, missed the team with a third-place 1:00.43 to now sit sixth in the world.

Lauren Quigley (1:01.16), Jessica Fullalove (1:01.59), Georgia Hohmann (1:01.65), Rachel Lefley (1:02.20) and Katy Sexton (1:02.64) rounded out the rest of the finale field.

Men's 100 back
FINA A: 54.40; British Second-place Qualifier: 54.08
Liam Tancock cruised into the Olympics with the now top-ranked time in the world with a 53.16. That effort cleared the 53.32 set by Ryosuke Irie in January, and closed some significant distance with Tancock's British record of 52.73 that places him 10th all time in swimming lore.

Chris Walker-Hebborn missed clinching the second spot on the team with a 54.46, that not only missed Britain's tougher second-place standard, but also missed the FINA A cut in the event. He will have a chance later on in the year, when Britain continues to make selections.

Marco Loughran (55.13), Ryan Bennett (55.18), Craig McNally (55.22), Jonathan Carlisle (56.16), Charlie Boldison (56.24) and David Gregory (57.02) also competed for the title, and will also have a chance to gain the second spot later in the year.

Women's 100 breast
FINA A: 1:08.49; British Second-place Qualifier: 1:07.90
Kate Haywood punched her ticket to the Olympics with a 1:08.07 to win the finale. That swim jumped her to sixth in the world rankings, just outside the top five that have all cleared 1:08.

Stacey Tadd finished second with a 1:08.96, that was not only half a second off the FINA A cut, it also fell more than a second off Britain's more difficult second-place standard. Sophie Allen (1:09.45), Sophie Taylor (1:09.76), Kerry Buchan (1:10.01), Sara Lougher (1:10.13), Rachael Wilson (1:10.26) and Corrie Scott (1:10.81) also swam in the championship heat.

MULTI-DISABILITY FINALS
Matthew Walker won the men's 50 free in the S7 division with a 28.37, while Sean Fraser topped the S8 division with a 28.36. Simon Miller clocked a 27.30 to lead the S9 division, while David Ellis (S13/25.82) and Graham Edmunds (S10/25.51) also lead their divisions.

Louise Watkin paced the women's 50 free S9 division with a 29.30, while Heather Frederiksen turned in a 32.12 to lead the S8 division. Eleanor Simmonds posted a 37.06 to top the S6 division, while Emma Cattle (S10/29.91) and Rhiannon Henry (S13/29.08) earned the top times for their divisions.

GUEST FINALS
Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom blasted the women's 200 free guest final with a 1:55.23. That swim smashed her Swedish record of 1:56.41, and moved her to sixth all time in the event. The time also neared Missy Franklin's textile best of 1:55.06. South Africa's Karin Prinsloo took second in 1:59.32, while Germany's Silke Lippok placed third in 1:59.56.

Serbia's Velimir Stjepanovic captured the men's 200 fly guest title in 1:56.47, just off his top-ranked season best of 1:56.18 from earlier in the day. Austria's Dinko Jukic (1:56.56) and Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski (1:57.16) placed second and third. Jukic jumped to third in the world, while Korzeniowski took fifth.

South Africa's Kathryn Meaklim won the women's 200 IM guest finale in 2:13.59, while Korea's Hye Ra Choi clocked a 2:14.46 for second. Spain's Beatriz Gomez snared third in 2:14.91.

SEMIFINALS
Women's 200 free
FINA A: 1:58.33; British Second-place Qualifier: 1:57.83
Caitlin McClatchey topped the semifinal rounds with a 1:57.45, moving to seventh in the world rankings with the effort, and putting herself in position to make the roster. Rebecca Turner finished second in 1:58.42, while Eleanor Faulkner picked up third in 1:58.70.

Sasha Matthews (1:59.23), Joanne Jackson (1:59.35), Jazmin Carlin (1:59.71), Keri-Anne Payne (2:00.13) and Lucy Ellis (2:00.42) also picked up spots in the finale. In international preliminary swimming, Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom finished second with a 1:58.51, well off her third-ranked 1:56.57 season best from Sweden last month.

Men's 200 fly
FINA A: 1:56.86; British Second-place Qualifier: 1:56.26
Michael Rock earned the top seed in the finale with a 1:56.45 that puts him now second in the world, while Roberto Pavoni finished second in 1:57.63. Joseph Roebuck (1:57.67) and Iain Macmillan (1:58.76) qualified third and fourth.

Cameron Brodie (1:58.94), Adam Mallett (1;59.40), Matthew Johnson (1:59.51) and Lewis Smith (2:00.10) grabbed the rest of the transfer spots into the championship final.

During open preliminary competition, Serbia's Velimir Stjepanovic (1:56.18) led a top six sweep by international swimmers. Stjepanovic moved to the top of the world rankings with his swim, bettering the 1:56.90 clocked by Nick D'Arcy last month. Belgium's Egon Van Der Straeten finished second in 1:57.81 for fifth in the world rankings, while Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski posted a ninth-ranked 1:58.47 for third in prelims. Roebuck was the top British finisher with a seventh-place 1:59.19.

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