British Olympic Trials: Eleanor Simmonds Sets Paralympic World Record; Fran Halsall, Konrad Czerniak, Joe Roebuck Turn in Scorchers

LONDON, England, March 8. Day five came and went at the British Olympic Trials with some scintillating swims at the London Aquatic Center. The Olympic venue also witnessed its first world record as Eleanor Simmonds lowered her mark in the women's 200 IM SM6 division.

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.”

Complete results from day five were not furnished by British Swimming after it had technical difficulties with its results service.

FINALS
Women's 200 breast
FINA A: 2:26.89, British Second-place Qualifier: 2:25.99
Stacey Tadd set a British record with a time of 2:26.63 to win the title and secure a spot on the Olympic roster, just clipping the FINA A standard. Molly Renshaw, 15, placed second in 2:26.81 to put herself in the running for a second spot later this summer.

Men's 200 back
FINA A: 1:58.48, British Second-place Qualifier: 1:58.18
Calum Jarvis snatched the title with a 1:59.48, while Marco Loughran placed second in 1:59.79. Chris Walker-Hebborn picked up third overall in 1:59.80. None of the swimmers clinched a spot on the Olympic roster, as the qualifying marks are all in the 1:58s. They will have another chance to make the squad later this summer.

Men's 200 IM
FINA A: 2:00.17, British Second-place Qualifier: 1:58.42
Joe Roebuck checked in with a victorious time of 1:58.16, while James Goddard snared second in 1:58.42, matching the British qualifying time for the host nation to fill to spots in the event. The two also moved to 1-2 in the world rankings with the swims, ahead of Michael Phelps' 1:58.52 from the Austin Grand Prix in January. Roebuck bettered his previous personal best of 1:58.28, jumped to 17th all time in the event. Goddard already owns eighth on the all time list with a British record 1:57.12.

Women's 100 free
FINA A: 54.57, British Second-place Qualifier: 54.46
Fran Halsall posted the fastest time in the world this year with a 53.57, while Amy Smith touched second in 54.01. That two grabbed the individual Olympic roster spots, as they both cleared the requisite British standards. Rebecca Turner (54.83) and Jessica Lloyd (55.28) placed third and fourth, and look to be on the 400 freestyle relay squad this summer. Halsall finished within a half-second of Sarah Sjostrom's textile best time of 53.05 set December of last year.

SEMIFINALS
Men's 50 free
FINA A: 22.11, British Second-place Qualifier: 22.09
Adam Brown (22.42), Simon Burnett (22.68) and Kane Haggett (22.75) were among swimmers that competed in the semifinal. Complete results for the event were not furnished by British Swimming.

Women's 200 back
FINA A: 2:10.84, British Second-place Qualifier: 2:09.14
Karley Mann had the top qualifying time in the distance dorsal with a 2:10.30, while Stephanie Proud qualified second in 2:10.87. Lizzie Simmonds (2:11.08), Georgia Hohmann (2:11.09), Gemma Spofforth (2:11.89) and Katy Sexton (2:13.50) also are in the mix for the Olympic roster spots.

Men's 100 fly
FINA A: 52.36, British Second-place Qualifier: 52.19
Anthony James led qualifying with a 52.79, while Braxton Timm finished second in 53.15. Michael Rock qualified third with a 53.23 out of the second semifinal, while Adam Barrett turned in a 53.30. James Doolan (53.58) and Andrew Mayor (53.69) also look to compete for Olympic spots.

MULTI-DISABILITY FINALS
Eleanor Simmonds became the first person to break a world record in the London Aquatics Center with a 3:08.14 in the women's 200 IM SM6 division. That swim eclipsed her own 2006 global standard of 3:08.98. Sascha Kindred topped the men's 200 IM SM6 division with a 2:48.44, while complete results were unavailable.

GUEST FINALS
In the guest finals, Poland's Konrad Czerniak won the men's 100 fly with a 52.07, while Serbia's Milorad Cavic placed second in 52.21. Czerniak jumped to the top of the world rankings, ahead of Francois Heersbrandt's 52.29 from January. Austria's Dinko Jukic claimed third in 52.73. South Africa's Karin Prinsloo won the women's 200 back in 2:10.34, while Bulgaria's Ekaterina Avramova clocked a 2:10.43. Czech's Simona Baumrtova finished third in 2:11.88. Sweden's Stefan Nystrand bested Petter Stymne, 22.39 to 22.74, for the men's 50 free title. Germany's Marco Di Carli took third in 22.78.

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