British Championships: Rebecca Adlington, Elizabeth Simmonds Set Commonwealth Records

SHEFFIELD, England, April 5. WITH one more day left at the British Championships, Rebecca Adlington and Elizabeth Simmonds each broke Commonwealth records at the meet.

Elizabeth Simmonds walked away with the women's 200 back title with a time of 2:08.99 during finals. Simmonds, however, had already set the Commonwealth and British record with a time of 2:08.79 during preliminary action. Gemma Spofforth, meanwhile, placed second in 2:09.70 to suffer her first backstroke loss in quite some time as she had already won the 100 back and swept the yard events at the NCAA Division I Women's Championships.

"I got a little bit excited today and went out faster than usual but I've got to learn to do that and get it right," Simmonds told British Swimming. "It wasn't my best swim but I'm in there now."

After grabbing the Commonwealth record in the women's 800 freestyle during prelims with a time of 8:19.22, the fastest time in the world this year, Rebecca Adlington dominated the final heat with a time of 8:20.29. Cassandra Patten took second in 8:29.83 with Joanne Jackson (8:38.05) and Rebecca Cooke (8:41.19) rounding out the top four.

"That felt really painful," Adlington told British Swimming. "It hurt a lot but I'm so happy with that time. It's still 5 seconds ahead of where I was before this meet. I have a great coach who knows how to get the best out of me and it has been a great week for me."

Other winners included Benjamin Hocking in the men's 100 free (49.63) and Georgia Holderness in the women's 200 breast (2:29.99).

Surprisingly, national record holder Simon Burnett came up short of a berth in the Olympics in the 100 free when he finished third in 49.65, just behind Adam Brown's second-place 49.64.

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