British Long Course Nationals: Five Swimmers Added to Olympic Roster; Rebecca Adlington Blazes Through 800 Freestyle

SHEFFIELD, England, June 22. FIVE names were added to the Olympic roster for Great Britain on Thursday and Friday at the country's summer nationals, which is serving as an opportunity to fill open Olympic roster spots in 12 events.

Where British Swimming imposed strict time requirements for second-place finishers at the March Olympic Trials, the organization only requires those in the running for Olympic spots to swim faster than the FINA A standard in their events.

Ieuan Lloyd secured his trip to the Games with a win in the men's 200 freestyle Wednesday in 1:47.55, under the A cut of 1:47.82. The event only had one open roster position available, as Robbie Renwick claimed the other spot in March. David Carry, who had won the 400 freestyle on Wednesday to get on the team in that event, settled for second in the 200 free with a 1:47.86. Third place went to Robert Bale in 1:48.97.

Chris Walker-Hebborn and Marco Loughran also earn Olympic selection on Thursday, placing 1-2 in the men's 200 backstroke. Walker-Hebborn won the race in 1:57.17, while Loughran was second with a 1:58.34, both under the FINA time of 1:58.48. Walker-Hebborn's time puts him ninth in the world. Third place in the race went to Craig McNally with a 1:58.45, also under the FINA cut.

Other races on Thursday included an agonizing finish in the men's 100 butterfly. Antony James just missed out on securing the one available Olympic spot with his winning time of 52.46, just a tenth of a second off the Olympic qualifying time of 52.36. (Michael Rock secured the other spot in March.) Jack Marriott was well back in second place with a 53.12, while Ian Hulme was third in 53.79.

Molly Renshaw also just missed Olympic qualifying in the women's 200 breaststroke. Her winning time of 2:27.72 fell short of the FINA A cut of 2:26.89. Danielle Lowe placed second with a 2:30.74, and Corrie Scott was second with a 2:30.89.

Amy Smith, already selected for the Olympic team based on her results at the March Trials, cruised to victory in the women's 100 freestyle in 55.03. Smith placed second at the March Trials with a 54.01. Second place went to Jessica Lloyd in 55.34, while Rebecca Turner was third in 55.99.

Lauren Quigley won the non-Olympic women's 50 backstroke with a 28.15 over Georgia Davies, who was second with a 28.40. Ekaterina Avramova was third in 29.24.

Rachel Lefley won the women's 50 butterfly, also a non-Olympic event, in 27.04, with Ellen Thomas second in 27.43 and Amy Smith third in 27.56.

Friday

After missing out on qualifying in the 20 backstroke at the March Trials, Stephanie Proud secured her spot today with a winning time of 2:09.40, well under the FINA A standard of 2:10.84. It's also faster than she swam at the March Trials, where she finished second to Elizabeth Simmonds in 2:09.94. Proud swam alone for the final 100 meters of the race, with Georgia Hohmann well back for second place in 2:12.47. Karley Mann placed third with a 2:12.62.

The next race with Olympic qualifying on the line today was the men's 50 freestyle, where both Olympic spots were up for grabs. Adam Brown fell short of the FINA A time of 22.11 with a 22.36 to win the race. The time was faster than the 22.48 he swam to win the event at the March Trials. Brown was followed by Jason Lawson, who placed second in 22.73, while Matthew Tutty was third in 22.84.

Siobhan-Marie O'Connor grabbed the one available Olympic roster spot in the women's 100 breast with a 1:08.04, just under the qualifying time of 1:08.49. O'Connor had qualified for the final of the 100 breast at the March Trials, but scratched. Stacey Tadd, who placed second at the March Trials with a 1:08.96, swam faster tonight with a 1:08.74, but not fast enough to garner a spot on the Olympic team. Rachael Wilson placed third tonight with a 1:09.24.

Chris Walker-Hebborn, riding a high after qualifying for the Olympics on Thursday in the 200 back, earned the privilege of racng the 100 distance in London with a winning time of 54.26, just under the FINA A standard of 54.40. Ryan Bennett placed second in 54.63. Marco Loughran, who secured the second Olympic spot in the 200 back, placed third tonight in 54.99.

Other finals were swum tonight, none of which had open Olympic roster spots available:

Daniel Broady won the non-Olympic 50 breaststroke in a time of 28.97, with Christopher Steeples placing second with a 29.03. Euan Inglis finished third with a 29.05.

Amy Smith, already selected to swim the 50 free in London, added a second win to her tally with a time of 25.36 in tonight's race. Smith swam a 24.80 in March. Darya Stepanyuk of Ukraine placed second with a 25.63, while Jessica Lloyd was third in 25.79.

Rebecca Adlington, who owns the top time in the world for 2012 in the 800 freestyle with her 8:18.54 from the March Trials, won handily tonight with an 8:19.03. She remains the only swimmer to break 8:20 so far this year. Well back in second place was Eleanor Faulkner with an 8:35.83, and Megan Gilchrist placed third with an 8:39.24.

A great three-way battle for the title in the men's 400 individual medley wrapped up today's competition. Matthew Johnston, Lewis Smith and Ukraine's Maksym Shemberev battled for the entire race, with Johnston getting to the wall first in 4:18.28. Smith was second in 4:18.33, while Shemberev settled for third with a 4:18.45.

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