British Olympic Trials: Three New Names Added to Roster, Ellen Gandy Sweeps Butterfly Events; Foreign Swimmers Post Fast Times in Guest Finals

LONDON, England, March 7. MORE swimmers were added to the roster for the British Olympic swimming team today at the London Aquatics Centre, with relay positions also on the line in the men's 100 freestyle.

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 breast

FINA A: 2:11.74; British Second-place Qualifier: 2:11.50
Tonight's final was a reversal of fortune for Andrew Willis and Michael Jamieson, who had finished fourth and third, respectively, in the 100 breast final on Sunday and therefore unable to swim that event at the Olympics. Willis got to the wall first with a time of 2:09.33, which puts him at the top of the global standings in 2012, bumping Luxembourg's Laurent Carnol's 2:09.78. Jamieson finished second with a 2:09.84 to also make the Olympic team, as his time is faster than the tougher standard Britain has put on second-place finishers. This makes three swimmers who have swum sub-2:10 times in the event so far in 2012.

Kristopher Gilchrist touched a distant third in 2:11.73. Daniel Sliwinski, who will compete in the 100 breast in the Olympics, was fourth with a 2:12.28. James Broady (2:12.77), Richard Webb (2:13.21), Ross Murdoch (2:13.62) and Russell Smith (2:14.28) also raced in the final.

Women's 200 fly
FINA A: 2:08.95, British Second-place Qualifier: 2:08.66
Ellen Gandy added a second event to her Olympic program tonight with a win in the 200 fly in a time of 2:06.01. The time falls a little short of her world-leading time of 2:05.95 that she posted in February in Australia, where she trains full-time but is well under the FINA A standard. Jemma Lowe, who just missed making the team in the 100 butterfly, is now on the British Olympic team with a strong second-place time of 2:06.37, putting her second in the world so far, and far surpasses the faster qualifying time runners-up need to swim to make the Olympic team.

Rounding out the competitors in the finale were Jessica Dickons (2:09.21), Elena Sheridan (2:11.24), Tilly Gray (2:11.63), Amanda Nugent (2:12.74), Kate Hutchison (2:13.48) and Alys Thomas (2:14.18).

Men's 100 free
FINA A: 48.82; British Second-place Qualifier: 48.62
Simon Burnett won the final tonight in 49.33, matching his semifinal time, but is slower than the time needed to qualify him for the Olympics in the individual event. Burnett owns the national record with a 48.20 from 2008 and has a textile best of 48.54 from the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Though Great Britain has already secured a lane in the 400 freestyle relay in the Olympics based on their eighth-place finish at last year's world championships, filling the relay spots remained to be determined. Second through fourth place in tonight's final were James Disney-May (49.48), Craig Gibbons (49.49) and former Auburn standout Adam Brown (49.51).

Also competing in the final were Robert Renwick (49.62), Ross Davenport (49.62), Grant Turner (50.13) and Jak Scott (50.29). All these swimmers will have another opportunity in June to improve their times — and possibly qualify for the individual event.

SEMIFINALS
Women's 100 free

Fran Halsall blazed through semifinals with a strong 53.83 to lead all qualifiers into tomorrow's final. Halsall put up a quick 54.14 in prelims to sit second in the world, and her semifinal time keeps her in that spot, but moves closer to Australia's Melanie Schlanger's top time of 53.74 from February. Amy Smith posted a 54.27 to put her seventh in the world and second seed for tomorrow's final. Also making the final were 200 free champion Rebecca Turner (54.71), Jessica Lloyd (54.95), Caitlin McClatchey (55.07), Jessica Sylvester (55.54), Amelia Maughan (55.94) and Emma Wilkins (55.98).

Men's 200 back
With national record holder James Goddard skipping this event to focus on the 200 IM, the contenders for the two open Olympic spots is wide open. Calum Jarvis led semifinals with a top time of 1:59.88, which is more than a second off the FINA A standard of 1:58.48 that the winner would have to clock to make the Olympic team. The remainder of swimmers in the final will be Chris Walker-Hebborn (2:00.26), Craig McNally (2:00.33), Marco Loughran (2:00.33), Jonathan Carlisle (2:00.51), Joseph Patching (2:00.52), Nathan Theodoris (2:01.60) and Charlie Boldison (2:01.78).

Women's 200 breast
Stacey Tadd posted a 2:27.60 to lead qualifiers into the final, with Molly Renshaw placing second in 2:29.39. Hannah Miley, looking to add a third event to her Olympic schedule, qualified third with a 2:30.31. Others making the final were Carmella Kitching (2:31.43), Kerry Buchan (2:31.47) and Chloe Bean (2:32.09). Emma Bird, Siobhan-Marie O'Connor and Sophie Taylor all posted times of 2:32.16 to tie for seventh and force a swimoff. O'Connor won the swimoff with a 2:33.61, with Bird getting the other final spot with a 2:34.57 in the swimoff. Taylor posted a time of 2:35.34.

Men's 200 IM
Ieuan Lloyd posted the top time of semifinals with a 1:59.39 to put him third in the world rankings. James Goddard, the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion and fourth-place finisher at 2011 worlds with a 1:57.57, cruised to the second seed with a 2:00.55. Joe Roebuck, looking to make the Olympic team in a third event after qualifying in the 400 IM and 200 fly, took the third seed for finals with a 2:01.15. Also making the final are Daniel Wallace (2:01.41), 400 IM winner Roberto Pavoni (2:01.72) and Lewis Coleman (2:02.27). Thomas Greenfield and Adam Harrington tied with matching times of 2:03.09 for seventh place.

MULTI-DISABILITY FINALS
In the men's 50 butterfly, Sascha Kindred won the S6 division with a 32.66, while Matthew Walker took the S7 class with a 33.41. Andrew Mullen was the top S5 swimmer with a 40.88. Susannah Rodgers was the lone S7 competitor in the women's 50 fly, winning with a time of 36.64. Elizabeth Johnson won the S6 division with a 45.36.

James Hollis posted the quickest time in the men's 100 butterfly with a 1:00.92 to win the S10 grouping. Rafael Bagott won the S13 division with a 1:01.40, while James Clegg took the S12 division with a 1:01.46. Eleni Papadopoulos won the S10 class in the women's 100 fly with a time of 1:13.07, with Stephanie Millward winning the S9 division with a 1:11.96 and Hannah Russell taking the S12 race with a 1:11.70.

GUEST FINALS
Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen, the reigning co-world champion in the 100 free, won that event with a 54.14, moving her up the world rankings from 11th to a tie for third with American Amanda Weir. Germany's Daniela Schreiber was second with a 54.76 and Hannah Wilson of Hong Kong, a former standout at UC-Berkeley, touched third in 54.89.

Radoslaw Kawecki of Poland won the guest final in the men's 200 back with a 1:58.34, putting him third in the world rankings, an improvement from the 10th-place rank he had with his 1:59.34 prelim swim. South Africa went 1-2 in the race, with Darren Murray placing second in 1:59.85 and Charl Crous third with a 2:00.95.

Rikke Moller Pedersen gave Denmark another win with a time of 2:25.54 in the women's 200 breast, vaulting her to second in the world rankings well behind Rebecca Soni's 2:22.73. Second in the race went to Marina Garcia of Spain with a 2:26.00, while 2009 world champion Nadja Higl of Serbia placed third with a 2:27.38.

The men's 200 IM was a battle of the men named Markus, as Germany's Markus Deibler won the event in 1:59.97 to become seventh-fastest in the world this year, while Markus Rogan of Austria, who had posted a 2:00.94 in today's 200 IM prelims to become the 12th-fastest performer in the event in 2012, improved on his standing in the final with a 2:00.07 for eighth.-fastest globally. Jan David Schepers of Germany placed third with a 2:00.12 for tenth in the world standings. In prelims, Simon Sjoedin of Sweden put up a 2:00.11, which now stands ninth in the world. Sjoedin placed fourth in the final with a 2:00.71.

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