Rebecca Adlington Nearly Takes Down Longstanding British Record at British Championships

SHEFFIELD, England, July 29. NOVA Centurion swimmer Rebecca Adlington brought the crowd to its feet at the ASA National Championships (50m) in Sheffield when she lead an assault on one of the oldest standing British Records in the women's 800 freestyle.

Adlington set a lifetime best of 8:25.73 and nearly eclipsed the standard of 8:24.77 set by Sarah Hardcastle back in 1986 to take the gold in front of a crowd at Ponds Forge that cheered her all the way to the wall.

Jo Jackson took the silver in a best time of 8:30.32 and Becky Cooke took the bronze in 8:32.73

"That swim was hard but it felt so good when I looked up to see the time," said Adlington who bettered her previous best by more than two seconds. "Throughout the race all I could see was Jo (Jackson) alongside me so I just kept pushing hard. I really wanted to get the title, it was a strong field and it means a lot to me. I'm off to Paris next and looking to go out hard again and hopefully swim faster."

In the 16/17 years butterfly Jemma Lowe set a British Record to win in 58.91. Silver went to club teammate Jess Dickons in 1:00.62 while bronze went to Emma Smithurst of Derventio in 1:02.48.

"I'm just so pleased with that swim," said Lowe. "It's such an amazing feeling to get that record. I know I've been swimming well recently and I've been getting good times in training so I was hoping to go fast today. It's my second medal of the event and I'm feeling great. Not only was it an age group record to actually get the British Record is a massive achievement. It gives me great confidence going into events in Paris and Japan next month."

Lowe lowered this standard yet again in the semifinals of the senior event when she won her race in 58.73 with just two hours between the two events. In the same semifinal Fran Halsall set a age group record.

James Goddard swam a lifetime best in the men's 200m IM when he touched first in 2:00.13, a second-and-a-half faster than his previous best, to take gold. Silver went to Euan Dale of Loughborough University in 2:01.51 and Gregor Tait was third in 2:02.87.

"I've been really focused recently and it's paying off for me. Going into the race my coach said just go for it and I did. Once I saw I was ahead I just kept my pace up," said Goddard. "I know I have the potential to go under two minutes but I'm really happy with that time. I think I can go faster and that is my aim for Paris next week and that swim gives me a boost to do that. I've been at Loughborough University for about five months and my coach Ian Turner and I are working on getting more power in my swims and improving my endurance at the same time."

In the men's 100 freestyle, Simon Burnett put in a strong yet controlled swim to take gold in 49.10 from Ben Hockin in a best time of 49.77 and Ross Davenport was third in 50.07.

"My target was to go under 49 seconds. I am really pleased but it should have been faster. My legs are really tired and I am thinking maybe I'm not rested enough," said Burnett. "It was faster than the World Championships which is good though. The first half of the season has been hard but I'm finding my direction and feeling stronger so I'm hopefully coming back and building confidence."

The men's 800 freestyle saw Daniel Fogg from Loughborough University come through to win in 8:16.36 from Michael Unsworth, also from Loughborough, in 8:19.65 and bronze went to Daniel Mills of Nova Centurion in 8:22.57.

In the Multi Disability (MD) events Emma Cattle of Luton took the 100 backstroke title in 1:16.52 (S10), silver went to Claire Cashmore of Kelly College in 1:17.26 (S9), and Kate Grey of Thornbury took the bronze in 1:19.74.

The men's event saw gold go to David Hill of Kelly College in a time of 1:07.92 (S9), silver went in a British Record time of 1:10.66 (S13) to Dave Ellis of Derventio and Shane Scullion of Portsmouth Northsea took the bronze in 1:11.42 (S10).

"I'm happy with my time, I went much faster than my heats which is always pleasing," said Ellis. "I felt much quicker in the water and I was always hopeful for a record."

Thomas Young set his second British Record of the day when he went 1:19.78 (S8) in the final after setting a new standard in the earlier heat also.

"I'm really pleased it's been a great day, I've now been training in high performance centre in Swansea for three weeks and already it's paying off. I've improved my stroke and I'm looking forward to the future, 2008 and 2012."

British Records fell in the final of the Multi Disability women's 50 breaststroke with Louise Watkin and Claire Cashmore (both Kelly College) returning home in 40.38 (SB9) and 40.45 (SB8) respectively.

Gold went to Liz Johnson of Swansea Performance in 47.64 (S6), Charlotte Henshaw of Nova Centurion took the silver in 47.81 (S6) and Cashmore took the bronze.

In the men's event, Sam Hynd of Nova Centurion stepped up with a standard of 36.44 in the 50 breaststroke (SB8) final to take gold, silver went to David Yates of Abingdon Vale.

Rebecca Turner of City of Sheffield won the 14/15 years 200 freestyle final in 2:02.87, with Robyn Matthews of City of Edinburgh with the silver in 2:05.22 and Lucy Worrall City of Chester took the bronze in 2:05.51.

Jemma Lowe took gold in the 200m Freestyle 16/17 years in 2:03.16, Sasha Matthew of Nova Centurion grabbed the silver in 2:03.87 and bronze went to Karlien Van Heerden of South Africa in 2:03.96.

Andrew Willis of Bracknell took the 15/16 years title in the 200m Breaststroke when he won in 2:20.80. Douglas Scott of Eastkilbride took the silver in 2:21.48 and Nicholas Tawn of Carnforth grabbed the bronze in 2:23.69.

The men's 17/18 years 200 breaststroke title went to Robert Holderness of Millfield in 2:18.42, James Johnson of City of Newcastle took the silver in 2:18.80 and Michael Jamieson of City of Edinburgh took the bronze in 2:19.16.

Alexandra Hooper of City of Birmingham took the gold in the women's 14/15 years 100m Backstroke final in 1:04.20, Zoe Hester of Plymouth Leander took the silver in 1:05.00 and Katherine Venters of Kirklees came home with the bronze in 1:05.11.

In the 16/17 years category, it was gold for Gerogia Davies of Swansea Performance in 1:03.29, silver went to Lauren Collins of City of Birmingham in 1:03.81 and Aisling Cooney of Ireland took bronze in 1:04.09.

In the men's 15/16 years 200 butterfly it was gold for Karl Botha of City of Canterbury in 2:04.79 while silver went to Oliver Summers of Portsmouth Northsea in 2:07.41. Bronze went to Andrew Winspear of Stockton in 2:07.72.

Stuart Houston took gold in the Men's 17/18 years 200 butterfly in a time of 2:01.84, silver went to Peter Thompson of Middlesboro in 2:02.35 and bronze went to Adam Mallett of Lincoln Vulcans in 2:03.55.

Winner of the Women's 14/15 years 100m Butterfly was Olivia Sefton of Derventio in 1:01.68, silver went to Sophie Allen of Millfield in 1:03.72 and bronze went to Kristina Paige of Reading in 1:03.90.

British age group records went to Ellen Gandy in the semifinal of the women's 200 freestyle and Lizzie Simmonds in the semifinals of the women's 100 backstroke.

Special thanks to British Swimming for contributing this report.

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