Scottish Nationals: David Davies Sets British Record; Gemma Spofforth Takes Third Title

By Todd Cooper, Swimming World Scottish correspondent

GLASGOW, Scotland, June 27. DAVID Davies produced a dominant performance to set a British Record in the men's 800 free on the third night of finals at the Scottish National Championships.

Olympic 10k silver medalist Davies swam a superbly-paced race to take the title in 7:50.49. His previous national standard had stood at 7:50.74 from last year. Daniel Fogg narrowly missed out on joining the sub-8 minute club when he finished second in 8:00.18, while Gareth Keating grabbed third in 8:14.58.

"The time was good; I'm pleased with it" said Davies. "The state of training at the moment – I'm feeling a bit heavy, so when the rest comes I'll obviously feel a bit better. The way it is with world swimming right now, everyone is swimming really fast, you have to be at the top of your game."

After breaking the British 50 and 200 back records earlier in the week, Gemma Spofforth captured her third title in as many days to take the 100 back in a time of 59.56. That effort fell just short of her national record, which stands at 59.05 from last year's Olympics. Georgia Davies grabbed second in 1:01.56, while Katy Sexton picked up third in 1:01.93.

"I just came in today to have a little bit of fun" said Spofforth after the race. "I secured my place yesterday. The world record was kind of on the cards today; I didn't think it would have been impossible, but I'll have to save that for worlds."

Simon Burnett successfully booked his ticket to Rome by snaring the men's 50 free title in 22.32. Charles Turner (22.44) and Craig Gibbons (22.49) finished second and third, respectively.

"It's not been a perfect meet here" said Burnett. "I had to work for it here tonight, and that's what I did. On the block tonight, I was thinking about my disqualification at Trials, and that's why I was perhaps a little bit sluggish off [the block] there. Technically, it was much better tonight, and I'm reasonably pleased."

In the closest final of the night, Joe Roebuck won the men's 200 IM winning in a time of 2:00.92. Lewis Smith finished .01 seconds back in 2.00.93, while Liam Tancock rounded out the top three in 2.01.34.

With world record holder Joanne Jackson skipping the event, and Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington missing due to asthma problems, the women's 400 free came down to a duel between Hannah Miley and Adlington's teammate Sasha Matthews. After racing stroke for stroke for 399 meters, it was Matthews who emerged victorious in 4:11.65. Miley took second in 4:11.72, while Ann Morris finished third in 4:13.95.

Marco Loughran narrowly missed out on adding the 200 back to his roster in Rome winning the men's 200 back in a time of 1:58.47. That effort fell just short of James Goddard's 1:58.34 set back in March. Andrew Hodgson took second in 2:00.89, while Scott Hathaway finished third in 2:01.37

Jemma Lowe followed with a time of 2:10.50 in the women's 200 fly, while Hannah Miley took second in 2:10.83. Jessica Dickons finished third in 2:10.96

In the men's 100 breast, Darren Mew triumphed in 1:01.37. That effort just missed Kristopher Gilchrist's 1:00.98 set at Trials in March. Gilchrist finished second in 1:01.51, while upcoming 19 year old Daniel Sliwinski completed the podium in 1:01.96.

Lowri Tynan topped the women's 50 breast in 32.50. Georgia Holderness snatched second in 32.60, while Kathryn Johnstone finished third in 32.79.

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