Swimmers Take Aim at Record Book on Second Night of Swimming at British Championships

SHEFFIELD, England, July 28. FRAN Halsall dominated the second day of the ASA Swim 21 National Youth Championships and ASA National Championships (50m) 2007 claiming two British Records.

Halsall claimed her first record of the day in the 100 freestyle. She swam a fast heat and going into the final she looked in an excellent position to win gold. The final saw Caitlin McClatchey close behind Halsall, but the 17-year-old claimed the gold and the British record in a time of 54.56. The Loughborough University swimmer McClatchey took silver in 55.25, with teammate Mel Marshall just behind finishing in 55.64 to claim bronze.

The World Championship swimmer was not content with just one British record, she went out hard in the final of the 50 butterfly and dominated the race, touching in a time of 26.74 to claim her second record. Silver went to Borough of Stockton swimmer Jemma Lowe who finished in 27.56. Bronze was won by Terri Dunning (Co Birmingham) in 27.69.

Halsall was happy with her impressive performance.

"I'm really excited," she said. "That was fast and I'm not rested for this meet. I'm hoping to go quicker but the plan is to look at that in Japan at the end of the month. I haven't been focusing on the 100 freestyle. This year has been about the 200, I'm to add variety but it seems my sprinting has benefited. My training has been going well but I missed four weeks through a shoulder injury earlier this summer."

In the semifinal of the 200 IM, Liam Tancock showed his dominance in the pool with an excellent performance to claim a British record time of 1:59.91. Tancock finished his heat this morning with a fast time of 2:01.51 and looked promising for the record going into the final. In the final, Tancock took an early lead and extended it in the backstroke leg of the event. He touched in 1:59.91 to smash the British record by almost two seconds.

The double World Championship bronze medalist finished ahead of teammate Euan Dale – and Stockport Metro swimmer Michael Rock.

"Everything I'm doing is focused on the Olympics but a new British record is a real bonus for me especially in an event that I use to add variety to my program," Tancock said. "I'm swimming very well and I've not rested for this meet so it's looking great for the rest of the season. I'll be looking to go faster in Japan and then concentrate on my Olympic preparation."

Elizabeth Simmonds continued her excellent form from the European Junior Championships by claiming gold and an Age Group record in the 200 backstroke final, touching in a time of 2:10.87. The 16-year-old dominated the race from the start and finished ahead of Loughborough University swimmer Stephanie Proud – who claimed silver in 2:13.76. Bronze was won by Tannith Prout in 2:16.78.

Simmonds had come straight from the European Junior Championships and is on the team for the Japan meet at the end of August.

"That hurt me a lot," Simmonds said. "It was a hard race and I'm so happy to come away with gold and a new record. I knew I had to go out fast and I was looking to go better than I did yesterday it didn't feel great but I came through with a punishing swim.

The men's 50 butterfly saw Mark Foster take a comfortable victory over Benjamin Hockin and Benjamin Hutchinson. Foster put in a tough performance to claim the gold in 24.04. Hockin took the silver finishing in 24.39 and Hutchinson won bronze in 24.76.

"I've been keeping myself in shape and swimming a couple of times a week," Foster said. "I've done no butterfly preparation so it's great to swim as fast as that. I like just standing up and racing people. It's something I enjoy and it felt good again tonight to be in that environment. I don't have the best fly stroke but I had great rhythm tonight and it gave me a great result."

Bexley swimmer Xavier Mohammed put in an excellent performance in the 17-18 year age group 200 IM to take the British title.

Mohammed finished strongly in a time of 2:05.10 to claim the gold. William Purnell secured the silver medal touching in 2:05.36, James Johnson won bronze in 2:06.48.

The European Junior Championship squad member Mohammed was pleased with claiming the title but knows he has more to give.

"It's good to put in a fast performance after a disappointing time at the European Junior Championships last week," Mohammed said. "That was a pretty good swim and I feel like I'm getting back to my best after a frustrating few weeks. I'm excited about this week, I've already won two medals but I want to improve on that."

The men's multi-disability (MD) 100 butterfly final saw Dervis Konuralp swim hard to smash the British record in the S13 category. The Greenwich swimmer took the record in a time of 1:02.83 and gained 893 points. Dave Ellis (S 13, Derventio) claimed the silver in 1:04.59 and 822 points. Bronze was taken by Thomas Brown (S9, Bo Newham)

"My training has been going very well and to put in a performance like that is a testament to the work we are doing," Konuralp said after the victory. "I was hoping for a time in the low 1:03s so that was great. To do it here gives me a lot of confidence. We are a year out from Beijing and everything's looking very good."

The closest final of the evening was found in the 100 breaststroke, which saw five athletes swimming neck and neck to claim the gold.

In the final five meters, Darren Mew looked to take the lead over James Gibson and Kristopher Gilchrist.

Mew touched in 1:01.27 to take his first title of the competition, Gibson took silver in 1:01.51 and Gilchrist took the bronze in the 1:01.65.

"That is a good time for me at this stage of the season," said Mew. "I've been working hard and racing often without rest so with that in mind the time was good and it's always nice to win that difficult British title."

The 17- 18 year age group 100 freestyle saw Christopher Fox put in an impressive performance and finish the exciting final in a time of 50.89.

The final saw Fox take the lead after the first 50 meters and push hard for the victory over Adam Brown – who won the silver in 51.52. Bronze went to Grant Turner in 51.58.

Fox trains alongside Marco Laughran and Chris Alderton and the first two days of competition have seen many of the boys from the Offshore Centre reach finals.

"We are used to pushing each other in training at Southport so to have so many guys in the final tonight provided a real push," Fox said. "It's great competition, and it makes us better swimmers. It's the second meet in two weeks for me and I've tried hard to make sure my motivation is up there. I'm happy with the swim. The guys were talking and we knew what was needed to win, I'm just glad it was me. I return to Australia on Monday with the guys but we've enjoyed the past few weeks in Britain, despite the rain."

Kate Haywood went out hard in the final of the 100 breaststroke to claim her first gold of the competition. Swimming against the world silver medalist Kirsty Balfour, Haywood swam an excellent race and touched in 1:08.19 – just outside her personal-best time.

Balfour took silver in 1:09.74 and Wrexham swimmer Lowri Tynan finished in 1:10.74 to take the bronze.

"I've been injured for the last eight weeks so to get close to my PB is a great result," Haywood said. "A shoulder injury forced me to just work on my legs but I feel that's really benefiting me at the moment. I felt strong even though I've not had the training background I usually have. It looks good for the season ahead and to Beijing."

Special thanks to British Swimming for contributing this report.

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