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Marie Wattel: Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant<\/p><\/div>\n

The Frenchwoman, who trains at Loughborough, was in lane five next to Anna Hopkin<\/strong> although there was no Freya Anderson<\/strong> – who hadn’t swum the heats – and Wood, who had swum the fourth fastest time in prelims but opted to focus on the 200IM.<\/p>\n

Wattel was already 0.16 off the Briton at halfway, going out in 25.78 and extended her lead on the second 50 to come back in 27.62 to stop the clock at a time that propelled her to the top of the fledgling rankings.<\/p>\n

She displaced\u00a0Femke Heemskerk<\/strong> who twice went sub-54 at last month’s Flanders Qualification Meet\u00a0<\/strong>and while many of the ‘big hitters’ are yet to swim in competitive waters, it’s a time that will be noticed on pool decks.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it would have been good enough for fourth at the 2018 Europeans and eighth a year later at worlds.<\/p>\n

Hopkin was second in 54.99 with Hansson – who had earlier won the 100 fly from which Wattel had withdrawn – third in 55.05.<\/p>\n

Wood So Good As She Speeds Into Unknown Territory<\/h3>\n
Wood has had a meet which underlines her trajectory winning the 200 free in a huge PB and swimming into 2:22 territory in the 200br.<\/p>\n
Up next in the final women’s event of the session was the 200IM.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old went off like a shot on the fly and by the first turn, held a 1.33sec lead over the next best swimmer and one she extended to take the win by 6.71secs in 2:09.38, a PB of 2.3secs.<\/p>\n
Lily Booker<\/strong> – the 400IM winner – touched next in 2:16.09.<\/p>\n
Splits:\u00a0<\/em>27.96\/1:01.31\/1:38.39\/2:09.38<\/p>\n
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Photo Courtesy: MIKE LEWIS \/ ISL<\/p><\/div>\n
Wood trains at the National Centre Loughborough<\/strong> along with Rio silver medallist Siobhan O’Connor<\/strong>, who didn’t compete in Manchester – the pair destined to meet at the Olympic trials and perhaps share the water in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
It hasn’t been plain sailing by any means for Wood who struggled to make the transition to senior waters following a successful junior career.<\/p>\n
She moved to Loughborough from her hometown of Buxton in the English midlands aged 16, sharing a house with 16 rugby players, eight men and eight women, and has been coached by Hemmings ever since.<\/p>\n
Her senior GB debut at the 2017 worlds in Budapest was one of her lowest points and she admits she considered quitting.<\/p>\n
There were heart-to-heart conversations with Hemmings, where he reminded her of how normal it is not to succeed in your first senior competition, and Wood ploughed on.<\/p>\n
Bit by bit she saw the improvements and following a fine ISL campaign, Wood has now announced herself in a big way on the international scene.<\/p>\n
In a piece with Swimming World,<\/a> she talked about how she got her mojo back but also looked to the delayed Olympics, saying:<\/p>\n
“I would have loved Tokyo to have been in 2020 but I feel like I wouldn\u2019t have all this racing under my belt: I feel like the extra year has done me a massive favour.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At the current rate of improvement, those words look pertinent.<\/p>\n
Of her weekend, Wood said through British Swimming:<\/p>\n
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“I\u2019m over the moon, really. It\u2019s come as quite a big surprise.<\/p>\n
“Off the back of the ISL (International Swimming League), I was hoping to back it up over long course, but there\u2019s always the thing in the back of your head, wondering whether it will happen!<\/p>\n
“But long course has really come together for me now, which is really positive.<\/p>\n
“I felt, because it was the end of the meet, I just had to be on a bit of a mission and go into the 200m IM with tunnel vision.<\/p>\n
“I had a few swims in me that I\u2019d done and though I was hurting a bit, I\u2019m really glad I dragged that out of myself.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
She added:<\/p>\n
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“I actually think the 200m breaststroke was the highlight for me on Friday, just because it was the most unexpected swim I\u2019ve ever done!<\/p>\n
“I really wasn\u2019t expecting to go anywhere near that time. I used to love the breaststroke and I thought it was supposed to be one of my more fun events this weekend because I hadn\u2019t done it in a while \u2013 so to post a time like that, I was over the moon.<\/p>\n
“Obviously I was really happy with the 200m IM, but because that\u2019s my main event, while I wasn\u2019t expecting it at all, I was hoping that would happen.<\/p>\n
“With the breaststroke, you could tell by my and Molly Renshaw’s faces at the end, it was a shock.<\/p>\n
“With the Olympics coming up, everyone was itching to do long-course racing \u2013 and I felt so fortunate to be chosen to do the meet.<\/p>\n
“Everyone swimming here was so grateful to be here and that it could go ahead, with all the staff working so hard. It was really good, everyone stuck to the rules and respected everything because we were so grateful to be here.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Happy Guy Wins From Lane Two<\/h3>\n
Guy won the 100 fly on the opening night before a dominant 1:56 victory over 200m on Saturday where he came within half a second of his PB.<\/p>\n
The 200 free final was one of such depth that Guy – the 2015 world champion – was out in lane two with Tom Dean<\/strong>, the 100 free champion, and Felix Auboeck<\/strong> of Austria occupying the centre lanes.<\/p>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu \/ ISL<\/p><\/div>\n
Dean led at the first turn but Guy – the two-time Olympic silver relay medallist – went ahead on the second 50, a position he never relinquished as the first three home all clocked 1:47.<\/p>\n
Splits:<\/em><\/p>\n
Guy: 24.84\/51.75\/1:19.27\/1:47.19<\/p>\n
Dean: 24.69\/51.90\/1:19.71\/1:47.42<\/p>\n
J Litchfield: 24.93\/52.44\/1:20.21\/1:20.21<\/p>\n
The 200 free is set to be a corker of a tussle at the British Olympic trials scheduled for the first weekend in April with world bronze medallist Duncan Scott<\/strong> awaiting.<\/p>\n
Hansson Flies To Victory<\/h3>\n
Hansson – who was seventh at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju – went 57.83 in the 100 fly to head to the top of the early rankings.<\/p>\n
The Swede turned second at 50, 0.08 behind Harriet Jones<\/strong>, before overhauling the Welshwoman and coming home in 30.61.<\/p>\n
Jones touched in 58.52, a day after lowering her own Welsh record to 26.34 in the 50 fly although Jemma Lowe’<\/strong>s 100 mark of 57.43 from June 2011 still stands.<\/p>\n
Max Litchfield<\/strong> – who was fourth at Rio 2016 – had a seven-second margin of victory in the 400IM in 4:16.38 with Charlie Hutchison<\/strong> touching second in 4:23.72.<\/p>\n
European silver medallist Imogen Clark<\/strong> got her hand to the wall first in the 50br in 30.76 ahead of Commonwealth champion Sarah Vasey<\/strong> (30.80) with Renshaw third in 31.71.<\/p>\n
It concluded an excellent meet for Renshaw who tied the British 200 record in 2:22.08 – good enough for bronze at Rio 2016 – on Friday before taking the 100 title on Saturday and then bronze.<\/p>\n
Honey Osrin<\/strong>, the 17-year-old who claimed silver at the 2019 European Junior Championships<\/strong>, won the 200 back in 2:13.13 ahead of Chloe Golding<\/strong> (2:13.90) in what was essentially a head-to-head with just the two in the final.<\/p>\n
Jacob Peters<\/strong> got a PB of 23.65 as the solo swimmer in the men’s 50 fly<\/p>\n
In the multi-classification para-swimming programme, Zara Mullooly<\/strong> led the way in the 100 free in 1:00.91 and\u00a0Katie Crowhurst<\/strong> went 1:20.74 in the MC 100 fly final in which she was the sole competitor.<\/p>\n
Maisie Summers-Newton<\/strong> topped the 200IM in 3:00.69.<\/p>\n
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