By Craig Lord<\/p>\n
MANCHESTER, England, March 17. JAMES Gibson declared himself ready to defend his world title over 50 metres breaststroke in Montreal this July after retaining his British title in 28.02 seconds to become the first of three swimmers to book tickets to Canada at Trials here.<\/p>\n
On a night when James Goddard and Kirsty Balfour respectively set new
\nBritish and Scottish standards to join Gibson on the Britain squad, the
\n25-year-old world sprint breaststroke champion from Loughborough University
\nsummed up the mood of those who qualified on the first of two opportunities
\nto do so. <\/p>\n
"That was a huge release of pressure – job done. I don't want to be a
\nformer world champion and getting this out of the way now will allow me to
\nfocus on preparing for the main event." Having travelled to Athens last
\nsummer looking for Olympic glory but emerging from the 100 metres final
\nsixth, Gibson, coached by Ben Titley, was conscious that "the world has
\nstepped up…and I've got to move with them."<\/p>\n
"I've had a rough time since Athens," he said, "but that will help to
\nlift me. I'm not going to Montreal just to take part." Behind him were
\nDarren Mew and Chris Cook, who must wait until June for a second chance to
\nqualify over 50 metres at the third of three test events in line for the
\nBritain squad and those who aspire to it in the build-up to Montreal.<\/p>\n
Gibson spent February training at Auburn. The experience had been
\n"fantastic…they are very professional". In contrast to Britain, it was
\nless to do with the individual as the team in collegiate competition and
\ntraining. "I learnt a hell of a lot from that and realised I had not been
\non the ball mentally."<\/p>\n
Goddard, who finished fourth in the Olympic 200 metres backstroke
\nfinal in Athens, equalled Gregor Tait's British record and set an English
\nrecord of 54.90sec to take the 100 metres crown in Manchester. Tait, who
\nhas moved to Dave Haller's Cardiff squad, was beaten into third by
\nLoughborough's Liam Tancock, 55.21 to 55.59.<\/p>\n
"It's a great relief to get that out of the way," said Goddard, coached
\nby Sean Kelly at Stockport Metro. "It takes the pressure off the 200
\nmetres. I'm really excited about this summer."<\/p>\n
Since Goddard finished fourth in the 200 metres in Athens in a race
\nthat saw him awarded the bronze and lose it again in the space of 20
\nminutes as American Aaron Peirsol was disqualified and then reinstated in a
\nfarce over the ability to read the rulebook and then write down the proper
\nreason for deciding why the world record-holder ought to forfeit an Olympic
\ntitle, FINA, the world governing body, has moved to bar all over-60s from
\nbeing officials.<\/p>\n
The proposal could be ratified in Montreal and is designed not just for
\nswimming but all aquatic disciplines.<\/p>\n
"I'm a bit dismayed to find that over-60s are being flogged on my
\nbehalf," joked Goddard. "It's not them I beat up for not getting a medal in
\nAthens. It's myself I beat up. It's something I will never forget. Even
\nbronze would have been disappointing. I should have got the silver. I've
\nonly got myself to blame." He looked forward to taking corrective measures
\nin Montreal.<\/p>\n
Balfour, of Edinburgh, clocked 1min 08.66sec over 100 metres
\nbreaststroke to defeat a dismayed Kate Haywood, of Loughborough. Haywood,
\n17, must try for selection again in June after finishing on 1:09.27sec,
\nwell shy of the British record of 1:08.14sec she set in the semi-final on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the real story of British Swimming has started to bubble to
\nthe surface in the form of a group of hugely talented teenegers. As Sarah
\nPrice, the double Commonwealth champion of 2002, put it as she announced
\nher retirement after finished second in the 100 metres backstroke: "This is
\nthe right moment to go. I have had a wondeful time. It's been a great buzz.
\nBut while the will and passion are there, the body cannot do what it used
\nto do and there is a new generation ready to step up and capable of filling
\nmy shoes."<\/p>\n
First home ahead of her was 17-year-old Gemma Spofforth, of Portsmouth
\nNorthsea, in 1:02.29, while in third, ahead of 200m world champion Katy
\nSexton, was Elizabeth Simmonds, who celebrated he 14th birthday in January,
\nin 1:03.43. Later she clocked 29.99sec to qualify fastest for the final of
\nthe 50 metres backstroke. <\/p>\n
Simmonds, coached by Graham Bassi in Lincoln, is not alone. Another
\n14-year-old, Francesca Halsall, coached by Colin Stripe in Liverpool and
\none of 13 teenager girls who spent a month being coached at altitude in
\nMexico by Bill Sweetenham, the national performance director, took her
\nfirst senior national title in 26.23sec over 50 metres freestyle, while
\nJessica Dickons, 13, clocked 1:01.59sec over 100m butterfly before racing
\nto another fifth place finish, over 400 metres medley in 4:55.93 half an
\nhour later. <\/p>\n
That race saw Rebecca Cooke, the distance freestyle Olympic finalist
\ncoached by Stephen Hill in Glasgow, lower her own British record to
\n4:46.54, shy of the qualification target but encouraging for her freestyle
\nraces to come.<\/p>\n
In semi-finals, Melanie Marshall cruised to a comfortable 1min 59.20sec
\nover 200 metres freestyle, while Loughborough teammate Caitlin McClatchey
\nbecame the first Scot below 2 minutes, in 1:59.99.<\/p>\n
RESULTS<\/p>\n
Finals <\/p>\n
Men:
\n100m freestyle:
\n1 C Cozens (Loughborough University) 50.01;
\n2 R Davenport (Loughborough University) 50.24;
\n3 C Gibbons (Maxwell) 50.84.<\/p>\n
100m backstroke:
\n1 J Goddard (Stockport Metro) 54.90 (British record)
\n2 Liam Tancock (Loughborough University) 55.21;
\n3 Gregor Tait (City of Cardiff) 55.59<\/p>\n
50m breaststroke:
\n1 J Gibson (Loughborough University) 28.02;
\n2 D Mew (Bath University) 28.18;
\n3 C Cook (City of Newcastle) 28.32. <\/p>\n
50m butterfly:
\n1 M Foster (Bath University) 24.72;
\n2 O Morgan (Kingston Royals) 24.81;
\n3 D Leith (City of Edinburgh) 24.89. <\/p>\n
Women:
\n50m freestyle:
\n1 F Halsall (City of Liverpool) 26.23sec;
\n2 J Lyles (Bath University) 26.73;
\n3 A Ramm (Loughborough University) <\/p>\n
100m backstroke:
\n1 G Spofforth (Portsmouth Northsea) 1:02.29;
\n2 S Price (Loughborough University);
\n3 E Simmonds (Lincoln) 1:03.43. <\/p>\n
100m breaststroke:
\n1 K Balfour (City of Edinburgh) 1:08.66 (Scottish record).
\n2 K Haywood 1:09.27<\/p>\n
100m butterfly:
\n1 T Dunning (City of Birmingham) 1:00.48;
\n2 R Brett (Loughborough University) 1:00.73;
\n3 S Healey (Loughborough University) 1:00.93. <\/p>\n
400m medley:
\n1 R Cooke (City of Glasgow) 4:46.54 (British record);
\n2 S Tadd (Bath University) 4:49.88;
\n3 H Miley (City of Glasgow) 4:51.21 (Scottish record).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Craig Lord MANCHESTER, England, March 17. JAMES Gibson declared himself ready to defend his world title over 50 metres breaststroke in Montreal this July after retaining his British title<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n