Olympic 400m and 800m free champion Rebecca Adlington regained the British 200m free crown she won in 2008 and lost in 2009, her 1:57.87 a best textile time and a ticket to the big events of the summer: for Britain and England teams bound for Budapest in August and the European titles and Delhi for the Commonwealth Games in October.
It will be Adlington's first Games appearance: in 2005 after a bout of glandular fever, the then teenager sat on the deck distraught after failing to qualify for the Games in Melbourne in early 2006. Today in Sheffield, the 20-year-old was all smiles after keeping Jazmin Carlin and Joanne Jackson at bay, with Hannah Miley taking the fourth berth for the Britain relay.
Miley was back in just over half an hour later, with a dominant 2:12.32 win in the 200m medley. A Scot, Miley faces her own Commonwealth Games trials in June but that moment is little more than a formality, her place in Delhi is all but assured.
In the men's finals, Robbie Renwick and David Carry claimed a 1-2 finish for Scotland, Renwick assured a place in Budapest, with Robert Bale, 19, notching up a 4sec best time to book his place in Delhi for England. Michael Rock retained the 200m butterfly crown half a stroke ahead of a teenager on the move - Roberto Pavoni.
British Gas Championships and Trials - Day 1 finals
Women 200m freestyle
Best get the confirmation out the way from day 1, final 1 at British trials in Sheffield: swimming and swimmers don't need suits to produce thrilling sport. Ten women lined up for the final of an event that offers relay selection as a bonus and raced between 1:57.87, fourth best in the world so far this year, and 2:01.68, the top four under 2mins.
The champion for a second time was Rebecca Adlington, Olympic 400m and 800m free queen and national 200m title winner from 2008. Coached by Bill Furniss at Nottingham's Nova Centurion, the 21-year-old swam 0.07sec faster than she did at Olympic trials in 2008, with Jazmin Carlin (Swansea, and Wales), second on 1:58.51 and Joanne Jackson, 2009 champion and at the end of a winter in which asthma has disrupted her preparations, third in 1:58.83. The fourth spot on the Britain relay for European Championships in Budapest went to medley ace Hannah Miley (Garioch and Scotland), in 1:59.52. A potential third berth for England is there for Sasha Matthews, 18-year-old training partner of Adlington's and on a lifetime best of 2:00.45, just 0.13sec ahead of an other teenager, Rebecca Turner (Sheffield), who is looking at an England relay berth at Commonwealth Games.
Fran Halsall (Loughborough) was the clear leader at the half-way mark on 57.27, to Adlington's 58.47 but down the third length the sprinter felt the pack close in on her and it was Adlington who turned first with a lap to go, on 1:28.52, 0.01sec up on Carlin, 19, with Jackson half a second away. Caitlin McClatchey, Commonwealth champion in 2006 in a Games record of 1:57.25, clocked 2:00.13 but has not rested for these trials: as a Scot she had no need to make Sheffield crunch time as far as the Commonwealth Games was concerned. June and the Scottish nationals is where it will count for Caitlin.
After the race, Adlington admitted that Budapest, not Delhi, would be her priority: "That's where the main competition is." That said, Adlington was delighted to pick up her first England selection, an honour that was all the more special given the events of 2005 in the wake of a bout of glandular fever that barred her way to Melbourne 2006. Asked if her achievement felt doubly special as a result of past woes, Adlington said: "Definitely. That is why it is so important to me to make it, not making it last time. I can remember coming out of the swim and everyone on poolside turning the other way because they didn't know what to say to me because I was just in tears. And I just sat there on the floor and Bill (Furniss) my coach didn't know what to do.
"I was so distraught about not making it. I thought 'What am I doing? I am not having that again' and I am so glad I have guaranteed my place and the rest of the week I can just focus on good racing again."
Carlin, who will race for Wales in Delhi and is coached by Janet Evans's mentor Bud McAllister, will be a danger to Adlington over 400m and 800m later this week. She said: "The 200 is not normally my strongest. I was pleased to come 0.2 off my best in the new suits so I am really happy with how that went."
Like Adlington, who said she was in the race because "I really wanted to guarantee a place on the 4x200m - I love doing it.", Jackson was happy just to have made the Britain quartet; Olympic and world championship medallist alongside Adlington in the past two years, she is waiting to hear whether the Yorkshire Primary Care Trust will approve an application for her to be prescribed a non-steroidal asthma preparation that costs up to £8,000 a year and is not generally available.
As things stand, Australia remains favourite to take the 4x200m crown in Delhi, with three women inside 1:58 at trials earlier this month.
Times in transition (top 6 home at 2008, 2009 and 2010 trials, plus top 2 in Rome 2009 and Aussie trials comparison)
- 2008: 1:57.94; 1:58.22; 1:58.77; 1:58.86; 2:00.34; 2:00.42
- 2009: 1:56.47; 1:57.58;1:58.85; 1:59.42; 1:59.48; 2:01.27
- Rome 2009: 1:55.88 (1:55.54 s); 1:56.62 s
- 2010: 1:57.87; 1:58.51; 1:58.93; 1:59.52; 2:00.13; 2:00.45; 2:00.58
Australian 2010 trials: 1:57.38; 1:57.46; 1:57.69
Men 400m freestyle
Robert Renwick, of City of Glasgow, and David Carry, of Stockport Metro, endured two stroke-for-stroke battles today, their final efforts resulting in a Scottish 1-2 at British trials, Renwick the champion in 3:50.32, Carry, Commonwealth champion and national title holder in 2005, 06 and 08, on 3:50.55. Robert Bale, 19 and of Loughborough, earned selection for England at the Commonwealth Games with a huge best time of 3:51.58. His coach, Kevin Renshaw, was a little unnerved in the morning when his other charge, defending champion David Davies, unrested, did not make the cut for the final. But this evening Renshaw had reason to celebrate a teenager on the move, a man now 4sec faster on the clock than he was at the start of the race into senior international waters.
Times in transition (top 3 home at 2008, 2009 and 2010 trials, plus top 2 in Rome 2009 and Aussie trials comparison)
- 2008: 3:49.78; 3:50.50; 3:51.80
- 2009: 3:45.24; 3:50.25; 3:50.36
- Rome 2009: 3:47.02 (3:45.43p); 3:46.75 p
- 2010: 3:50.32; 3:50.55; 3:51.58
Australian 2010 trials: 3:47.67; 3:48.70; 3:49.43
Women 200m medley
Just over half an hour after making the Britain 4x200m free quartet, Hannah Miley, coached by her father Patrick Miley in the Grampian region of north-east Scotland, was on her way to a 2:12.32 win in the 200m medley to book her first solo event for the European Championships in Budapest. With the pack on 'fly, on 29.50, Miley had taken the lead after backstroke, on 1:03.05, and then ripped the field apart with a killer breaststroke lap to turn into freestyle on 1:41.22. The only rival close enough to feel Miley's wash was the 16-year-old in the next lane, Middlesborough and England's Aimee Wilmott, who produced a potential-packed performance and stopped the clock on 2:14.25, a best time by more than a second. That effort booked Wilmott a ticket to Delhi and the Commonwealth Games in October. Likely to join here there is Anne Bochmann, of Leeds and also 16, on 2:15.79, with Olympic marathon silver medallist and world 10km champion Keri-Anne Payne, of Stockport, fourth Brit and third in England on 2:15.81.
Times in transition (top 3 home at 2008, 2009 and 2010 trials, plus top 2 in Rome 2009 and Aussie trials comparison)
- 2008: 2:12.17; 2:12.43; 2:14.35
- 2009: 2:09.59; 2:13.41; 2:14.05
- Rome 2009: 2:09.91 2:09.46 s; 2:14.17 p
- 2010: 2:12.32; 2:14.25; 2:15.81
Australian 2010 trials: 2:10.07; 2:10.75; 2:11.97
Men 200m butterfly
Defending champion Michael Rock, coached by Sean Kelly in Stockport, came under serious pressure as his date with destiny in Delhi and Budapest loomed large. Out on 55.36 to dominate the race at the 100m, 0.7sec up on Joe Roebuck, of Loughborough, and 1.52sec up on Roberto Pavoni, of Brentwood, Rock maintained his lead over Pavoni and gained on Roebuck down the third lap. The early pace then started to tell on the way home as Pavoni, 18, and Roebuck smelt blood. But Rock's courage and determination paid off: he retained his crown in 1:56.86, 2.5sec down on 2009 best, with Pavoni and Roebuck clocking lifetime bests of 1:57.29 and 1:57.38 respectively.
Times in transition (top 3 home at 2008, 2009 and 2010 trials, plus top 2 in Rome 2009 and Aussie trials comparison)
- 2008: 1:56.92; 1:58.91; 1:58.96
- 2009: 1:55.68; 1:57.67; 1:58.66
- Rome 2009: 1:55.43 (1:54.58s); 1:57.44 p
- 2010: 1:56.86; 1:57.29; 1:57.38
Australian 2010 trials: 1:54.61; 1:56.23; 1:57.07
Semi-Finals
In the men's 50m backstroke, world champion Liam Tancock, of Loughborough, blasted into lane four of the final with the fastest time in the world so far this year, 24.52, a season best by half a second.
In the women's 50m butterfly, Amy Smith, of Loughborough, booked lane 4 in the final in 27.34, with the next seven women all inside 28sec.
In the women's 50m breaststroke, Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, of Kenya and racing for Plymouth Leander in England, led the way into the final more than a second ahead of her rivals, on 31.04. The Kenyan swimmer has an English mum and is said to be serving a year out in order to switch swimming nationalities. That would be the right way to do it: British international of late, Ben Hockin has raced this week for Paraguay at the South American Games, with British Swimming maintaining that permission has neither been sought (as required under FINA rules) nor given.
Live Timing
Selection policies in brief:
European selection: first two home up to a maximum team of 19 men and 19 women; should any places remain, a third swimmer may be entered in solo events if he or she places 3rd inside the Olympic bronze medal winning time in Beijing 2008. The No4 berth allowed by LEN for each nation racing in Budapest can be filled by swimmers already on the team in other events. Relays: top 5 in the solo 100m and 200m freestyle plus.
Commonwealth selection:
England: first home at trials and first 4 home in solo events relating to freestyle relays, secure a place in Delhi irrespective of time. Second home earns nomination to the squad up to a maximum of 19 men and 19 women, provided that they swim inside a time standard based on the Commonwealth Games bronze from 2002 and 2006. Third berths, up to a maximum team of 21 men and 21 women, will be granted to those with the next-best performances at the trials, at ASA nationals in summer and at the European Championships in Budapest in August.
Wales: 5 swimmers preselected, the rest can qualify at any of 6 events this year, based on time standards.
