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Adlington Proves Two Into One Does Go

Mar 8, 2011  - Craig Lord

Manchester - British Gas Championships, day 4 finals:

Women's 200m freestyle

Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington retained the 200m freestyle title this evening to book two more races at the world championships in Shanghai in July. It was a close call but when it came down to those last few strokes, where most arms along the line tightened, shortened and succumbed to the pressures of enemy twins called fatigue and desperation, Adlington extended, dug deep, lengthened and stretched in search of the wall.

After victory in the 400m freestyle on Saturday, Adlington pipped Jazmin Carlin 1min 58.90 to 1:59.03 in a race that saw 1,500m champion and Olympic marathon medallist Kerri-Anne Payne race at the helm for almost three of the four lengths on her way to bronze in 1:59.42. 

The woman they and all other top freestylers will face at some stage, Federica Pellegrini, is still racing short-course this year and yesterday clocked a 3:57.59 Italian record over 400m off splits of 58.99, 1:00.61, 59.17 and 58.82.  That compared to a textile world best by Laure Manaudou of 3:56.09 and was inside the Italian record set at 3:59.35 by Alessia Filippi in 2008. Pellegrini's best had been the 3:59.52 that gave her bronze at Dubai world s/c titles in December. The world record stands at 3:54.92 to Britain's Joanne Jackson, who must race again in June if she wants a place in Shanghai, after finishing 5th in the 200m today.

Jackson was up with the leaders at half-way, while Carlin had spent the first three lengths trailing Adlington before striking out and taking the lead with 40m to go. As the leaders reached the red warning of the 5m-out-from-wall mark, Adlington got back on level terms. It was only in the last three strokes that she regained the edge in a triumph of technical superiority.

Payne, coached by Sean Kelly in Stockport, is having a ball this week: Olympic silver medallist and 2009 world champion in the 10km marathon, she has now won bronze medals in the 200m, 400m and gold in the 1,500m in Manchester - and will race for more honours over 800m on Friday against another swimmer enjoying a fine week.

Adlington, coached by Bill Furniss at Nova Centurion in Nottingham, was the only swimmer to qualify for the solo event in Shanghai and was delighted to have taken her event tally for the world championships to three before her best event, the 800m freestyle, unfolds on Friday. 

The fourth relay slot in Shanghai went to Rachel Turner, in 1:59.63. Asked if she would seek London 2012 selection on the 200m next year, Adlington, 22, joked: "I'll do anything to get to the Games, breaststroke, whatever." Even pole vault? "Yes and maybe a bit of cycling too".

In common with others in the race, Adlington said that she had "no speed in me for a 200" at this time of the year but she was sure that would come with the summer - and victory would do for now. “That felt good to win in what was a packed, world-class field and it just shows how strong our 4x200m relay can be,” Adlington added. “To get six girls all under two minutes is a great achievement. That’s my second title of the British Gas Championships and I still have the 800m to go so this week so far has been very good for me."

Tonight, she and two others were held back at the pool for FINA blood testing, samples only possible to take two afters after exercise. So, while blood testing was not necessary in Dubai because the Gulf State hosting the FINA world s/c titles could not organise it properly  and because such testing was best done beyond live competition, Adlington was kept at the pool until about 10pm in a week in which she is racing 200m heats, semis and final, 400m heats and final and 800m heats and finals. Joined-up thinking appears to have been lost in the wash somewhere. 

Meanwhile, coached in Swansea by Bud McAllister, Carlin, who confined the Olympic 400m and 800m champion to bronze when she took silver for Wales at the Commonwealth Games last year, fell shy of the tougher time standard set for those seeking second berths at the world championships and must wait until the ASA national championships in June to have a second crack at securing a second berth in the 200m. Already on the team for the 400m, Carlin said: "I thought I could go faster than that but we've been focussing on the 400 and 800 and not really focussing on the speed you need for the 200m."

All but the top four finishers must now race again in June if they want a relay reserve place in Shanghai. Among those in waiting is Jackson, on 1:59.69, 0.06sec shy of Turner. The Olympic and world championship medallist over 400m and 800m who suffered severe asthma problems last year and at her best has been critical to Britain being a podium contender in the 4x200m. Medley ace Hannah Miley was the last inside the 2-min mark, on 1:59.80 on a day that included qualification for the 200m  butterfly final.

How they measure up:

  • Best of Britain, spring 2007: 1:57.86
  • GBR championships top 3 2009: 1:56.47; 1:57.58; 1:58.85; 1:59.42
  • GBR best 2010: 1:57.87 Rebecca Adlington
  • 2011 top 4: 1:58.90; 1:59.03; 1:59.42; 1:59.63
  • GBR record all suits: 1:55.54 Joanne Jackson 2009
  • GBR textile best: 1:57.25 Caitlin McClatchey 2006

Best GBR podium result at world titles: no medals