Day four of the British Gas Swimming Championships wrapped up with three more events filled on the British Olympic team. The 22 year-old medley phenom, Hannah Miley, won her second event of the meet almost breaking an English record. The women’s team also picked up four girls for the 800 free relay, while the men’s side had one finals event, adding two to the Olympic roster for the 200 fly.
Finals:
Women’s 200 free
Rebecca Turner placed first with a time of 1:57.65 and Caitlin McClatchey was second with a time of 1:28.07. Both times qualify the girls for a spot on the Olympic team and the 800 free relay. The other two relay spots went to third place finisher Eleanor Faulkner, 1:58.39, and Joanne Jackson finished fourth with a time of 1:58.70.
Men’s 200 Fly
The British Olympic team is starting to really fill up. The top two finishers in this event swam fast enough times to automatically qualify for the Olympics. Joseph Roebuck won with a time of 1:55.94 and Roberto Pavoni was close behind with a best time at 1:56.10.
Women’s 200 I.M.
Hannah Miley just missed breaking her own English record in her second Olympic qualifying swim, adding to her roster of events for this coming Olympics. She swam a time of 2:10.77, one second faster than the second place finisher Sophie Allen, 2:11.71. Allen’s time also qualified her for the Olympic team. She will join Miley in August for the preliminary heats.
Miley will swim both IMs at the Olympics, having won the 400 IM on day one of the meet.
Semi-Finals:
Men’s 100 free
The top four finishers in this event tomorrow will qualify for the Olympic team. The first and second place finishers will swim the event individually at the Olympic Games and the third and fourth times will join them for the 4×100 free relay.
Going into tomorrow’s final heat, Simon Burnett will lead the way with a qualifying time of 49.33. Rounding up the top four places are Robert Renwick, 49.57, Grant Turner, 49.67, and Adam Brown, 49.69. A time of 49.89 was the cutoff time for finals.
Women’s 200 fly
There was a little bit of excitement in the semi-final heat as two girls tied for the last spot to make it in for finals tomorrow.
Kate Hutchinson and Libby Mitchell tied with a time of 2:13.96. Hutchinson slipped past Mitchell to win the swim-off with a time of 2:14.58 and will advance to finals tomorrow.
Qualifying in first place for tomorrow’s heat is Ellen Gandy at 2:07.54 with a solid lead from the next qualifiers, Jemma Lowe at 2:08.53 and Jessica Dickons at 2:10.33.
Men’s 200 breast
It will be a close race tomorrow in the finals heat, as five of the top eight swimmers qualified with 2:13s. Leading the pack is Michael Jamieson with a 2:11.47 and in second position is Andrew Willis with a time of 2:11.87.
The top eight was cut off with a qualifying time of 2:14.90 by Ross Murdoch.
Guest Finals
Men’s 100 free
The non-British heat of this event was a tight race. The winner, Konrad Czerniak of Poland, won with a time of 49.46 out touching the second place finisher from Germany, Markus Deibler, by only .04 of a second. Martin Verner of the Czech Republic was third at 49.57.
Women’s 200 fly
Spain’s Mireia Belmonte won the event with a time of 2:07.63. Behind her was Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland at 2:07.92 and Martina Granstroem of Sweden at 2:08.99.
Men’s 200 breast
The guest heat of this event wasn’t quite as fast as the British heat. Laurent Carnol of Luxembourg won with a time of 2:12.50. The second and third place finishers were Melquiades Alvarez of Spain, 2:13.23, and Janghun Ju of Korea, 2:14.67.