LONDON, England, March 9. THE penultimate day of qualifying at the British Olympic Trials came to a close with four more roster spots being awarded by British Swimming at the Olympic Test Event in the London Aquatics Center.
While Britain has decided that second-place finishers must have a better time than a top 16 world ranking from last year, relays are chosen first by filling in spots with individual event qualifiers, then “remaining places will be filled by the 'available' swimmers with the fastest overall times in the 100m Freestyle and 200m Freestyle events irrespective of whether the times were achieved in the heats, semifinals or final.”
FINALS
Women's 200 back
FINA A: 2:10.84, British Second-place Qualifier: 2:09.14
Elizabeth Simmonds easily secured her spot on the Olympic roster with a strong time of 2:08.67, while Stephanie Proud came up short of the second spot on the team with a 2:09.94. Her time, while being a FINA A cut, missed Britain's tougher second-place standard. Simmonds is the top ranked swimmer in the world this year with a 2:07.92 from last month, and did plenty enough to make the squad this evening. Proud moved to 10th in the rankings with her swim, but will have to try again later this summer to make the squad.
Karley Mann finished third in 2:10.57, while Georgia Hohmann placed fourth in 2:11.75. Lauren Quigley (2:12.39), Gemma Spofforth (2:13.80), Jessica Fullalove (2:14.71) and Katy Sexton (2:14.96) also swam in the finale.
Men's 100 fly
FINA A: 52.36, British Second-place Qualifier: 52.19
Michael Rock earned the second Olympic roster of the evening with a 52.02, bettering both the FINA A cut and the British second-place time. His time is the top in the world, bettering the 52.07 clocked by Poland's Konrad Czerniak earlier in this meet during international swims.
Jack Marriott, meanwhile, came up short of the tougher second-place mark with a second-place time of 52.49. His time put him seventh in the world rankings this year. Antony James (52.59), Braxston Timm (53.00), Adam Barrett (53.09), Karl Botha (53.55), James Doolan (53.94) and Andrew Mayor (54.14) rounded out the rest of the championship finale.
Women's 800 free
FINA A: 8:33.84, British Second-place Qualifier: 8:29.16
Rebecca Adlington dominated the field in the distance free event with an 8:18.54. That performance cut nearly four seconds from her previous best this year of 8:22.35 last month at the British University Championships. That time had stood as the top in the world this year. Tonight's time jumped to 15th in the all time performances list, giving Adlington six of the top 15 times ever, including the world record with an 8:14.10.
Eleanor Faulkner placed second in 8:27.11 earning the second spot on the Olympic roster, beating both the FINA A cut and the tougher British second-place threshold. She moved to second in the world with the swim, ahead of Lotte Friis' 8:27.93 from January.
Keri-Anne Payne (8:34.12), Hannah Miley (8:35.88), Megan Gilchrist (8:39.08), Danielle Hall-Jackson (8:41.79), Jessica Thielmann (8:42.73) and Lucy Charles (8:49.22) earned the rest of the championship times.
Men's 50 free
FINA A: 22.11, British Second-place Qualifier: 22.09
Adam Brown captured the men's splash-and-dash title in 22.48, but came up short of both the FINA A cut and the second-place standard. Craig Gibbons took second in 22.56, while Simon Burnett wound up third in 22.59.
Robert Iddiols (22.91, Kane Haggett (22.92), Owen Morgan (22.96), James Disney-May (22.96) and Zachary Hayden (23.01), along with Brown, Gibbons and Burnett, will have a chance later this summer to lock down Olympic spots.
SEMIFINALS
Women's 50 free
FINA A: 25.27, British Second-place Qualifier: 25.10
Fran Halsall ripped off a 24.63 to shoot to the top of the world rankings with her sprint free swim, behind the 24.86 by Therese Alshammar last month and the 24.90 clocked by Marleen Veldhuis during qualifying this morning.
Amy Smith (25.05), Emma Wilkins (25.73), Sophie Smith (25.83), Jessica Lloyd (25.86), Georgina Heyn (25.99), Rebecca Turner (26.13) and Hannah McCarthy (26.14) snagged the last set of transfer spots into tomorrow's finals.
PRELIMS
Earlier in the day, David Davies posted the top qualifying time in the men's 1500 free qualifying with a 15:19.80. Daniel Fogg (15:22.55), Lewis Smith (15:24.62), Martin Cremin (15:26.10), Thomas Sunter (15:27.31), Jack Burnell (15:27.76), Richard Charlesworth (15:28.78) and Joel Knight (15:33.03) also earned spots to compete for Olympic spots on the final day tomorrow.
MULTI-DISABILITY FINALS
Amberley Hoar led the way with a 1:23.21 in the women's 100 breast SB14 division. Harriet Lee clocked a 1:21.15 in the SB9 division, while Charlotte Henshaw touched in 1:42.85 to lead the SB6 division. Claire Cashmore turned in a 1:24.04 for the top SB8 division time.
Sascha Kindred took home the men's 100 breast SB7 division title in 1:23.73. Scott Quin clocked a 1:11.82 in the SB14 division, while David Ellis led the SB13 division with a 1:10.50. James O'Shea (SB5/1:40.15) and Jack Bridge (SB9/1:12.25) also led their respective divisions.
GUEST FINALS
Marleen Veldhuis returned fire in the women's 50 free with a 24.49, that trumped the 24.63 clocked by Fran Halsall earlier in the night for the top swim in the world this year. Jolien Sysmans placed second in 25.47, while Hinkelien Schreuder earned third in 25.59.
Only three swimmers competed in the women's 800 free. Korea's Nakyeong Han won in 8:52.89, while Younjeong Seo took second in 8:53.61. Hong Kong's Wing Yung Tang placed third in 8:55.66.