LONDON, England, March 4. THE second night of competition at the British Olympic Trials featured Britain filling six more Olympic roster spots at the London Aquatic Center as part of the Test Event for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Additionally, a British national record fell during night two.
FINALS
Women's 100 fly
FINA A: 58.70; British Second-place Qualifier: 58.56
Ellen Gandy and Fran Halsall punched their tickets to the Olympics in the women's 100 fly as Gandy won in 57.25 and Halsall touched second in 57.56. Both times beat the Olympic Qualifying Standard of 58.70, as well as Britain's tougher second-place standard of 58.56. Gandy bettered her second-ranked time this year of 57.47, standing behind only Sarah Sjostrom's 56.79 from yesterday. Halsall also lowered her best time this year to stand third in the world. Additionally, Gandy's time of 57.25 bettered Halsall's national record of 57.40, and pushed Gandy to 16th all time in the event's history.
Jemma Lowe had the misfortune of taking third with a 58.06, but also beating the Olympic Qualifying Standards at this meet, thus missing a chance to compete in London in the 100 fly. Jessica Sylvester (59.43), Rachael Kelly (1:00.11), Jessica Dickons (1:00.33), Lucy Worrall (1:00.72) and Libby Mitchell (1:01.00) also swam in the finale.
Men's 100 breast
FINA A: 1:00.79; British Second-place Qualifier: 1:00.50
Daniel Sliwinski nearly cleared 1:00 en route to grabbing a spot on the Olympic roster. He won the race in 1:00.09 to move to the top of the world rankings this year ahead of Daniel Gyurta's 1:00.43 from January. Craig Benson, meanwhile, made the cut by just .03 seconds with a 1:00.47 to secure the second roster spot and move to third in the world rankings.
Michael Jamieson was the hard-luck third-place finisher with a 1:00.50, that would have satisfied the requirements to make the Olympic team if he finished second.
Andrew Willis (1:01.34), Kristopher Gilchrist (1:01.50), Richard Webb (1:01.59), Russell Smith (1:01.75) and James Broady (1:02.04) also competed for the national title.
Women's 400 free
FINA A: 4:09.35; British Second-place Qualifier: 4:08.25
Rebecca Adlington put on a show for her nation with a scorching-fast time of 4:02.35. That swim blasted the previous top-ranked time of 4:03.21 set by Camille Muffat set last month. Adlington's time tied for the 15th-fastest ever, giving Adlington four out of the top 15 times all time, and came close to Federica Pellegrini's textile best effort of 4:01.97 set last summer in Shanghai.
Joanne Jackson picked up the second spot on the roster with a 4:06.47, pushing to fourth in the world rankings this year and clearing Britain's qualifying time for the second-place finish.
Eleanor Faulkner (4:07.25) and Jazmin Carlin (4:07.56) also beat the British qualifying time, but finished third and fourth to fall out of the running for an Olymic spot. Megan Gilchrist (4:12.37), Sasha Matthews (4:12.42), Lucy Ellis (4:12.67) and Hayley Towner (4:17.26) also vied for the title. In the international-filled preliminary heats, Muffat raced to the top time with a 4:04.01.
MULTI-DISABILITY FINALS
Hannah Russell topped the women's 100 back S12 division with a 1:09.52. Nyree Kindred clocked a 1:28.37 in the S6 division, while Stephanie Millward posted a 1:11.28 in the S9 division. Susannah Rodgers won the S7 division with a 1:25.83, while Chloe Davies turned in a 1:13.07 in the S14 division. Emma Cattle earned the S10 division lead with a 1:14.12.
Jonathan Fox turned in a 1:11.07 in the men's 100 back S7 division, while Aaron Moores placed first in the S14 division with a 1:05.45. James Crisp turned in a 1:04.34 to top the S9 division, while Thomas Young clocked a 1:07.52 in the S8 division.
James Anderson topped the men's 50 back S2 division with a 1:08.38, while Andrew Mullen clocked a 43.84 for the top S5 spot.
GUEST FINALS
Serbia's Velimir Stjepanovic won the men's 200 free guest finale in 1:49.32. China's Wu Peng (1:49.76) and Germany's Markus Deibler (1:49.91) placed second and third. Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania dropped a 1:07.30 in the women's 100 breast guest final for the win. That swim bettered her season best of 1:07.72 that had ranked fourth heading into the day. Johansson finished second in 1:07.32, off her prelim best of 1:07.10. Korea's Kim Hyejin picked up third in 1:08.88.
With Camille Muffat scratching after posting a preliminary 4:04.01, Denmark's Lotte Friis captured the guest finale in the women's 400 free with a 4:09.27. Ireland's Grainne Murphy placed second in 4:13.91, while Norway's Cecilie Johanessen touched third in 4:14.85. Spain's Aschwin Wildeboer took home the men's 100 back guest title with a 54.65. South Africa's Charl Crous (55.10) and Darren Murray (55.28) placed second and third.
Mie Nielsen of Denmark closed down night two of the meet with a 1:01.04 to win the women's 100 back guest finale. Ekaterina Avramova placed second in 1:01.11, while South Africa's Karin Prinsloo took third in 1:01.53.
SEMIFINALS
Men's 200 free
Robbie Renwick earned the top seed heading into the finale with a 1:47.25 to move to fourth in the world rankings. Ieuan Lloyd placed second in 1:47.84, while Robert Bale (1:48.39) and Ross Davenport (1:48.43) took third and fourth.
Jak Scott (1:48.55), David Carry (1:48.61), Alfie Howes (1:49.41) and Thomas Greenfield (1:49.45) rounded out the top eight to compete in the finale. During preliminary competition, France's Yannick Agnel clocked a 1:46.73 for the top time, a second back of his top-ranked 1:45.52 from February. Germany's Paul Biedermann placed third in 1:48.72, while France's Clement Lefert earned fourth in 1:48.76.
Women's 100 breast
Sophie Allen touched out Kate Haywood, 1:08.44 to 1:08.46, for the top seed heading into the finale. The pair moved to 11th and 13th overall in the world rankings with the swims. Kerry Buchan (1:09.16) and Stacey Tadd (1:09.18) placed third and fourth.
Siobhan-Marie O'Connor (1:10.11), Rachael Wilson (1:10.17), Sophie Taylor (1:10.39) and Sara Lougher (1:10.56) grabbed the other transfer spots into the finale. Sweden's Jennie Johansson posted the top time out of prelims with a 1:07.10 to move to second in the world behind USA's Rebecca Soni (1:06.88).
Men's 100 back
The heavy favorite to make the team in the event, Liam Tancock, cruised to the top seed in the finale with a 54.47. That swim bettered his 14th-ranked season best of 54.72 and moved him to 11th overall. Chris Walker-Hebborn put on a show with a second-seeded 54.82 to move to 16th in the rankings.
Ryan Bennett (55.05), Marco Loughran (55.14), Jonathan Carlisle (55.80), Charlie Boldison (56.20), Craig McNally (56.21) and David Gregory (56.63) rounded out the rest of the finale field.
Women's 100 back
Elizabeth Simmonds (1:00.53) and Georgia Davies (1:00.79) took the first and second seed in the event. Simmonds jumped to fifth in the world rankings, while Davies fell to seventh with her 1:00.67 from January. Gemma Spofforth (1:01.19) and Lauren Quigley (1:01.33) qualified third and fourth in the finale.
Stephanie Proud (1:01.63), Rachel Lefley (1:02.02), Georgia Hohmann (1:02.08) and Katy Sexton (1:02.50) also earned the chance to shoot for an Olympic spot in the finale. During preliminary qualifying, Jenny Mensing took second to Spofforth with a 1:01.44.