British Championships, Day 5 Women’s Finals: Abbie Wood Sets 200IM PB To Book Second Swim In Singapore
Abbie Wood set a PB as she clinched the medley double with victory in the 200IM at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in London.
Wood went 2:08.85 to add the short medley to her programme at the World Championships in Singapore having already booked a place in the 400IM. With that, the double Olympic finalist went second in the rankings behind Summer McIntosh who posted 2:07.42 at the TYR Pro Swim Series – Westmont last month.
Katie Shanahan was also inside the cut in 2:09.88 and the Scot will be considered for selection for the event having already punched her ticket in the 200 back.
Keanna MacInnes sealed the 100/200 fly double with victory in the shorter race.
To qualify for worlds – which run from 27 July to 3 August – a swimmer must finish first in an Olympic event and record a time that equals or betters those in the table below. Athletes that finish second in a time equal or better than that in the table will be considered for selection to a team that will have a maximum of 30 athletes.
- Start Lists/Results
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- Preview: Angharad Evans
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- Day 1 Men’s Final
- Day 1 Women’s Finals
- Day 2 Prelims Report
- Day 2 Women’s Finals
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- Day 3 Prelims Report
- Ollie Morgan Demolishes British 100 Back Record In 52.12
- Day 3 Women’s Finals
- Day 3 Men’s Finals
- Day 4 Prelims Report
- Day 4 Men’s Finals
- Day 4 Women’s Finals
- Day 5 Prelims Report
Women’s 100 Fly: QT, 57.20
The QT for Singapore was inside the British record of 57.25 set by Ellen Gandy in the same London Aquatic Centre at the 2012 British trials ahead of the Olympic Games. Keanna MacInnes and Lucy Grieve booked the centre lanes in prelims and the University of Stirling training mates were only separated by 0.04 at the turn. Grieve pulled ahead only for MacInnes to claw back the deficit and get the touch in 58.03 to 58.09. Eva Okaro and Emily Richards shared bronze in 58.46 with the former adding to her golds in the 50 free and fly.
Women’s 200IM
Wood is thriving at Loughborough Performance Centre and her enjoyment is reaping dividends in the water. She reached the first turn ahead of Leah Schlosshan and Shanahan in 27.59 and although the latter made inroads in the backstroke as expected, Wood still led by 0.35 at halfway. She extended that to 1.35 on the breaststroke leg before coming home in 2:08.85 to take 0.06 from her previous best of 2:08.91 at last year’s Olympic trials in the same pool. Shanahan was second in 2:09.88 with Schlosshan – who’ll make the trip to Singapore with the 4×2 quartet – third in 2:13.14.
Wood said: “I think I’m just at that point of my career where I’m really enjoying my swimming again and it’s really reflecting in the pool. It’s not a chore to go to training every day, I’m really enjoying it. I think it just shows when I race. It’s relaxed, there’s no pressure on me anymore because anything I do now is a bonus. So I can’t complain with a few PBs!”
It’s the second straight year the trials have been held at the London Aquatic Centre which hosted the pool programme at the 2012 Olympics and Wood believes it has had an energising effect. “Aquatics GB’s investment into the trials, it’s such a good production, it does mirror a World Championships with screens and cameras following you up and down, it’s amazing practice. I used to struggle getting myself up for trials but this environment at an Olympic pool, it’s hard not to get excited.”
Para Swimming
The multi-classification women’s 200IM was a tight affair, with big points scores coming from all over the pool.
Faye Rogers and Bethany Firth were engaged in an intriguing battle at the front of the field, S14 competitor Firth ultimately touching first on 889 points, thanks in the main to her outstanding backstroke leg. Rogers came in just behind in a new S10 British record of 2:28.97, but scoring more points on 919 to briefly sit in the gold-medal position – only for S8 athlete Brock Whiston in lane one to power home for an overall tally of 921 and take the title.
Paralympic champion Whiston was quick to pay tribute to the importance of the team around her, just as she did in praising her fellow medallists, “Without a team, we’re not athletes. People don’t realise the amount of work that goes on behind us, and I always say for me if it wasn’t for the team that worked with me, I wouldn’t even be getting on that block to race,” she said. “I need a massive team even to get me on the block so I don’t think people realise, it’s an individual sport but it’s not because everyone works so hard to get us here.”
University of Aberdeen Performance Swim Team star Rogers had already been in finals action before that medley showpiece, as she ensured her name would get another addition on the new London Aquatics Centre honours board with a European record swim to take the multi-classification 100m butterfly.
A Paralympic champion over this distance, Faye was in supreme form, her high stroke rate seeing her drop a 1:04.17 to reset her best from the morning’s heats and record a points tally of 1062. Behind her, S14 duo Olivia Newman-Baronius and Poppy Maskill also swam great races to take silver and bronze on 966 and 952 points respectively, with the former going inside the Singapore qualification standard, and Maskill hitting it exactly.
Reflecting on her day as a whole, Rogers said: “I’m absolutely exhausted but it’s been one of the best meets ever and I keep surprising myself, I’m not expecting the times I’m swimming! That race was a swim on adrenaline, in the call room I was bouncing around and didn’t sit down once because if I did I would crash. I’m loving racing at the moment, and I think it’s showing when I’m racing. To be on the podium with Bethany and Brock is incredible. I admire Bethany so much and I was really trying to catch her.”