The European women’s 4x100m medley relay record went tumbling in the pool on Friday evening Britain’s women racked up a time of 3:59.14 to qualify for Sunday’s final (August 17).
The foursome of
Gemma Spofforth,
Kate Haywood,
Jemma Lowe and
Fran Halsall finished second in their heat to world record holders and Olympic champions Australia. They were also second fastest qualifiers overall.
“We are all really pleased, it was a great team effort for a new British and European record,” said Lowe, who swam a blistering third leg to haul the team from fourth to second place. “We all just went at it in a relaxed way and feel good ahead of what will be an exciting final.”
Halsall brought the team home on the final leg to complete her ninth race of the meet, and said: “We knew it was going to be tough and that we’d have to swim fast to get with the pace.”
The 18-year-old Halsall had earlier in the evening gone in the women’s 50m freestyle, and booked her place in the semi-final by finishing third in her heat in a time of 24.93 seconds.
Her time qualified her eighth fastest for the semi-finals which take place on Saturday evening local time.
“I was very relaxed and it felt good,” she said after her 50m swim. “I approached it with no stress or tension and really enjoyed it.
“My stroke rate was good but I breathed too many times. I can tighten that up for the semi-final.”
In the men’s 4x100m medley relay, Team GB’s four of
Liam Tancock,
Christopher Cook,
Michael Rock and
Simon Burnett finished third in their heat behind Australia and Japan, in a British record time of 3:33.83.
They qualified fifth fastest for the final, which takes place on Sunday (August 17) at 10:58 local time (03:58 BST).
“That was another good performance from a new look team,” said Tancock. “We've got a long rest now until the final. It will be a long recovery, we'll re-focus and I know there's more to give.
In the men’s 1500m freestyle,
David Davies, who won bronze in this event in the Athens 2004 Games, finished third in his heat in a time of 14:46.11. He finished fifth overall.
Team-mate
Richard Charlesworth posted a time of 15:17.27 to finish seventh in the same heat. The race won by Ryan Cochrane (CAN) in an Olympic record time of 14:40.84.
"That was unbelievable. It was the fastest heat ever, really, really hard work, but it's expected,” said Davies, who is also competing in the 10km open water swim at Beijing 2008.
“It's going to be tough, there's a lot of guys going for this final, it's going to be a really tough group of heats.
“I'm very pleased to have made the final. It was the toughest heat so I've done well to get through. It’s all about recovery now and getting ready for the final.
“It’s the fastest I've been in a long time, the first one’s out the way and I feel good.”
Go to www.teamgb.com and click on 'Results' to view all the latest Team GB results. Click on 'Team GB' to view profiles of all Team GB athletes.
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