BRITISH SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS: COPS finish with a bronze medal and six final appearances

It was a case of '˜the morning after the night before' as City of Peterborough Swimming Club (COPS) star Chloe Hannam returned to the Tollcross Pool in Glasgow following her British Championships bronze medal triumph in the 200m backstroke
Jamie Scholes made the junior final.Jamie Scholes made the junior final.
Jamie Scholes made the junior final.

On day five Hannam swam in the 200m individual medley and was in lane three in heat three. At 50m she was in fifth place but on the backstroke leg she showed her form from the previous day by moving up to lead the race at the 100m mark.

By the end of the butterfly leg Hannam had dropped to third place and despite a spirited final 50m of freestyle she was unable to pull back from third place and finished in a time of 2:19.15 which was outside the qualifying places for the final.

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The last day of the championships saw three swimmers from COPS competing for more honours against the cream of British swimming.

Leah Roughan.Leah Roughan.
Leah Roughan.

Seventeen year-old Leah Roughan started the final day’s swimming by competing in the 100m breaststroke event. Swimming alongside her in heat five were double Olympian Hannah Miley and World Championship medallist Siobhan-Marie O’Connor.

Roughan turned at the 50m mark in 33.60s and finished in sixth place, ahead of Miley, in a time of 1:11.33 that saw her through to the Target Tokyo final.

She was drawn in lane one of the ‘Tokyo’ final and over the first 50m she maintained her ranking position of seventh place.

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However, in the final 50m she pulled back a place to finish in sixth place with a time of 1:11.28.

Leah Roughan.Leah Roughan.
Leah Roughan.

James Newton (18) qualified for the 200m backstroke and was drawn in lane one of heat one. He turned at the 100m mark well down the field but recovered to finish in fourth place in his heat with a new personal best time of 2:08.31.

Sixteen year-old Jamie Scholes followed his team-mate into heat three of five of the 200m backstroke swimming where he was dawn in lane one. The last three heats of this event had been seeded meaning the third fastest entry time was in lane four then the sixth fastest in lane five and so on. So gauging Scholes’ progress was difficult. He was one of the last to turn in his heat at the 100m mark and finished in eighth place in a new personal best time of 2:06.81 which earned him a place in the Junior Final.

Scholes was drawn in lane six of the final with the fourth fastest time and at the 100m mark he was lying in sixth place which was also his finishing position with a final time of 2:07.57.

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Speaking after the championships, COPS head coach Ben Negus said it had been a great week for the club with seven swimmers competing in the Olympic, European and Junior European championship selection meet. They all gained valuable experience of top-class racing in a highly charged atmosphere. The prediction for the week was to achieve three finals but the final tally of six finals appearances and a bronze medal for Chloe Hannam showed how COPS swimmers have the ability to step up under pressure.

David Standish-Leigh

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