Spofforth Heading to World Championships
A trip to Rome, Two British Records and Three Golds for Spofforth
© Kim Ford
Jun 28, 2009
The Olympic finalist will head to Rome next month alongside Rebecca Adlington, David Davies, Keri-Anne Payne and Jo Jackson as part of the 40-strong team of swimmers.
50m Backstroke British Record
The Portsmouth Northsea star went all out in the heats of the 50m Backstroke lowering the British record to 27.99 on Thursday. She was confident going into the final and took the lead after 25m finishing in 28.03. The silver medal was shared by Loughborough ITC’s Elizabeth Simmonds and Swansea Performance’s Georgia Davies after they both touched in at 28.82.
Spofforth said after: “It’s good to get the British record back of course. I wanted to go faster again in the final today but I guess I just wasn’t so focussed this afternoon. It’s better to have a great field like that so it’s a shame I didn’t take the chance.
“But, saying that, obviously I’m really happy to come out on top of a world class field - the work I’ve been putting in, in the USA has really helped me. But my ultimate aim is the world record - I want to get that at the World Championships."
200m Backstroke British Record
Friday saw the 21 year old lower her second British record in the 200m Backstroke. Spofforth and Chester-le-Street’s Stephanie Proud were neck and neck throughout, turning just 0.70 seconds apart at the final 50m. However, Spofforth pulled away to finish in a time of 2.07.56. Proud finished in 2.09.79 followed by Loughborough University’s Rachel Lefley who took bronze in 2.12.43.
Afterwards Spofforth said: “That just wasn’t expected. I thought I had a 2:09 in me but not a 2:07. It was just unbelievable. I felt quite tired this morning so that was very surprising.
Women’s 100m Backstroke
The champion dominated the 100m Backstroke getting off to a good start and extending her lead in the final 50m. She finished half a second away from her personal best and took the gold in a time of 59.56. Swansea Performance’s Georgia Davies took the silver in 1.01.56 and Portsmouth Northsea’s Katy Sexton in 1.01.93.
She said: “I just came in today to have some fun. The 200m went well yesterday, it took something out of me going that well last night but that wasn’t too bad. I didn’t have the best first half of the race as I felt a bit tired but it was still a decent time”
Spofforth will now spend the next two weeks training before she heads to Rome.
