• British Swimming Championships

Spofforth fightback stuns Simmonds in 100m backstroke

ESPN staff
March 7, 2011
Gemma Spofforth leads the medal celebrations after winning gold © Getty Images
Enlarge

World champion Gemma Spofforth showed she could be a major force at the London 2012 Olympics, coming from behind to win a thrilling 100m backstroke final at the British Championships.

The world record holder was trailing rival Lizzie Simmonds at the turn but dug deep to surge to victory in the closing stages, touching home in one minute 00.52 seconds.

Simmonds took silver, with Rachel Lefley holding off Georgia Davies to claim the bronze. The win enabled Spofforth to erase the memory of losing her 100m backstroke crown to Simmonds last year.

"It was very important," said Spofforth. "It was something that I thought about quite often and I came in wanting to win this as redemption from last year."

World 50m backstroke holder Liam Tancock stormed to victory in the 100m backstroke, beating his nearest challenger by nearly two seconds. He got off to a flyer and never looked troubled as he cruised home in 53.44secs.

Ross Davenport joined Tancock and Spofforth in qualifying for the Great Britain team for the World Championships in Shanghai after winning the 100m freestyle final.

Keri-Anne Payne may have set a British record in the 1500m freestyle showpiece but, with this race not part of the Olympics programme, she is hoping to set a personal best in the 800m to book her a place in the squad travelling to Shanghai in July.

Rebecca Adlington continued her impressive championships, qualifying fastest for Tuesday's 200m Freestyle final after winning her semi-final by 0.01 seconds.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices