Women's 200m Backstroke in Britain

The results are in for the first morning heats at European Juniors in Helsinki.

We are doing something right here in Britain when it comes to training girls to swim the 200m Backstroke. We have Elizabeth Simmonds, arguably the world's no. 1 swimmer in the event right now. Simmonds (2:06.79) is the second fastest all-time in a textile suit behind Kristina Egerszegi (2:06.62). After Simmonds we have two other women in the World's Top 15 this year, Gemma Spofforth (11th - 2:09.18) and Stephanie Proud (13th - 2:09.99).

We have history in this event also. Katy Sexton won Gold at the 2003 World Championships. Sarah Price was the SC World Record holder in 2001.

The future looks bright in this event too. At the heats at European Juniors, Britain finished first (Karley Mann - 2:12.23), second (Georgia Hohmann - 2:14.94), sixth (Natasha Hofton - 2:15.92) and eigth (Phoebe Lenderyou - 2:17.66). Only 2 from each country are allowed to progress to the final where Mann and Hohmann will face a tough battle with Henrietta Stenkvist of Sweden and Daryna Zevina of Ukraine.

UPDATE - Both British girls have qualified for tomorrow's final. Karley Mann qualified fastest in 2:12.69 whilst Georgia Hohmann qualified fourth in 2:15.86.