Taking A Closer Look at Hannah Miley's 4:32.67 400m IM

Day One of the British Olympic trials saw Hannah Miley set a new textile lifetime best in the 400m IM and moved herself to the top of this year's world rankings.

Her time of 4:32.67 was 1.55 seconds faster than her silver medal winning performance at the World Championships and brings her to within a second of Elizabeth Beisel's textile best time from Shanghai.

As one of the comments on this site pointed out, Miley's 300m split was actually faster than Beisel's. So where has Miley made improvements since Shanghai?

Miley Shanghai - Fly - 30.3/1:03.97 - Back - 35.6/1:10.64 - Breast - 38.3/1:16.98 - Free - 32.2/1:02.63
Miley London - Fly - 29.8/1:03.10 - Back - 34.7/1:09.36 - Breast - 37.9/1:16.77 - Free - 32.2/1:03.44

Miley's improved her splits on every stroke up until 300m with the biggest improvements on her Backstroke and Butterfly. A notoriously slow starter, being closer to the field over the first 200m should serve Miley well.

Elizabeth Beisel established herself as the clear world number one in this event, here is how her Shanghai splits match up to those of the Scot (with overall lead in brackets). In a virtual head-to-head the lead changes with every stroke:

Beisel Shanghai - Fly - 29.6/1:03.32 (+0.22 behind Miley) - Back - 34.7/1:08.64 (-0.50 in front) - Breast - 38.5/1:17.84 (+0.57) - Free - 31.2/1:01.98 (-0.89)

Miley's greatest weapon in the Medley continues to be her Breaststroke. Among the world's top IMers only Caitlin Leverenz has a better Breaststroke leg and until now the American hasn't been able to match Miley's Backstroke or Freestyle. The biggest step forward that Miley made yesterday was on her Backstroke, getting within 0.7 seconds of Beisel's world class Backstroke.

The challenge now for Miley (and her coach who happens to be her father) is to make sure that she can drop even more time at the Olympics. It was something she had failed to do in 2008 and 2009, but has dropped time in both of the last two major championships, boding well for London.

The only negative from yesterday's swim was the freestyle leg. It was a full 0.8 seconds slower than Miley's closing 100 at Worlds and nearly 1.5 seconds slower than Beisel's Shanghai closing speed. Given that Miley is a more than competent freestyler, this comes as a slight surprise. Both women's freestyle times are similar, in 2011 Beisel swam 1:59.17 and 4:08.57 in the 200m and 400m Free, compared to Miley's 1:59.34 and 4:09.59.

At the Olympics with the home crowd cheering on Miley and potentially being at the head of the field, it may be enough to get Great Britain off to a golden start.

Ellen Gandy Will Not Wear The New Speedo Suit At Trials

Ellen Gandy will be competing in the closest race at trials, the women's 100m Fly, and she will be doing it a supposedly inferior suit. The below is taken from Gandy's column in The Guardian.

All the talk on the circuit right now is about the new Speedo suits, which launched last December. Speedo say it is their fastest ever. People were trying them out in NSW and will be again at the trials. I've decided I'm not going to wear one in the trials. I've been thinking about it a lot and there is no way I would change any other aspect of my swimming, like my start or my turn, a week before an important competition. I just don't need that kind of distraction. Everyone expects me to wear the latest thing, but I love my old Speedo suit and I reckon that if you're comfortable in what you are wearing it doesn't really matter. I believe I can achieve whatever I'm in.

Choosing which suit to wear depends so much on the individual, on body shape and what you feel comfortable in. So some people absolutely love Speedo's new suit, and some people don't. I know one girl who wore it for one race, took it off and it ripped. If I win selection for the Olympics then I will definitely try it out, but right now I'm sticking with what works for me.

Looks like we are back talking about suits again.

British Olympic Trials - Predictions

The BBC's Karen Pickering and Steve Parry have made their picks ahead of the British Olympic Trials, which start tomorrow.

I've added my picks to the list. Use the comment section to make your picks, agree, disagree, troll... all comments are welcome!

Qualifying Times Announced for British Olympic Trials

Next year's British Olympic Trials represent the best chance for 99% of the British public to see inside the London Aquatics Centre in 2012. With Olympic Swimming tickets being worth more than their weight in gold, the trials offer a great chance to get a taste of the Olympic experience either as a swimmer or spectator. If you intend on swimming at the trials though, it will not be an easy task. The Open qualifying times for most events require you to be in the top 30 in last year's British rankings.

As an Olympic test event, the trials will also be open to foreign swimmers. They will not be able to compete in the main finals, but instead will have their own finals at the end of each evening session.

Qualifying Times
Event Schedule
Ticket Information

Thoughts from the British Championships

The British Championships are over for another year. During the marathon 8 day competition we were treated to a mixed bag of performances, some great, some shocking (and quite a few disappointing). British swimmers will have another chance in June to make the team and expect that to be a much faster competition. Let's get to the talking points...


Top Swim - Rebecca Adlington - 4:02.84 - 400m Free - Truly world class. For a detailed analysis of the race cast your eyes over this. Now it's time to see how the rest of the world react to the fastest 400 Free since the suit law changes.

Honourable Mention - Keri-Anne Payne - 16:06.67 - 1500m Free - A British record which moves Payne up to 20th all-time in the event. Despite the record, she is not a lock to swim the event in Shanghai as it's not an Olympic event. Fortunately her probable qualification in the 4 x200m Free relay should open the door.


Top Swimmer - Rebecca Adlington - Proved once again that she is the only British swimmer right now who can strike fear into her international opponents. Still the only British swimmer likely to go into 2012 as a gold medal favourite.


Honourable Mention - Ellen Gandy - Gandy is having a tremendous start to 2011, just as she did in 2010. The World Championships will be a big moment for her as she attempts to make the breakthrough in a global competition (in Beijing and Rome she was 15th in the 200m Fly). She currently owns four of the top five 200m Fly times in the world this year and if she can get down to anywhere near her British Record of 2:04.83 then she will likely come home a medalist from Shanghai.


Best Comeback - David Davies - As Davies himself admitted post-race, 15:06 in the 1500m isn't going to set the world alight, but it shows a huge improvement from last year. Training back in Cardiff seems to be paying off for the welshman. For now, both the 1500m and Open Water events remain options for 2012. Special mention to the victory celebration, flinging his cap high into the air when he finished... a kind of victory water bomb.


Honourable Mention - Fran Halsall - Just weeks on from ankle surgery, Halsall booked her ticket for Shanghai. Her times were nothing special for a swimmer of Halsall's quality, but qualification was the only goal. With these trials being so early in the year, there should be enough time for Halsall to get back to full fitness in time for Worlds.


Surprise - Jack Marriott - Heard of him? No? Neither had the majority of British Swimming. A student at Oxford University, his only swim of note had been winning the 50m Fly at the British University Champs last month. He turned up in Manchester and smoked a 24.33 to win the 50m Fly in only his second long course race in the event. Its not a time that will strike fear into the world's best, but it does show serious raw talent. Apparently he is in discussions with university powerhouse Loughborough to start training with them.

Trivia Question - Name the US team member, currently swimming at SwimMac, who also swam at Oxford University last year?


Honourable Mention - Steph Proud - You can point towards her performance at US Short Course Champs last winter where she won the 200m Back, but beating Elizabeth Simmonds over 200m Back is still an upset. While Simmonds was well off her best form in Manchester, Proud stepped up when she needed to and will have a chance to prove herself again at Worlds.

British Championships - 5-12 March 2011

Results - HERE

Live Timing - HERE

Video Highlights - HERE

The draft programme/psych sheet has been released for the British Championships. Taking place earlier than most other countries, the week-long British Champs will run from 5-12 March in Manchester.

The Event Schedule can be found - Here

The selection policy for Worlds can be found - Here

Russian Championships

Swimming fanatics can watch the Russian Championships online. Unfortunately for non-Russian speakers you'll have to do a fair amount of translation but its still great coverage.

Start of rant - All the major swimming nations are putting Britain to shame when it comes to media coverage. The USA has live streaming coverage of all major meets. France, Australia and Russia show their nationals on TV.

2 years out from a home Olympic Games and we had our nationals of a major Olympic sport covered live on digital radio and with some highlight clips online the next day which didn't even include the entire races. Swimming will only continue to rise if we give it more exposure outside of the Olympics and major championships. - End of rant.


Psych Sheet here.

КОРОТЫШКИН Евгений - Evgeny Korotshkin
ДОНЕЦ Станислав - Stanislav Donets
СЛУДНОВ Роман - Roman Sloudnov
ЛОБАНОВ Антон - Anton Lobanov
ФАЛЬКО Григорий - Grigory Falko
ГЕЙБЕЛЬ Сергей - Sergey Geybel
ЛАХТЮХОВ Станислав - Stanislav Lakhtyukhov
ИЗОТОВ Данила - Danila Isotov
ЛОБИНЦЕВ Никита - Nikita Lobintsev
СУХОРУКОВ Александр - Alexander Sukhorukov

ЕФИМОВА Юлия - Yulia Efimova
АРТЕМЬЕВА Валентина - Valentina Artemyeva
ЗУЕВА Анастасия - Anastasia Zueva


Links to coverage

4 May - Finals (16:55 Russian Time)

5 May - Finals (16:55)

6 May - Finals (16:55)

7 May - Finals (17:00)

8 May - Finals (17:00)

9 May - Finals (17:00)

British Gas Swimming Championships 2010 - Day 2 Finals

Womens 50m LC Butterfly Final

Amy Smith took victory in the 50m Fly in 26.88. Smith was the only women to dip under 27 seconds with Ellen Gandy second in 27.20 and Louise Pate third in 27.42. Jemma Lowe took fourth in 27.45 and both her and Gandy will have their main events later in the competition.

Mens 50m LC Backstroke Final

Liam Tancock decided to sit out the final of the 50 Back to concentrate on the 100 Back and 100 Free. This left a wide-open final and Luke Wood stepped up to take victory in 26.17. Scott Hathaway took second in 26.20 and David Gregory third in 26.70.

Womens 50m LC Breaststroke Final

Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, who aims to switch nationalities from Kenya to Britain and England, took victory in the 50m Breast in 31.18. The time was slightly slower than her semi final effort of 31.04. Ajulu-Bushell turned 16 last week and looks to be one of the rising stars ahead of London 2012.

Stephanie Slater took second in 31.93 with Lowri Tynan third in 31.96.

Mens 50m LC Butterfly Semi-Finals

Antony James leads the qualifiers for the men's 50m Fly with a time of 24.41. James Doolan qualified second in 24.44 with Ian Hulme third in 24.56.

Geoff Huegill leads the Commonwealth this year in 23.46.

Mens 100m LC Breaststroke Semi-Finals

British record holder Daniel Sliwinski, 19, took victory in the 100m Breast in 1:01.45. The time puts Sliwinski 7th in the world this year, 0.01 ahead of Mike Alexandrov (USA). After the race Sliwinski spoke of his confidence that he'll go faster than last year (59.55) despite the new suit laws. Darren Mew, 30, qualified second in 1:01.74. Star of the GBRvGER duel Michael Jamieson qualified third in 1:01.76.

Womens 100m LC Freestyle Semi-Finals

Fran Halsall leads the field into tomorrow's 100m Free final. Halsall swam 54.98 after clearly easing down on the second 50m. Amy Smith continued her impressive evening's work with a strong 55.13 to qualify second fastest. Lucy Ellis goes in third fastest with a time of 55.98.

Mens 200m LC Freestyle Final

Robert Bale took some major scalps in the final of the 200m Free winning in a time of 1:47.82. The time was a new personal best and ranks Bale 7th in the world this year. Robbie Renwick took second in 1:47.96 with Ross Davenport third in 1:48.06. David Carry just missed out on the podium with a time of 1:48.17.

The men's 200m Free looks set to be a great battle at the Commonwealth Games in both the individual and relay. Australian's Nicholas Ffrost (1:47.50), Thomas Fraser-Holmes (1:47.66), Kenrick Monk (1:47.83) and Patrick Murphy (1:48.30) mean that the top 8 men this year are all within 0.80 seconds of each other.

Womens 100m LC Backstroke Semi-Finals

Lizzie Simmonds qualified fastest for tomorrow's night final in a time of 59.84, the only swimmer under 1-minute. Gemma Spofforth, fresh from leading the Florida Gators to the NCAA title, eased back in the final 50m to qualify second in 1:00.62. Stephanie Proud was third fastest in 1:01.41.

Splits from both swimmers.

Simmonds - 29.17/59.84
Spofforth - 29.39/1:00.62

Simmonds remains second in the world this year, behind Australian Emily Seebohm's textile best time of 59.21.

In an interview with Steve Parry before the semi finals Gemma Spofforth spoke about how important leading the Gators to their NCAA success was claiming that it was more special to her than the world record last year in Rome.