Carlin posts a world best of 8:18.58 in the 800 freestyle

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Jazmin Carlin started the Thursday night qualifying events at the 2013 British World Championship Trials in an exciting fashion posting a world’s best time in the 800 freestyle winning the event in a time of 8:18.58. Carlin’s 200 splits were:

2:02.68/4:08.46 (2:05.76)/6:14.27 (2:05.81)/8:18.58 (2:04.31)

This is an incredible improvement of almost six full seconds from her previous best of 8:24.42 which she swam in March.

Eleanor Faulkner finished second in a time of 8:25.36, which is almost a two second improvement on her personal best of 8:27.11. Faulkner’s time is the ninth fastest time done in the world this year.

Both Carlin and Faulkner are under the British World Championship Qualifying time of 8:29.55.

Jessica Thielman finished third in a time of 8:34.78.

Daniel Fogg won the men’s 800 freestyle in an impressive 7:51.60. The time is a personal best by six seconds and breaks his own English record of 7:57.64. Fogg’s Loughborough teammate Jack Burnell finished second in a time of 7:58.29. This is the second time in the competition that Loughborough athletes’ have finished first and second; Fran Halsall and Amy Smith accomplished the same feat in the women’s 50 freestyle.

Both Fogg and Burnell were under the British qualifying time of 7:59.06.

Thomas Sunter finished third in a time of 8:03.01.

The women’s 200 butterfly was an exciting race between Jemma Lowe and Sophie Allen. Lowe had a lead of six one-hundredths of a second at the 100, Allen had a lead of 19 one-hundedths at the 150 and in the Lowe nudged out Allen for the win posting a time of 2:09.25, followed by Allen who recorded a 2:09.57.

Both women were over the British qualifying standard of 2:09.16.

Tilly Gray finished third in a time of 2:10.45.

Chris Walker-Hebborn posted a best time en route to winning the 100 backstroke finishing in a time of 53.38. Walker-Hebborn’s time is the fourth fastest swum in the world this year and is under the British qualifying time of 53.98. Liam Tancock finished second in a time of 54.11, but missed the British cut. That means that Tancock will have to count on the 50 backstroke to qualify for Worlds, but with such a small roster limit this year for the Brits (30), and their statement that Olympic events take precedent in selection, Tancock is in serious danger of not being able to defend his 50 backstroke World Championship.

Marco Loughran finished third in a time of 54.26.

After a day-and-a-half of really impressive swims, things hit a bit of a speed bump in the women’s 200 backstroke. There, Lizzie Simmonds won in 2:10.08, which falls far short of the World Championship qualifying standard. She was 4th at last year’s Olympics, but that time misses qualification for Barcelona (though, if she earned a spot in the 100 back, she might be granted a reprieve to swim this 200).

Lauren Quigley was 2nd in 2:10.15, which also misses the mark; Quigley turns 18 this year, and many Brits are looking for her to break out and pick up the torch left vacant by Gemma Spofforth’s retirement. It seems as though she’s taking her time settling back in to her old stomping grounds after returning to train at Stockport this season.

Things got back on track shortly thereafter at the hands of Sophie Allen, who recently left the Stockport training group to go to Bath. She won the women’s 100 breaststroke final in the very next race with a 1:07.70 to punch her first of what should be several tickets to Barcelona. That’s a lifetime best for her, even on the back-half of the double with the 200 fly less than an hour prior, showing that her new training is well paying off.

That 100 breaststroke had a tight battle for 2nd with Stacey Tadd touching in 1:08.11 and 17-year old Sophie Taylor taking 3td in 1:08.12. They both missed the qualifying standard by two-tenths, though for the Olympian Tadd, her better chance comes in the 200 breaststroke on Sunday.

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, who was the breaststroker on the British 8th-place medley relay at the Olympics, took 6th here in a 1:09.3.

Joe Roebuck, who is swimming only the 200 fly this week, won the race in 1:56.49, which leaves him excruciatingly .01 seconds shy of the World Championship qualifying standard. This swim is slower than he was at last year’s Olympic Trials, but perhaps might have offered a better pace to hold for the big meet in summer. His time was under the FINA “A” standard.

From two Olympians to none at the World Championships, Roberto Pavoni was 2nd in 1:57.34. Note that even the Americans wouldn’t have qualified two swimmers under the British standard. (Don’t forget either Joe Roebuck’s impressive prelims swim of 1:57.10 before he scratched out of the semi-finals on Wednesday).

In the last final of the night, Hannah Miley continued her 2013 400 IM hot streak with an emphatic 4:35.67. That’s not her best time this year (she’s the world leader, and is likely to remain so at least until Worlds). Still, only a handful of others have bettered that swim this year, and she’s in a good position headed toward Barcelona.

A reprieve and a second under the qualifying mark, as Aimee Willmott is repeating her Olympic year success with her second-best time ever in 4:38.95. That also easily clears the qualifying standard, and regardless of where the roster cut-line falls, she’ll likely be included to Worlds with that swim.

In semi-finals, Olympic silver medalist Michael Jamieson took the top seed in 2:11.30. That’s an improvement over an easy prelims swim, but looked like he was putting out just enough effort to push through to the finals. All he’d need to do would be repeat that swim and win the race to ensure his qualification for Worlds in finals.

Former NCAA standout Robert Holderness is 2nd in 2:11.71, followed by a pair of teenagers Adam Peaty (2:12.27) and Craig Benson (2:12.52). Any of those three have the ability to get under the 2:11.67 they need for Worlds consideration in finals on Friday.

The big news in this race was the DQ of Andrew Willis, who was a strong chance to qualify and final at Worlds.

Four swimmers dipped under two minutes in the semi-final of the women’s 200 free, led by Rebecca Turner in 1:59.08. She was joined by Eleanor Faulkner, Caitlin McClatchey, and Anne Bochmann; Joanne Jackson was on the 800 free relay at the Olympics last year, and though she didn’t swim it here, one presumes that after her performance in the 800 individual earlier today, she’ll be included in Barcelona.

Josef Craig and Jonathan Fox both posted times that were faster than the world record in the S7 MC 400 freestyle. Craig recorded a time of 4:41.13 to set the world record while Fox finished in a time of 4:42.54. These are great swims since the para-swimmers have already had their qualifying meet and most athletes are using this competition as training.

Full meet results are available here.
Full list of qualifiers and qualifying times here.