British Championships, Day 5 Women’s Finals: Abbie Wood Sets 200IM PB To Book Second Swim In Singapore
Abbie Wood set a PB as she clinched the medley double with victory in the 200IM at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in London.
Wood went 2:08.85 to add the short medley to her programme at the World Championships in Singapore having already booked a place in the 400IM. With that, the double Olympic finalist went second in the rankings behind Summer McIntosh who posted 2:07.42 at the TYR Pro Swim Series – Westmont last month.
Katie Shanahan was also inside the cut in 2:09.88 and the Scot will be considered for selection for the event having already punched her ticket in the 200 back.
Keanna MacInnes sealed the 100/200 fly double with victory in the shorter race.
To qualify for worlds – which run from 27 July to 3 August – a swimmer must finish first in an Olympic event and record a time that equals or betters those in the table below. Athletes that finish second in a time equal or better than that in the table will be considered for selection to a team that will have a maximum of 30 athletes.
Women’s 100 Fly: QT, 57.20
The QT for Singapore was inside the British record of 57.25 set by Ellen Gandy in the same London Aquatic Centre at the 2012 British trials ahead of the Olympic Games. Keanna MacInnes and Lucy Grieve booked the centre lanes in prelims and the University of Stirling training mates were only separated by 0.04 at the turn. Grieve pulled ahead only for MacInnes to claw back the deficit and get the touch in 58.03 to 58.09. Eva Okaro and Emily Richards shared bronze in 58.46 with the former adding to her golds in the 50 free and fly.
Women’s 200IM
Wood is thriving at Loughborough Performance Centre and her enjoyment is reaping dividends in the water. She reached the first turn ahead of Leah Schlosshan and Shanahan in 27.59 and although the latter made inroads in the backstroke as expected, Wood still led by 0.35 at halfway. She extended that to 1.35 on the breaststroke leg before coming home in 2:08.85 to take 0.06 from her previous best of 2:08.91 at last year’s Olympic trials in the same pool. Shanahan was second in 2:09.88 with Schlosshan – who’ll make the trip to Singapore with the 4×2 quartet – third in 2:13.14.
Wood said: “I think I’m just at that point of my career where I’m really enjoying my swimming again and it’s really reflecting in the pool. It’s not a chore to go to training every day, I’m really enjoying it. I think it just shows when I race. It’s relaxed, there’s no pressure on me anymore because anything I do now is a bonus. So I can’t complain with a few PBs!”
It’s the second straight year the trials have been held at the London Aquatic Centre which hosted the pool programme at the 2012 Olympics and Wood believes it has had an energising effect. “Aquatics GB’s investment into the trials, it’s such a good production, it does mirror a World Championships with screens and cameras following you up and down, it’s amazing practice. I used to struggle getting myself up for trials but this environment at an Olympic pool, it’s hard not to get excited.”
