Siobhan-Marie O’Connor defended her top seeds in a pair of races at the first finals session of Great Britain’s British Gas International Meet, beating some tough fields for the 200 IM and 100 free titles.
Competing for the University of Bath, O’Connor first rolled to a 100 free win by almost a full second. Her 54.46 was the only 54 in the field and for reference, was just about what Americans Simone Manuel and Missy Franklin put up over the weekend in Santa Clara.
Perhaps the bigger win for O’Connor was the 200 IM, where she knocked off national record-holder Hannah Miley by two full seconds. O’Connor was 2:10.39 to Miley’s 2:12.51.
Adam Peaty cut a bit more off his prelims swim to win the men’s 50 breaststroke by a longshot. His 27.46 is just three tenths off his season-best, which ranks 4th in the world for 2014.
Scottish freestyler Stephen Milne took home the 400 free title, going 3:51.73. That was actually .02 slower than he went in the heats, but was still enough to top Robbie Renwick (3:52.37) and Dane Anders Lie (3:53.50). Lie is known across the pond as Anders Nielsen, and swims for the Michigan Wolverines of the NCAA.
Georgia Davies had another solid swim in winning the women’s 50 back. She knocked on the door of a 27-second swim, touching the wall at 28.00. Davies already sits 3rd in the world in the event with a 27.80. Lizzie Simmonds was second in that race, also putting up a 28 at 28.95.
The men’s 200 back was the closest race of the day. Stirling’s Charlie Boldison went 2:00.65, holding off a late charge from 17-year-old Luke Greenbank. Greenbank finished just behind in 2:00.76.
Miley came back to close the session with a win in the women’s 800 free. Her 8:37.58 was enough to win by just over a second.
The meet continues with the next prelims session on Wednesday night. Each prelims session takes place in the evening, with finals coming the following morning. The meet runs through Saturday morning, and you can find live results here.
