ONE gold at this week’s British Swimming Championships would have served as adequate returns for the hard graft and upheaval endured since Hannah Miley decamped from her beloved Inverurie for the bright lights of Aberdeen in the wake of her Olympic disappointment last summer.
Two, for the 27-year-old, was a gratifying bonus, and came after winning last night’s 200 metres individual medley but it came amid a sliver of controversy with the Scot originally second in the final to long-time rival Siobhan-Marie O’Connor but then promoted when the 2015 world bronze medallist was disqualified for a false start.
Domestic supremacy has long been Miley’s means to an end. Her prior victory in the 400IM, though fractionally outside the specified standard, will surely see her chosen for July’s world championships in Budapest but there are further gains to be sought.
“My main race was the 400IM on Day 1 so all my other races have been teaching points for me, finding out what I need to work on,” she said. “If I could be taller, that would help, but that’s the only thing I can’t change. I just need to be better at the little things that can make a difference.”
Olympic finalist Max Litchfield retained his 200m individual medley title but he was joined on the podium by Scots duo Mark Szaranek and Duncan Scott, with Dan Wallace sixth. The former took the American collegiate title this year, his fellow finalists weighed down by the silvers they purloined at Rio 2016. And while only Scott – with a British record in the 100 freestyle in midweek and the possibility of another over 200 tonight – has assured himself of a global tilt, they are part of a wave that could overwhelm even the Australians come the Gold Coast.
“Between Mark Szaranek, Dan Wallace and Duncan, we’ve got three world-class medley swimmers either in the making or already in the reckoning,” national coach Alan Lynn said.
“That’s good news for us. Duncan’s never really swam a medley when he’s been tapered. Dan made the world final two years ago and Mark’s just won the NCAAs in the States. That shows the quality.”
Ben Proud took a remarkable two-tenths of a second off his British 50m freestyle record with a time of 21.32 secs but Edinburgh University’s Jack Thorpe inserted his name into the Gold Coast frame with the quickest time of his career to take bronze.
“I had surgery on my foot at the start of the year,” he said. “But my recovery and training has been great and that was a personal best.”
Georgia Davies was just outside the British record in the women’s 50m backstroke final, logging 27.69 seconds to take her second title and edge out Stirling University’s Kathleen Dawson with Edinburgh’s Lucy Hope third, both inside Scotland’s Commonwealth qualifying mark.
Elsewhere, Rio silver medallist Jazz Carlin sustained a surprise defeat in the women’s 400m freestyle at the hands of 17-year-old Stockport prospect Holly Hibbott with City of Glasgow’s Camilla Hattersley fourth.
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