Swimming: All that glitters is not necessarily gold

Sports writer

Monday 30 July 2012

THE wide gold lapels which extravagantly adorned the British team uniform at the Olympic opening ceremony always seemed to be tempting fate.

Rebecca Adlington found herself in lane eight

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Doug Gillon

After two days Team GB has only one silver and a bronze to show for much effort, heartache, and £10bn investment.

Lizzie Armitstead was only half a wheel from gold in the road race, after a dramatic sprint through torrential rain from which she emerged with silver and as wet as Rebecca Adlington after the defending 400 metres freestyle champion had battled to bronze in the Aquatic Centre at Olympic Park.

For much of the race it looked as if the manta ray design of the £269m centre had delivered another sting to British hopes, after the eclipse 24 hours earlier of Scotland's world silver medallist Hannah Miley. Adlington, who uniquely won double gold in Beijing, never looked like staging a successful defence, though she did have the last laugh over Glasgow comedian Frankie Boyle, who transgressed the bounds of comedic taste with a comment to the effect that the Mansfield swimmer "would have an unfair advantage because she's got a dolphin's face".Camille Muffat, the fastest in the event this year, smashed the Olympic record to take gold in 4min 01.45sec. American Allison Schmitt swam almost shoulder to shoulder with her on the home stretch, but left herself too much to do and finished 0.32 adrift. Adlington was sixth at half-distance, but closed to fifth at 250m, fourth at 300m, and third by the final turn. She held off the pursuit by almost a second as she finished in 4:03.01. Her time was 0.21 quicker than her gold-medal time four years ago.Her strength augurs well for when she defends her 800m crown, but she survived a scare when she only made it into the 400m final as eighth fastest, relegating her to the outside lane where her rivals were effectively invisible. Federica Pellegrini, the Italian world champion in 2009 and 2011, and world record holder, was in the other outside lane.This was still a glorious return by Adlington, who struggled to stay motivated after Beijing. She said she had surprised herself. "I didn't expect a medal, especially after this morning, going in eighth," she said. She had gone off at world record pace, but throttled back and almost paid the penalty."It was an extremely tough race. I saw them, they were off. I just couldn't keep with them. I am a little disappointed at the time. I did go faster in March, but to be honest, I am so happy I managed to sneak that medal."She rewarded her coach, Bill Furniss, with a big hug on the poolside, and confirmed she had been swimming blind: "I couldn't see them, I just put my head down and went. The crowd definitely lifted me to get that bronze medal and I can't wait to share it with them."She said Muffat and Schmitt "have been so good on the 400 all season. I know after being in there, the 800 is going to be a battle and hard work. I gave it my absolute all and I am so, so pleased to come away with a medal. I know a lot of people may have expected me to get the gold - but swimming is one of the hardest sports to medal at in the Games."Robbie Renwick had consolation after his failure to reach the 400m freestyle final. The Aberdonian is equal sixth in the line-up for tonight's 200m freestyle final. What a difference a day makes. He has set his sights on breaking the Scottish record as he attempts to win a medal. "Last night I was a bit down," he said. "I was just 0.2 away from making that final. I just tied up in the last 25 metres. I needed to turn it around today and make sure I did a good job. I was really frustrated. I am not a swimmer who is happy to come tenth. I wanted to get in there, and win medals. To miss the final by point two was really gutting yesterday, but I have turned it around."He did not yield to anger or frustration. "It was a very controlled race. I knew if I let my emotions get the better of me, I would have gone out too fast, or not fast enough. I am professional enough to swim my own race," Renwick said.He finished his semi-final in 1:46.65 – equal third behind Ryan Lochte – although the 400m champion had to give best to German Paul Biedermann.World champion Dana Vollmer set a world best of 55.98 to win the women's 100m butterfly, with Britain's Ellen Gandy eighth in 57.76, while South African Cameron van der Burgh trimmed 0.12 seconds from the three-year-old world mark as he won the 100m breaststroke in 58.46. He celebrated by sitting astride the lane ropes, hurling his cap, and stretching out on the rope as if it was a sofa. He won by almost half a second from Christian Sprenger of Australia, with American Brendan Hansen in third.Glasgow's Michael Jamieson and Edinburgh's Craig Benson each swam two breaststroke bests on Saturday but it was not enough to reach last night's final. But they have redefined the event. When David Wilkie won silver in this event, in 1976, he was timed in a Scottish record of 63.43; both Benson and Jamieson swam three seconds faster.

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Swimming: All that glitters is not necessarily gold

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