Revenge is sweet and Katie Shanahan delivered it in emphatic fashion in winning her first title of this year’s British Championships.
On day one of the meet, Shanahan missed out on the 400m individual gold medal having been beaten by England’s Freya Colbert, but last night in Sheffield, the Glaswegian turned the tables.
Shanahan was hotly tipped to collect gold in the 200m backstroke and she duly delivered, setting a personal best of 2 minutes 7.81 seconds, almost a second clear of Colbert in second.
“I’m really happy,” said the 18-year-old from the University of Stirling. “Going in, I wanted to go under 2 minutes 8 seconds so 2:07 high, I’m pleased with that.
“I’m really glad I have Freya [Colbert] to push me on. I’m glad she was next to me and when I could see her coming down the last 50m, I’m not going to lie, I was struggling so it was good to have her there.”
These Championships are also doubling as the trials for the World Championships, which take place in Japan this July, and with Shanahan now having two consideration times under her belt, the likelihood is the teenager will be heading to her first long-course World Championships.
“My aim this meet was to get either consideration or qualifying times so to have two now, I wasn’t expecting that,” she said.
“I wasn’t expecting to get one let alone two so I’m really happy.”
Sixteen-year-old Holly McGill of Edinburgh narrowly missed out on joining Shanahan on the podium, finishing fourth in 2 minutes 12.81 seconds, just 11 hundredths behind third place.
Lucy Hope followed her bronze in the 200m freestyle with another in the 100m freestyle with a time of 54.34 seconds, just under a second behind the English duo of Freya Anderson and Anna Hopkin. It was outwith the World Championships consideration time but Hope was, nevertheless, satisfied.
“I didn’t have many expectations coming into the 100m because the training I’ve been doing has been more for the 200m so I just wanted to enjoy it and have some fun,” the University of Stirling swimmer said.
“That’s the fastest I’ve been since the Olympics [in 2021] so the time’s not too bad.
“I got in and just raced the race. And racing Freya and Anna, third is still a great place to finish.
“I think there’s spaces still available [in GB’s World Championships team] so fingers crossed they still want to take the relay team to Japan and I think I’ve put myself in a good position for that.”
In the final race of the evening, George Smith won bronze in the 200m breaststroke in 2 minutes 13.10 seconds.
Scotland’s most decorated swimmer, Duncan Scott, will be back in action today as he aims to win his first title of this meet when he goes in the 200m individual medley.
An Olympic silver medallist in the event, Scott will be up against one of his greatest rivals, Englishman Tom Dean, while Scott’s compatriots, Mark Szaranek and Evan Jones, will also be looking to snatch a spot on the podium.
Olympic gold medallist Kathleen Dawson is aiming to add 50m backstroke silverware to her bronze in the 100m, while Shanahan is targeting her third medal in the 200m individual medley.
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