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// University News

21 Apr 2015

Loughborough swimmers claim national titles

Roberto Pavoni - Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com
Roberto Pavoni - Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com

Five Loughborough based swimmers have claimed national titles at the British Championships held in the Aquatics Centre at the Olympic Park in London.

Former Sports Scholar Roberto Pavoni won the 200m individual medley and claimed the qualifying time for the World Championships in August, by defending his British title in 1:57.79.

Roberto also claimed the silver medal in the 400m individual medley. Speaking to British Swimming after his 200m race Roberto said:

“The qualifying times are so tough this year so this means everything to me. I’ve proved that I’m capable of retaining my title for a third year and I’ve put my face back on the scene now and that was always my plan.

“I always work my hardest in training, but this year I’ve been a lot more focussed and a lot more relaxed which has really helped. I’ve worked closely with my coaches this year to get it all right on race day and that’s exactly what happened today.”

Francesca Halsall proved she’s back on form after an injury to take victory in the 50m freestyle in 24.37 and claim her tenth consecutive title. Fran also won the silver medal in the 100m freestyle and bronze in the 100m backstroke. Fran said:

“It’s pretty good to be able to come in ten years in a row and be the best in Britain. I didn’t have the ideal preparation coming into this meet, I got sent home from the World Championships in December and it took a lot longer than expected to get back into full training.

“Last year I went a 24.5 at this meet then on to a 23.9 in the summer, so to come here and already be two tenths up on that is a great sign.”

In the 100m butterfly former Sports Scholar Tom Laxton won his first British title, clocking a new Welsh national record of 52.40. Adam Barrett in 52.74 claimed the bronze. Tom said:

“This win means everything to me and to get the Welsh record as well is great. I glided and looked across at the finish and I thought I’d lost it but when I looked at the scoreboard and saw the confirmation I was over the moon.

“I’ve changed coach in the last year, I now train with Ian Hulme and we’ve really been working on the last 20 metres of my race. So to be able to put that into practice today and hold on until the end is great.”

Sports Scholar Rachael Kelly defended her British Championship title in the 100m butterfly final. Molly Renshaw reclaimed her 2013 crown in the 200m breaststroke. Molly also won the bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke.

Adam Peaty, who trains at Loughborough, claimed the 100m and 200m breaststroke double. The 100m was set a new World record time of 57.92, with University student James Wilby earning his first British medal with the bronze.

Liam Tancock won the silver medal in the 100m backstroke, in the 1500m freestyle Caleb Hughes silver in 15:04.76 and Andrew Weatheritt claimed bronze in the 50m freestyle.

Further details can be found on the Loughborough Swimming website.