Rebecca Adlington cemented her position as the fastest in the world over 800m this year with a runaway victory in Sheffield.
Double Olympic champion storms to 800m victory in Sheffield
Rebecca Adlington cemented her position as the fastest in the world over 800m this year with a runaway victory at the British Gas ASA National Championships in Sheffield.
Victory for the 22-year-old was all the more remarkable as she is in full training for the next month's World Championships in Shanghai.
She is currently churning out 70,000m a week in the pool but found time to clock eight minutes 24.77 seconds in Sheffield, some 20 seconds ahead of Eleanor Faulkner and Hannah Miley.
"I am really pleased with that time coming here unrested," she said. "My target was to go under 8:35. I'm not normally a midseason swimmer as well.
"If my taper goes right I can hopefully go nearer to what I did at trials when I was rested and maybe scrape under.
"I just want to race well. I haven't raced the world since 2009. It's a very long time to go without racing everyone especially a year before Olympics.
"The main thing is to see where the other girls are at and get a good race at world level."
Better
European champion Lizzie Simmonds produced the second fastest time in the world in 2011 in the 200m backstroke.
As a double European medallist and world and Olympic finalist, the Loughborough ITC swimmer's failure to secure a place first time around was one of the most notable shocks after she suffered a dip in form.
Simmonds booked her spot in the 100m event, where she will join world champion Gemma Spofforth, on the first night of competition.
A world-class effort of 2:07.49 placed her behind only Australia's Belinda Hocking a little more than five weeks before Shanghai.
Simmonds said: "I've been training a lot better than I was before the trials (in Manchester). To come here and produce major times for this year, that is a significant step forward."
Chris Walker-Hebborn added a berth in the 100m backstroke alongside Liam Tancock to the 200m, again relegating Marco Loughran into second place in 54.47.
Simon Burnett booked a 50m freestyle spot (22.24) although Amy Smith was 0.03secs off qualifying in the women's equivalent while Stacey Tadd just missed out in the 100m breaststroke (1:09.14).
