Another positive night for the British swimmers in the pool on day three of Rio 2016 as Siobhan-Marie O’Connor secures a finals berth in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley.
O’Connor went in the opening semi-final of the 200m Individual Medley. She posted a new British record of 2:07.57 to win her race, topped the rankings and secured lane four for the final.
“I’m really pleased because I’ve been trying to go under 2:08 for a long time,” O’Connor said.
“I thought I could do it but it’s been a long time coming – my last PB was at Commies two years ago. I thought I had it in me last year but it didn’t quite go to plan so to finally break the 2:08 is great.
“It’s a bit of a shock to be fastest for tomorrow but people have had other races this evening.
“Tomorrow is a completely different ball game. I’ve just got to do my best and recover well and relax. I know I’m swimming well so I’ll just do my best tomorrow and see what happens.
“Last night was amazing. I was absolutely gutted because I had to stay at the hotel to relax and prepare for today but I was so buzzing watching it. I was in tears watching Adam and Jazz – they’re so inspiring and it was an incredible night.”
Team mate Hannah Miley joined O’Connor in semi-final one but missed out on progressing through to the final after she finished 12th overall.
Following the race Miley explained, “It was good – it was nice to be able to go into a race where there was very little pressure on me.
“I would have loved to have made it back for the final but I have to take it on the chin and accept that.
“It’s where I’m at right now and I’ve still got the rest of the meet to go. Whether I am selected for the relay or not is up to the coaches but I’m going to be there for the team because it’s really important that we keep morale high.”
James Guy was in action in the Men’s 200m Freestyle final, a strong swim in his fifth race of Rio 2016 games saw him stop the clock in fourth place after narrowly missing a medal.
Afterward Guy said, “It’s devastating really. Fourth is the worst place you can get. For me the first few days here, I let the swimming control me and I wasn’t controlling the swimming.
“But
after that swim, I think this has shown that I’m not 100 per cent right and
something is not quite there. But I’ll do everything I can to turn it round
tomorrow night.”