Miley and Gandy secure Gold Medals at the British Gas Swimming Championships
Hannah Miley secured the fastest time in the world this year in the final of the 200m Individual Medley on the second day of competition at the British Gas Swimming Championships 2011.
Miley enjoyed a lot of success last year as she was crowned European and Commonwealth Champion in 2010 and wanted to make an early impact in 2011.
She set a time of 2:13.83 in the semi-final and wanted to improve on the that in the final. This evening she executed her final excellently and used her Breaststroke leg to overtake the field and carve out a lead for herself.
She touched in a time of 2:12.01 to win the gold medal and said afterwards: "I would have loved to do 2.11 but I can't complain about my time. I'm really looking forward to my 400m IM now. I do a lot of events but I enjoy it - I must be a bit mad.
"2010 was a great year for me, my dad and the family. This year is a training year for me so I'm looking forward to Shanghai and gaining valuable experience ahead of London 2012."
Sophie Allen from the British Gas ITC Stockport won the silver in 2:14.15 and bronze was won by City of Leicester's Sophie Smith in 2:14.50.
In the first final of the evening Ellen Gandy won the gold medal ahead of Fran Halsall and Jemma Lowe in the final of the women's 100m Butterfly.
Gandy turned just ahead of Halsall and pushed through the final 50m to take the gold with almost a second lead. She touched in a time of 57.68 which is her fastest time since the new suit rule came into action.
"I feel really smooth this year," Gandy said. "I wanted to go 59, 58, 57 heats to finals and that's what I did. It's what I've been training for so my coach will be pleased. I've upped my training this year and it's given me a lot of confidence."
Halsall who is competing in her second competition since surgery on her ankle looked strong through the race and won silver in a time of 58.99.
"I didn't feel good yesterday," Halsall said. "I had to pick myself up and I'm so proud of myself right now. It's been so hard for me after my operation, not so long ago I couldn't dive in. I'm really emotional now, sometimes I really shocked myself. I'm so happy."
Commonwealth medallist Jemma Lowe won the bronze after finishing in 59.10.
Gemma Spofforth and Elizabeth Simmonds set up a world class final in the 100m Backstroke qualifying in first and second place. Spofforth qualified in 1:01.54 and Simmonds got a time of 1:01.60.
Kate Haywood, who has just moved to train in Australia, qualified fastest for the women's 100m Breaststroke final after finishing in 1:09.19.
