The first day of swimming of the 29th Olympiad got under way in Beijing
today. To accommodate the USA television audience, in Beijing the heats will
be held in the evening (approximately 1130 BST) with the finals in the
morning (approx 0330 BST).
Also swimming in their first Olympics were Jemma Lowe (Borough of Stockton)
and Fran Halsall (City of Liverpool) in the women's 100m butterfly. Lowe
finished sixteenth in the heats to make her first Olympic semi-final in a
time of 58.49 "it was amazing, I've never experienced anything like this
before" she exuded. Lowe will compete in the women's 100m butterfly
semi-final tomorrow at 0310 BST and her preferred event the women's 200m
butterfly on Tuesday 12th August at 1414 BST. Finishing only 0.21 of a
second behind Lowe, Halsall missed qualifying for the semi-final in the
women's 100m butterfly, finishing in twenty first in 58.7, but has a further
two individual events and two relays to swim over the next eight days.
An excellent swim in the women's 400m Individual Medley saw Hannah Miley
(Garioch), nineteen years old yesterday, reach her first Olympic final
qualifying in eighth place by just 0.4 of a second in 4:36.56. "I've got to
go back, give myself a kick up the backside, get focused and bring it back
in the final tomorrow" said a smiley Miley. The final is scheduled to take
place at 0339 BST on Sunday 10th August. In the same event Keri-Ann Payne
(Stockport Metro) finished her heat in 4:38.69, just outside a personal best
and missing out on the final. "Its my first swim here, I've been training
well, happy to be here in Beijing and looking forward to the open water"
said Payne who will compete in the women's 10k at 0200 BST on Wednesday 20th
August 2008.
In the final event of the evening, the Chinese team had an outstanding swim
in the women's 4x400m freestyle relay, as did the British team of Fran
Halsall (City of Liverpool) and Loughborough University swimmers Caitlin
McClatchey, Julia Beckett and Mel Marshall, who qualified for the final in
eighth place in 3:39.18. The final will be held at 0418 BST tomorrow.
2008-08-09
