KATIE Shanahan won the battle of Scotland’s young guns to claim her first UK title last night at the British Swimming Championships in Sheffield.
The 17-year-old Glaswegian took victory in the women’s 200 metres backstroke in 2:11.25 to secure a consideration time in a second event for Scotland’s team for July’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
She held off 16-year-old Scottish prospect Holly McGill to also put herself in the frame for June’s world championships in Budapest.
Shanahan said: “I wasn’t sure what to expect coming into that event, I’ve been quite unwell the last few weeks which hasn’t been the best lead up into trials.
“I knew I had to put on a good race with the girls because I knew they'd come back strong. I definitely could see all the girls coming for me. That last five metres, I tried to hold my ground and push as hard as I could to the wall, because Holly is such a good talent, she got a massive PB there. I've still got the 200m individual medley tomorrow, we'll see how that goes.”
Lucy Hope set herself up for Birmingham by dipping under the qualifying mark by 0.02 secs in the 100m freestyle final. It gave the Borderer bronze behind Tokyo Olympic relay team-mates Anna Hopkin and Freya Anderson but she confessed to feeling the heat.
“I get you always feel pressure at major meets, especially in a situation like this where you’re focused so much on the times,” Hope said. “A lot of people have beaten their times throughout the year and I’ve maybe just came close or just missed out.
“You don’t want to end up chasing times, you just want to go out and execute your race and I think that’s what I did.”
Teen hopeful Evie Davis was seventh, leaving Scotland in the running for a women’s 4x100 relay place at the Commonwealths. “Hopefully we can maybe take that 4x100 out,” Hope added. “We’ve got a great group of girls, so it would be so much fun to race with those girls.”
With Adam Peaty and Ross Murdoch opting out, James Wilby eased to the men’s 200m breaststroke title while Olympic gold medallist James Guy won the 100m butterfly.
Duncan Scott will look for an individual medley double today over 200m, two days after setting a British record over 400m. While his Stirling team-mate Keanna Macinnes will hunt a place at the Commonwealths in the 100m butterfly this weekend after her silver in the 200m effectively secured her selection.
“Doing that in the 200 takes a bit of pressure off the 100 but I’d still like to do it again,” said Macinnes, who was one of the youngest members of Scotland’s team on the Gold Coast in 2018. “The 200m is my main one The 100 is usually a bit bumpy during the season. But when I’m tapered I seem to manage well so hopefully it should be good.”
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