Hartlepool swimmer Jemma Lowe misses out despite fly-ing start

Jemma Lowe's drive and determination in the swimming pool shows no signs of disappearing.
Jemma Lowe competes in the Womens 200m Butterfly at the British Swimming Championships in GlasgowJemma Lowe competes in the Womens 200m Butterfly at the British Swimming Championships in Glasgow
Jemma Lowe competes in the Womens 200m Butterfly at the British Swimming Championships in Glasgow

The Hartlepool swimmer, chasing a place at her THIRD Olympic Games gave it her all in the 200 metres butterfly final at the British Swimming Championships in Glasgow, which also double as the trials for Rio 2016.

Lowe ended up fourth in a race won by her North-East neighbour, Aimee Willmott, from Middlesbrough.

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But it was a gutsy effort from the 26-year-old who is still competing at the top level.

An Olympic finalist in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012, when she was one of the bright spots in a dark spell for British swimming, her motivation was high in Glasgow.

J Lo set out quickly in the British Championship 200 metres butterfly final and led at the first split at 50 metres, turning in 28.9 seconds.

The former High Tunstall College of Science pupil extended her lead to 0.2 seconds at the half-way point from fellow Wales international Aly Thomas.

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Willmott though made her move on the third 50 and while Lowe still led at the final turn, her advantage was only 0.05 seconds.

Unfortunately, Jemma could not maintain her lead as Willmott came on strong to win in two minutes, 8.82 seconds.

Thomas clinched silver in 2:08.87 with Newcastle’s Emily Large (2:09.47) getting silver to leave the former English Martyrs Sixth Form College student (2:09.73) just outside the podium positions.

While Willmott was left pleased with her victory, her winning time was outside the Rio qualifying time of 2.06.51.

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Andrew Willis booked his place at the Rio Olympics by leading a world-class field to regain his British title in the 200 metres breaststroke last night.

Willis was the only swimmer on the fourth day of action in the British Championships in Glasgow to finish inside the Olympic qualifying time.

The 25-year-old set a new personal best of two minutes, 8.08 seconds, almost a second faster than Scotsman Craig Benson in second.

There were also British titles for Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, James Guy and Lizzie Simmonds but only Willis finished inside British Swimming’s Rio standard.