Silver lining for UEL’s Willmott
UEL's Aimee Willmott won silver at the British Championships at the London Aquatics Centre (pic: Andrew Milligan/PA) - Credit: PA Archive/Press Association Images
Medley medal is consolation at British Championships
Aimee Willmott insists she left London a better swimmer after she brought the curtain down on her British Swimming Championships with a silver in the 400 individual medley final.
It was never going to be an easy task for University of East London student Willmott as she took to the London Aquatics Centre pool for Saturday’s final session, looking to see off Hannah Miley.
But Miley proved too strong as she produced a sensational swim to take the British crown in 4mins 32.16secs – sneaking inside the World Championship qualification time.
For Willmott second place had to suffice as she touched in 4:33.66 – more than eight seconds faster than Rosie Rudin in third.
You may also want to watch:
And she says she will take every ounce of the experience and channel it into stronger performances in the future.
“It’s been a tough week and at the beginning I decided in training that I’d use my other races to build up to the 400m,” said Willmott.
Most Read
- 1 Fury as family homes vanish when Isle of Dogs landlord converts to bedsits
- 2 Man sentenced after teenage boy groomed on Snapchat to sell heroin
- 3 'Racist consultation' protest rejected on Tower Hamlets street closures as Labour sticks to its manifesto
- 4 Covid vaccination hub opening in Westfield next week
- 5 Two men arrested after police officers assaulted in Limehouse rave
- 6 NHS nurse assaulted at east London hospital
- 7 Man sentenced for assault on Homerton Hospital nurse
- 8 Airbnb house party violence leaves police officer with broken finger
- 9 Teenager found dead in Victoria Park
- 10 Police hunt after stabbing in Cable Street: One man hurt
“But that’s easier said than done and it’s kind of the first learning experience for me of preparing for the race at the end of the meet so it’s a good learning curve.
“I did expect her (Miley) to lead it out fast so I kind of changed my race plan a little bit but for me it wasn’t about getting in and trying to win, it was about getting as close to that qualifying time as possible.
“I knew I had to race smart after how I’ve felt this week and I decided I needed to build up in the race rather than what happened to me in the 200m fly where I couldn’t really bring it home.
“I’ve been working on my freestyle and it’s just believing that if you’ve done all the training then you will be able to come back in the race even if you’re going that bit slower.
“It’s been a good meet and I think I just need to make sure that I have learned from it and moving forward I think it will make me a better swimmer.”
*To keep up to date with all the action of the swimmers in the lead up to Rio follow British Swimming on Twitter Facebook and Instagram.
