JAZZ PLAYS HER PART IN MAGICAL NIGHT IN THE POOL
DO NOT forget the second half of the greatest night in British swimming history: silver medallist Jazz Carlin. There are Olympians who worked wonders in the shadows of giants. Think of Jonathan Edwards winning triple jump gold at Sydney 2000 as Cathy Freeman, of Aboriginal descent, took the laurels for Australia by winning the 400 metres. A similar fate befell Carlin in an Aquatics Centre still reverberating from the greased-lightning brilliance of Adam Peaty. But full credit to Carlin, the 25-year-old from Swansea, for her redemptive swim in the women’s 400m freestyle, four years after missing out on selection for London 2012. The Briton had no chance of gold with American Katie Ledecky inevitably breaking her own world record by nearly two seconds. Carlin was the best of the mortals, setting a personal best of 4min 1.23sec to claim the second Team GB medal of Rio 2016. ‘Four years ago I was in the stand cheering everyone on and now I’ve actually been a part of the team and come away with a silver medal,’ said Carlin, already a double European champion. ‘I’m absolutely over the moon. I’m so grateful to everyone at home who has got up to watch us at ridiculous hours of the morning. I did that eight years ago to watch Becky Adlington in Beijing, and here I am now.’ Shouting support from poolside was father Roger, wearing what he thinks is a lucky shirt but Jazz thinks is a fashion nightmare. ‘It’s rainbow coloured,’ she said. ‘Not good.’ The stakes were raised for Carlin as she waited in the call room before the race, watching on as Peaty stormed to gold. ‘I had goosebumps on the blocks,’ she said. ‘To see someone who’s my friend, my team-mate, achieve a world record, become an Olympic champion right before my swim definitely got me pumped up. It was a great night for Team GB.’