Brodie’s hopes of triumph end in disaster as Rio hopes sink
A CHAT with Cameron Brodie last night felt like an intrusion into personal grief. Barely a minute after the conclusion of the men’s 200m butterfly final at the British Olympic swimming trials at Tollcross in Glasgow, even the water still dripping down Brodie’s face could not hide his disappointment. The University of Stirling swimmer had finished fourth in the same event in the same pool at the Commonwealth Games two years ago and, with a place at Rio this time up for grabs, the 23 year-old was left to contemplate a similar fate. Only his time here was different, 1:59:58, a good three seconds slower than in 2014.
It is perhaps one of the cruellest aspects of competitive sport that an athlete is often asked to bare their soul before they have even regained their breath. Brodie, admirably, even took a stab at some Rudyard Kipling as he tried to relay his thoughts but the overriding message was clear whether articulated in long sentences or short.
“Incredibly disappointed,” he said almost unnecessarily. “I don’t feel that was the best reflection of where I’m at. I think back to my GCSE English and the ‘If’ poem by Kipling about treating wins and losses the same but still. I gave my all which is a good thing but that was nowhere near where I thought I was. It was pretty poor all round. I feel like I’m in the best training group in the world but it just didn’t click here. I always said I wanted to go on until the 2018 Commonwealth Games – that excites me a lot – but that unfortunately will be the next big one for me now.”
Faring better in the same race was Mark Szarenek, even if his second place was achieved in a time well outside of Olympic consideration. The University of Florida student posted a personal best to finish behind winner Adam Mallett with a time of 1:58:20, then revealed how a less than analytical approach had served him well during his race.
“I find I race better when I don’t think,” he said, causing sports psychologists the world over to pull out their hair. “That might be a weird thing to hear but I feel that’s what works for me. If you think too much you end up getting lost in the race. You’re always disappointed when you get beat by such a low margin but that was a best time for me. The lowest I’d been before this meet was 2:00 and I’ve just swam 1:58 so I can’t be too disappointed.”
There was another appearance in the pool for Hannah Miley, the bubbly Garioch swimmer who tends to appear in competitive races about as frequently as most people brush their teeth. Fresh from booking her place in Rio courtesy of her Olympic-worthy success in the 400 individual medley on Tuesday night, the 26 year-old finished fifth in the 200m breaststroke final with a time of 2:28:38 behind winner Chloe Tutton who smashed the British record by 1.5 seconds.
Miley, though, was predictably upbeat about her performance and will now rest for around five minutes before returning to compete in numerous other events throughout the rest of the week.
“It was tough off the back of the 400 IM,” she said. “But I’ve got my consideration time [for the Olympics] so now I can focus on some other events and just enjoy swimming relaxed. The pressure is off is a little bit so I guess the nervousness and intensity isn’t quite the same but I still have to be professional in each race. It’s a busy week but it’s what I’m renowned for doing. I use the racing as training so it’s good to get back in against the best in Britain.”
In the first major final of the night, the women’s 100m backstroke, Kirkcaldy’s Kathleen Dawson was unable to better the Scottish record she had set in the heats in the morning and had to settle for fifth place and a time of 1:01:12 behind winner Georgia Davies. The 18 year-old Warrington Warrior swimmer was naturally disappointed at not finishing further up the placings but revealed she plans on furthering her education – both in and out of the pool – by taking up a place at the University of Stirling next autumn.
“I was happy with my swim in the morning and slightly disappointed with the one at night,” she said. “Getting a Scottish record wasn’t part of the plan but I’ll be looking now to hopefully get a personal best in the 200m backstroke and the IM as well later in the week. It shows all my work is coming together, all the effort I’ve put into training.”
In the same race, COAST’s Kirsty Simpson went out strong to reach the turn in second but tailed off coming back and ended up settling for eighth spot with a time of 1:02:06.