SOUNDING THE MEDAL CHARGE
Scott savours his gold and silver as Tollcross cranks up the volume
IT’S all about the timing, as witnessed at an extraordinary night in Tollcross where Great Britain won two golds, a Scottish hero shared in one of those triumphs after striking silver, two of his countrymen set their sights on gold this evening, and a world record was reset... backwards.
The timing was also perfect in that the last event of the night was played out to a triumphal roar. Great Britain won the 200m freestyle relay, with Duncan Scott of Alloa — who had earlier won an individual silver — playing a huge role alongside Thomas Dean, Calum Jarvis and James Guy, holding off Russia in a championship record of 7.05.32
It is all about the place, too, for Georgia Davies of Wales who, at 27, emphasised that longevity can be achieved in the pool, reprising her 50m backstroke victory in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. She said: ‘I know you can’t say that a pool is fast, but this one seems so.’
It was not quite the golden touch that he offered in the relay but an outstretched finger gave Scott a silver medal in a finish so tight in the 100m freestyle it could have been sponsored by Scrooge Enterprises.
Turbo-charged down the final 50 metres, seemingly fuelled by the roars of a fervent home crowd, the 21-year-old edged second place by one hundredths of a second.
It was a memorable achievement in home waters for the swimmer, who garnered six medals at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April. His final surge failed to catch Miressi Alessandro of Italy, who won in 48.01, but his 48.23 was just enough to edge past Mehdy Metella of France (48.24).
‘That was a really good evening,’ said Scott. ‘The 100m freestyle was just about going out and getting your hand on the wall. I was happy to get on the podium.’
Of the Tollcross arena that exploded with noise during the climax to the relay, he said: ‘You can sense the atmosphere in the pool. You feel the noise.’
He now comes back today for the 200m freestyle.
Other matters of the clock dominated proceedings. Ross Murdoch powered home in his 200m breaststroke semi-final, touching off Kirill Prigoda of Russia to qualify for tonight’s final.
He will be joined by team-mate James Wilby. Mark Szaranek of Kirkcaldy also qualified for the final of the 200m medley, finishing second in his heat in 1.58.22 but leaving the impression he might have a big role to play this evening.
Max Litchfield of Sheffield also made it through, meaning Scott missed out on that progression on an otherwise spectacular day.
Another intriguing timing concerned the peerless Adam Peaty, who went slightly backwards though he was nowhere near a pool.
LEN, the European governing body, decided there had been a ‘technical issue’ with some of the timings in Saturday’s events and changed the Englishman’s time in the 100m final by 0.1 second, making his final time 57.10 but still a world record.
FINA, the international swimming body, may yet make a ruling on the eligibility of the time but it stands for the moment.
If this offered intrigue, Murdoch, who set a 2.08.57, added to the genuine excitement. Storming home in the pool where he made his name by beating home favourite Michael Jamieson in the Commonwealth Games four years ago, the 24-year-old was buoyed by his performance.
‘It was a fun race,’ said Murdoch. ‘I wasn’t trying to get the touch on Kirill, I was sticking to my own race plan, it just so happened that I got there in the end.
‘It was maybe the gods or the crowd that was spurring me on tonight, so I just gave them a little thank you.’