Jazmin Carlin Talks 200 Freestyle Title (Video Interview)

2016 BRITISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS/OLYMPIC TRIALS

• Tuesday, April 12th – Sunday, April 17th
• Tollcross International Swimming Center, Glasgow, Scotland
• Prelims at 10am local/6am EDT; Finals at 6:30pm local/1:30pm EDT
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While competing at the 2016 British Championships, Jazmin Carlin clinched the victory in the women’s 200m freestyle, 1 of 3 events the Kazan 800m free bronze medalist will be contesting during the week in Glasgow.

Post-race, Carlin speaks to how the 200m free was a “bag of nerves”, but she also hopes she can ride the wave of her win during the rest of the week when her stronger events of the 400m free and 800m free enter the picture.

As originally reported by Loretta Race:

WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• British National Record – 1:55.54, Joanne Jackson (2009)
• British OLY Standard – 1:55.88/1:55.06
• The Podium –
  • Jazmin Carlin, 1:57.62
  • Eleanor Faulkner, 1:58.05
  • Georgia Coates, 1:58.54

The 800m freestyle bronze medalist at the 2015 FINA World Championships, Jazmin Carlin, got the job halfway done tonight in the shorter 200m event in terms of Olympic-qualifying. Carlin touched ahead of the field, but her time of 1:57.62 falls short of the 1:55.88 British-dictated standard.

Carlin’s mark of 1:57.62 bumped the Bath University swimmer up from her 2nd seed after prelims, as well as knocked a healthy amount of time off her morning mark of 1:59.33. However, for British fans it’s disappointing that Carlin’s time last year was quicker by close to a second, as she won the event in 1:56.88 at the 2015 edition of the event. That time, too, falls short of the OLY standard, but at least she would be moving in the right direction time wise had she gotten closer to it. However, the 200m freestyle is the weakest of her 3 events, which also includes the 400m and 800m freestyle races later in the meet.

Also dipping under the 2:00 mark tonight was Sheffield’s Eleanor Faulkner, who raced her way to a new personal best of 1:58.05. Bronze medalist tonight, Georgia Coates, was about half a second behind, touching in 1:58.54 to also rack up a lifetime best. At just 16 years old, Coates earned a new age group record with her outing tonight.

Of note, on-the-rise star Coates had qualified in the finals of both the 200m freestyle and the 400m IM, but scratched the 400m IM to focus on this event. With a bronze as a teenager, the strategy appeared to pay off.