Karen Pickering - Britain's most successful swimmer BBC & Channel 4 Commentator
Blog
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Evening Star column: World Championships offer high hopes for Olympics
The recent swimming World Championships in Shanghai were the last major championships prior to next year's Olympics so it was always going to act as a good indicator for London 2012.
I was fortunate enough to cover the championships for the BBC and Shanghai is an amazing city and the venues were incredible.
One thing that stood out for me was there was a lot of talk prior to the championships about whether any world records would be broken because of the change in rules for swim suits. I felt a small number of records could be under threat ' and thankfully I was right.
Two world records were broken and the first one, by Ryan Lochte, was a real landmark event for swimming. Ryan has finally come out of the shadow of Michael Phelps and he is going to be a big name in 2012. He has a very different personality to Michael, who is still not back to his best shape but who will no doubt be in better form next year. It is going to be a very exciting battle between the two in London.
Of Great Britain's six medalists, including three gold, Keri-Anne Payne stood out in the 10k open water swim, leading from start to finish. This was made even more impressive by the fact she swam in 30-degree water and whilst the health and safety of races has been addressed since the sad death of a swimmer last year but there are still some issues.
I was fortunate enough to cover the championships for the BBC and Shanghai is an amazing city and the venues were incredible.
One thing that stood out for me was there was a lot of talk prior to the championships about whether any world records would be broken because of the change in rules for swim suits. I felt a small number of records could be under threat ' and thankfully I was right.
Two world records were broken and the first one, by Ryan Lochte, was a real landmark event for swimming. Ryan has finally come out of the shadow of Michael Phelps and he is going to be a big name in 2012. He has a very different personality to Michael, who is still not back to his best shape but who will no doubt be in better form next year. It is going to be a very exciting battle between the two in London.
Of Great Britain's six medalists, including three gold, Keri-Anne Payne stood out in the 10k open water swim, leading from start to finish. This was made even more impressive by the fact she swam in 30-degree water and whilst the health and safety of races has been addressed since the sad death of a swimmer last year but there are still some issues.
Ellen Gandy in the 200m butterfly was another highlight, missing out on a gold medal by just four-hundreths of a second. I first recognised Ellen's talent when she was 11 and saw her swim at an open meet. She asked me for my autograph but I said I would only give it to her if she gave me hers back. She was really embarrassed and ran away.
It was great to see Rebecca Adlington win the 800m in what was one of the most exciting races I have ever seen. There was only a couple of tenths separating her and Lotte Friis for all of the race until the last 50 metres. It was a real battle and a very different race to when she won her Olympic gold. It showed that, no matter how the race unfolds, she is a tough competitor.
Overall, there were some amazing races and what I loved about the championships was that you had 15-year-olds winning and also 33-year-olds. Also the number of countries participating was huge which meant, aside from USA who were dominant, the medals were going to a real variety of nations. It certainly made for some exciting races.
It was great to see Rebecca Adlington win the 800m in what was one of the most exciting races I have ever seen. There was only a couple of tenths separating her and Lotte Friis for all of the race until the last 50 metres. It was a real battle and a very different race to when she won her Olympic gold. It showed that, no matter how the race unfolds, she is a tough competitor.
Overall, there were some amazing races and what I loved about the championships was that you had 15-year-olds winning and also 33-year-olds. Also the number of countries participating was huge which meant, aside from USA who were dominant, the medals were going to a real variety of nations. It certainly made for some exciting races.
