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Adlington storms to gold in Budapest
ESPN staff
August 15, 2010
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Rebecca Adlington won the 400m freestyle
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Rebecca Adlington put a disappointing week well and truly behind her as she stormed to victory in the 400m freestyle to win her first individual medal at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest.
After a day without British medals in Budapest on Saturday, Adlington ensured the team finished the week on a high with another five medals to take their total to 18 - six gold, six silver, and six bronze.
The double Olympic champion was in tears after a seventh-place finish in the 800m freestyle on Thursday, but produced a mature performance to outsprint Ophelie Cyriell Etienne for gold.
Etienne went out at a blistering pace, with Adlington happy to sit in third, before snatching the lead on the final turn to win in a time of 4:04.55. Denmark's Lotte Friis took bronze as Olympic bronze medallist Jo Jackson finished fifth.
"That meant so much to me," Adlington said. "It's better to come back here smiling than crying like I did after the 800m. That was such a tough race, it's all mental and my head was messed up - I knew I could go faster than that.
"I've got to stop worrying about other things - I just relaxed then and really enjoyed that race. The pressure has been huge but I'm not that type of person, I keep myself to myself. Everybody's expecting so much of me, I don't want to let people down but I let myself down when I think about everybody else who I'm letting down."
European 100m freestyle champion Fran Halsall was forced to settle for bronze in the 50m freestyle. Halsall, who had already won a gold and two silver medals in Budapest, struggled to hide her disappointment as she was pipped to silver by Hinkelien Schreuder, while Therese Alshammar led from start to finish to win gold.
However, the smile soon returned when she claimed her second gold and fifth medal of the championships in the 400m medley relay. Russia's Margarita Nesterova looked to have pipped Amy Smith on the final length, but the Russian team were disqualified after Yuliya Efimova was judged to have dived too early on her breaststroke length.
Ellen Gandy celebrated her 19th birthday with a bronze medal in the 200m butterfly. After a slow start Gandy clawed her way back into the race and finished behind local favourites Katinka Hosszu and Zsuzsanna Jakabos.
"It was great experience, I haven't swam in a final like that before in my life so it was fantastic," Gandy said. "I knew I had it in my and I had to make sure I didn't get too excited. I'm so chuffed. I wasn't really thinking about getting a medal. I didn't come here with any expectations but a bronze medal is an awesome birthday present."
Kate Haywood set a lifetime best to win silver in the 50m breaststroke behind Russia's Yuliya Efimova. Haywood, who needed a personal best time to seal her place in the final, produced another impressive display to finish in a time of 31.12, eight tenths of a second behind the Russian, who set a new championship record.
Meanwhile, to the delight of the Budapest crowd, local hero Laszlo Cseh cruised to victory in the men's 400m individual medley. Britain's men finished outside the medals in the 4x100m medley relay - fourth after Germany's disqualification. Simon Burnett finished eighth in the 50m freestyle.
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