HANNAH MILEY, the two-time Olympian, is turning down tomorrow's season's glitzy BBC party in Glasgow to put on a show of her own in the Scottish capital at the Scottish Gas National Short Course Championships.
The 25-year-old multiple Commonwealth champion was among several Scottish swimmers invited to the Sports Personality of the Year production at Pacific Quay, but explained that her priorities were dictated by a combination of her own schedule and a sense of duty to spectators at the Commonwealth Pool.
"I can't go because the 400 IM, 200 breaststroke and 200 free are on the last night and they're finals I can't really miss," she said, after adding another two Scottish titles to her long list of achievements on the opening day of the event.
"I've not really been able to do a lot of evenings and award ceremonies because for me it's all about the long-term gain and for me the focus is on making that team in the summer, so if that means I can't do a night out and get glammed up then so be it.
"Obviously I'm a bit gutted that I can't do it, but it's a choice I have to make. My swimming career is only going to last so long. I've got to make sure I make the most of it and I've got to know that going into the summer I'm not standing there thinking 'If only I'd raced that final that night.'
"The advertising that has gone into getting people to come in and watch the swimming has also been amazing and I felt really bad about people paying for tickets to come and watch GB swimmers and turn up on a Sunday and there's nobody there ... So I kind of felt it would be nice to know that there are some people there worth watching, hopefully."
Miley won last night's 200m individual medley and, in finishing fourth in the 200m butterfly was also first Scot home, while she was slightly unsure of why she had been disqualified for a technical infringement in the morning's 100m breaststroke heats, but also unflustered, noting that it is far from her best event.
There was also another win for Miley's fellow Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallist Dan Wallace, who touched out England's five times Commonwealth Games champion Liam Tancock in the men's 100m individual medley, while Craig McNally, who suffered severe disappointment at Tollcross in July, enjoyed his return to action in front of a home crowd in his native city.
Heading into the Games as favourite to win the 200m backstroke the 21-year-old had suffered a viral infection which wrecked his chances, but he was on winning form last night and produced a personal best time of 1.52.24 to beat a good qualify field and also expressing his gratitude to the spectators. "It spurs you on that little bit extra and the races are just so much more fun than they would be if there was no crowd here, so we appreciate that," he said.
That atmosphere also helped produce a series of record breaking efforts with Jack Thorpe in the 50m freestyle and Kathleen Dawson in the 50m backstroke set new Scottish bests, while Craig McLean, in both the heats and final of that 50m freestyle, Meg Finnan in the 800m freestyle and Tain Bruce in the 200m freestyle all set new national junior records.
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