ROSS Murdoch’s competitive swansong before the Olympic Games in Rio next month could hardly have gone better. The 22-year-old claimed a hat-trick of breaststroke titles yesterday at the Scottish Championships at the Tollcross Inter- national Swimming Centre in Glasgow.
With the 50 metre and 200m golds already in the bag, the clean sweep was completed with a 1:00.49 swim in the 100m, the distance in which he captured a bronze medal at the world championships in Russia last year.
Having missed out on Olympic qualifying time for the 200m at the trials in Glasgow in April – Murdoch holds the Commonwealth Games and European titles – the 100m will be his only guaranteed individual event in Brazil.
“I’m delighted at doing the hat-trick,” said the University of Stirling swimmer. “I also won all three at the short-course championships and it’s the first time I’ve done it. So that’s all the breaststroke titles tied up. I’m still in full training and it’s never easy to come out and race and I really wasn’t expecting too much. But it’s gone really well.
“Now I’m excited about going to Rio. It’s my first Olympic Games and it’s something I have been mentally preparing towards for the past eight years. It’s great to be part of Team GB and I feel I’ve prepared as best I possibly could. Now it’s nearly here.”
City of Glasgow’s Camilla Hattersley also completed a golden hat-trick, adding the 400m freestyle to wins in the 800m and 200m. An aeronautical engineering student at Glasgow University, she smiled at the prospect of being a female Tim Peake. “I think I prefer the design side,” she said.
Hattersley admits that juggling swimming and serious studies has been “very, very hard” and she has spread her third year over two academic sessions. She will be back for the start of the second half in the autumn.
“I’m absolutely delighted with this week,” the 21-year-old said after the 4:11.46 swim. “It was my final opportunity to race, to do some fine tuning and concentrate on the small details. I’ve finished all my exams so now I can concentrate on Rio. It’s my first Games and I just want to make the most of the whole experience.”
Following Wales’ win at Euro 2016 on Friday night, an inspired Ieuan Lloyd won the 200m individual medley. In a close finish, the City of Cardiff youngster snatched gold in 2:01.94.
With just over four weeks to go to the start of the swimming at the Olympics, Scotland’s octet in Team GB – Murdoch, Hattersley, Robbie Renwick, Duncan Scott, Craig Benson, Stephen Milne, Dan Wallace, Hannah Miley – will train with their home clubs before flying out to the holding camp in Brazil on July 22.
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