Cameron Brodie’s frustration in his bid for Worlds

CAMERON Brodie admitted to having mixed emotions after achieving a lifetime ambition at the British Swimming Championships last night.
Cameron Brodie of the University of Stirling competes in the Mens 200m butterfly final. Picture: GettyCameron Brodie of the University of Stirling competes in the Mens 200m butterfly final. Picture: Getty
Cameron Brodie of the University of Stirling competes in the Mens 200m butterfly final. Picture: Getty

Despite claiming the 200m butterfly national title, the 22-year old University of Stirling swimmer missed out on the qualifying time for this summer’s World Championships.

British Swimming have set deliberately difficult qualifying standards for the event, with a maximum team size of just 30.

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But Brodie claims he understands the requirements to push swimmers to their limits just to earn a place on the plane.

“I’ve been dreaming of being British champion since I was kid and started swimming. It’s just short of the worlds time but it’s a great achievement for me,” he said.

“It’s a real tough time to get and I’ve got to look at this as a big step on from last year.

“I had a great Commonwealth Games last year and shocked myself and a lot of other people when I finished fourth. The important thing was to come here and back that performance up and it’s about building towards the Olympics next year.

“I just need to train harder to make the qualifying times. I wish I could race again tomorrow because I think I could go quicker.

“I’ve done a good year of training and it’s going to pay off at some time.”

Brodie and his University of Stirling team-mates Sean Campsie and Lewis Smith were the fastest three in qualifying, though they went on to finish third and sixth in the final respectively.

Elsewhere, Robbie Renwick bagged himself a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle final, his time of 49.12 seconds meaning fellow Scot Duncan Scott had to settle for fourth spot.

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There had been earlier disappointment in that event as Jak Scott’s time of 50.35 in the morning’s heat meant he missed out on a spot in the final by just 0.4 seconds.

However, there was no wiping the smile off Hannah Miley’s face as she backed up her 200m butterfly gold with another two solid performances 24 hours later. The Garioch star kicked things off by taking home bronze in the 400m freestyle in a time of 4:10.89 minutes, before finishing fifth in the 200m breaststroke.

“It’s been so far so good for me this week,” Miley said. “Day one was quite a big surprise for me and coming in here it’s another two events that I’m not focusing on. They are a lot faster than they were this time last year so it’s a positive start but my main focus is on the last event.

“I’m trying not to put any pressure on myself at the moment because it looks like everyone is stressed about making the times.

“It’s tough and everyone handles it in their own way so for me it’s about staying as comfortable and relaxed as possible. Doing the races before gets me into the meet and calms me down, when you have a target sometimes you have the anxiety that comes with it.”

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