Miley makes it six of best at open championships

HANNAH Miley made it six of the best at the Scottish Gas National Open Championships yesterday when she claimed the 400m freestyle and 200m butterfly at the Tollcross International Centre in Glasgow.

The 23-year-old two-time Olympian had already enjoyed double success on Thursday and Friday and she extended her unbeaten run in style. No doubt there will be more to add today. The Garioch swimmer will be competing at the world championship trials in Sheffield in two weeks’ time and this last week has been a mixture of training and racing.

“I always love competing at Scottish Championships,” said Miley. “I actually wasn’t sure how many events I would swim this weekend. I’m just taking it day by day.”

In the freestyle, she won by over five seconds in 4:14.04 and her butterfly 2:13.19 put her over four seconds ahead of Aberdeen teenager Emily Jones, who had won the 100m event on the opening evening.

A silver medallist in the 400m individual medley at the 2011 world championships, Miley, who made the final of the same event at London 2012, is aiming for more of the same in Barcelona next month.

Seventeen-year-old Mark Szaranek (Carnegie) won the 200m individual medley and it was the perfect platform before he heads for his Team GB debut at next month’s European Junior Championships in Poland.

Coached by his father, John, the youngster is also hoping to make next year’s Scotland team for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

“I’m going to take a gap year so I can fully focus on trying to make the Commonwealth team,” he said.

Borderer Lucy Hope, who will be on the plane to Poland with Szaranek, also continued to impress. Just 16, the Jedburgh youngster had won the 200m backstroke on Friday and yesterday she added a silver (1:03.29) in the 100m.

But the close proximity of the world trials resulted in a few absentees. Craig McNally swam the heats of the 200m backstroke but withdrew from the final and his Warrender clubmate and teenage Olympian, Craig Benson, pulled out altogether from the 100m breaststroke.

Jamie Graham (City of Glasgow) stepped up in his home pool to win the breaststroke in 1:02.31 and Stirling’s Ryan Bennett was an easy winner in the backstroke in 2:00.80.