Jemma so close to final spot

9:20am Friday 11th April 2008

HARTLEPOOL'S Jemma Lowe suffered World Championship heartbreak in Manchester last night as she missed out on a place in the 50m butterfly final by one hundredth of a second.

The 18-year-old finished fifth in her semi in a time of 26.50 seconds but had to settle for joint ninth overall after Poland's Agata Korc clocked 26.49 seconds to steal the last remaining final place.

But Lowe, who finished fourth in the 200m breaststroke 24 hours earlier, refused to be downcast following a fortnight that has seen her qualify for both the 100m and 200m butterfly events in Beijing.

"I'm still happy as coming here has just been a laugh for me," said the Hartlepoolborn star. "I went faster than I did in the heat and, considering it is not my event, I'm quite pleased with that.

"I was just hoping to go faster than in my heat because a few people have been getting on at me about not swimming fast enough when I get towards finals.

"To go faster was great. I was hoping to get another chance to go faster but I just missed out. The pressure was off in some respects because it is not my event but I still get nervous and maybe that affected me."

Lowe insisted she would put her disappointment to one side before she returns to the MEN Arena for the 100m butterfly, in which she won silver at last week's British Championships.

"I've still got the relay and the 100 to go, so my week is not done," added Lowe, who will also feature in the 100m medley relay team this weekend.

"I've got my 100 to look forward to now and that's what I've been looking to focus my energies on."

Meanwhile, Liam Tancock produced the performance of his career as he smashed the European, Commonwealth and British records on route to gold.

Tancock shocked the star-studded field in the 100m backstroke, topping the podium from lane eight after a below-par semi-final on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old, who last week broke the long course 50m backstroke world record at the British Championships in Sheffield, fell just short of adding a second world best to his collection.

Tancock, w h o c l o c k e d 50.14 and beat the B r i t i s h record by a massive 1.2 seconds in the process, had to settle for the second fastest swim in history after holding off the late charge of American Randall Bal.

The Brit, who is not known for his short course swimming, led from start to finish, with his final turn at the 75m mark the difference between snatching gold and settling for a medal of a different colour.

"I'm so pleased with that performance,"

said Tancock. I'm not known for my short course swimming but I think the start was maybe pivotal.

"I've been working so hard on my starts with my coach - now I just need to go back and refocus for my other events."

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