Dreams of Gold
Lowe on a high after her butterfly bronze
HARTLEPOOL'S Jemma Lowe
signed off her World Championship
campaign in impressive
style as she landed a stunning
100m butterfly bronze in Manchester.
The 18-year-old student, who
collected bronze in the 4x100m
medley on Friday, has enjoyed a
memorable 14 days after qualifying
for the Beijing Olympics in
the 100m and 200m butterfly at
the British Championships in
Sheffield last week.
Roared on by a vociferous
crowd, Lowe claimed the final
podium spot in 56.84 seconds,
with Australian Felicity Galvez
taking gold in a world record
time of 55.89 and America's
Rachel Komisarz the silver.
"I am really pleased, it was
amazing," said Lowe. "It feels
good to finish on a high, especially
after two hard weeks of
racing and stressing.
"It was great to experience the
crowd, I loved it. When I walked
out it was so loud it made me
smile.
"It gives me energy, and while
I was swimming towards the end
I was taking their energy and
support.
"There were some fast girls. It
was just great to get among the
medals and it was a great way to
end this whole two weeks."
Lowe, who turned 18 on March
31, has yet to celebrate her birthday,
with competitions in
Sheffield and Manchester arriving
thick and fast.
But after competing with the
world's best at the World Championships,
Lowe revealed she is
brimming with confidence ahead
of Beijing.
"These two weeks have boosted
my confidence," added Lowe.
"I was nervous before the trials;
in fact I had been for ten months.
"When I qualified it made me
so much more confident. All my
hard work had paid off and I
knew I could come to this meet
and just try my best and race
hard.
"I surprised myself, especially
being in a situation I have never
had to deal with before so it was
great."
Meanwhile, Derwentside
swimmer Jo Jackson played her
part in helping the women's 100m
freestyle relay team clinch
bronze on Saturday night.
Jackson swam the first leg of
the heat on Saturday morning,
but didn't compete in the final as
Mel Marshall, Fran Halsall,
Caitlin McClatchey and Julia
Beckett clinched the final podium
place.
The 21-year-old, who won a
bronze medal in the 400m
freestyle event on Friday night,
said: "The race went all right but
I'm not really a 100m swimmer.
"I thought I had finished on
Friday night but we were
brought in on Saturday and told
to get the girls into the final.
"I've had a great championships
and to get a bronze
medal was just what I came for."
To celebrate its 80th anniversary, Speedo,
the world's leading swimwear brand has
launched SPEEDO LZR RACERÂ suit, which
independent testing has shown to be the
world's fastest swimsuit. www.speedo80.com
9:46am Monday 14th April 2008
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