Freya Anderson defends 100m freestyle title at British Swimming Championships
Sunday 4 March 2018 21:54, UK
Swimmer Freya Anderson celebrated her 17th birthday in style by becoming 100m freestyle champion again at the British Championships in Edinburgh.
The Sky Sports Scholar, who recently returned from three weeks of altitude training in Colorado, successfully defended her title, clocking 55.91 seconds ahead of local girls Lucy Hope (0.04s behind) and Katie Stark.
As well as her birthday celebrations and gold medal, the result also meant Anderson qualified for the European Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland in July.
Anderson, who has been struggling with back problems, said: "I knew the race would be hard because I haven't trained properly due to my injury.
"I just focused on the race tactics which was coming back hard and getting my head down until the finish.
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"Our team Ellesmere has also done really well here so the atmosphere was amazing."
It is perfect preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April for Team England's Anderson, who is also the world junior champion in the 100m Freestyle.
She added: "I know I have to come back quite strong because I do not go out too fast so I had to put everything into the last 25 metres really.
"All the juniors winning here has inspired me."
