The Aquatics Centre in Leeds enjoyed a stunning start to life as an international swimming venue as five world records were among an amazing 45 records broken in the British Gas Swimming Grand Prix on the 6th - 9th August.
The four-day short-course (25m) event was the first of its type to be held at the Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds, and featured Britain’s elite performers fresh from their World Championships success in Rome as well as a team of leading swimmers from Canada.
All four days were filled with records being broken in almost every race, with world, Commonwealth, European, British, Canadian, English and British club records all being lowered.
Britain’s Jo Jackson led the way, the Olympic bronze medallist who also won three medals at the World Championships in Rome breaking the world record with a superb performance in the Women’s 400m Freestyle.
With double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington not taking part in the individual events to only compete in the relay, 22-year-old Jackson dominated the race despite feeling ill to take over a second off the previous world best.
The visiting Canadian team were also in record-breaking mood, smashing four world records during the event. Breaststroke star Annamay Pierse was the star performer, lowering her own 200m world best by half a second on the way to victory with her younger sister Hanna making it a family affair by finishing third.
The Canadian relay teams were also in dominant form, breaking no less than three world records in the Men’s 4x100m Medley, Women’s 4x100m Medley and the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle events.
Other impressive performances came from Hannah Miley who broke the European record in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley, while World silver medallist Fran Halsall claimed a new British record in the Women’s 100m Freestyle.
World Championship gold medallist Liam Tancock continued his superb form from Rome with victory in the Men’s 50m Backstroke, just missing out on the world record but doing enough to break the European, Commonwealth and British marks.
Canadian Olympic and World medallist Ryan Cochrane broke his own national record in winning the Men’s 1500m Freestyle, while British stars Jackson and Halsall combined with Loughborough University teammates Caitlin McClatchey and Elizabeth Simmonds to knock an astonishing 14 seconds off the British record in the Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay.
The Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds has already attracted interest from countries around the world to use ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games, with athletes from Holland and Serbia already confirmed to use the centre as their training base in the build-up.
For more information about the Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport, visit the website at www.leeds.gov.uk/JCCS or call 0113 247 5222.