Jazz Carlin continued her upward trajectory as she secured a place in the Great Britain team for the world championships in Russia with a dominant victory in the 400m freestyle.
The British Championships double as the trials for the team to travel to Kazan in July and Carlin’s time of 4min 3.51sec comprehensively bettered the standard required. It also propelled her to second fastest in the world this year as well as being the second quickest of her career. She was joined in the team by Roberto Pavoni in the 200m individual medley, the 24-year-old undeterred despite losing his funding from British Swimming in October 2014.
Carlin led from the outset and was never threatened, more than six seconds ahead of the second-placed Jessica Thielmann. The way the race unfolded was a valuable lesson. She said: “I am a racer, I love competition. It was tough trying to push myself out on the first half, which is something I am not really used to. I am used to chasing fields. It was a bit different but it’s good to practise it now and when you get to bigger competitions you have people who drag you out.”
A combination of illness and injury dogged Carlin from 2011, culminating in the Welshwoman missing out on the 2012 Olympics. There was then disappointment at the world championships in Barcelona the following year.
Away from the pool, the mother of Lewis Coleman, the fellow swimmer who is her partner, was diagnosed with leukaemia in June 2012 in what is a continuing battle.
However, Carlin is made of stern stuff, something aptly demonstrated in 2014. Gold and silver in the 800m and 400m freestyle respectively at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow were followed by two golds at the European championships in Berlin.
The 24-year-old has continued into 2015, her switch to the coach Dave McNulty at the University of Bath paying dividends.
It was at this pool at the 2012 London Games where Katie Ledecky announced herself to the world as a 15-year-old, demolishing the field as she took Rebecca Adlington’s 800m title.
The American holds the world record in all Carlin’s events. The Briton has nothing but admiration but is uncowed. “It doesn’t scare me, it’s just motivation,” she said. “Katie Ledecky has done amazing thing for distance events, I think she has really pushed them on to a whole new level.
“I think that has been great for the rest of the girls because we are not just settling for these times, we always want to be faster. But I am going to try and do the best I can, I am trying to move myself on and be better.”
