29 August 14
COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Bronze winner James Guy helped team to golden finish but missed out on final
BURY swimmer James Guy admitted a challenging Commonwealth Games schedule had taken its toll on his body after he was left to feel a little helpless following a last final individual outing.
The 18-year-old was fighting off fatigue before his eighth race of what has been a busy meet for him in Glasgow and a time of 52.63 seconds in the 100m butterfly final for sixth reflected that.
The event wasn’t however a main focus for Guy, who had opened up his Games campaign with a lifetime best time of 3:44.58 in the 400m freestyle final to claim a bronze medal.
A swim in the heats of the 4x100m medley relay was his final action for Team England, helping the quartet secure a spot in the final – a race they subsequently won gold in without him.
And Guy insists the Games will stand him in good stead if he is picked for the Rio Olympics in 2016 after learning how difficult it can be to secure passage to a final without exerting too much energy along the way.
“It was alright – it was a long week, I was tired and I felt it starting to affect my swimming,” said Guy. “But I had to keep pushing on.
“I would’ve liked to have swam a personal best in that last event but I focused on my freestyle for this meet.
“The 100m butterfly is just a fun event and that’s all I could give to it really on the night.
“I might be doing too many events but it’s just about balancing it right as sometimes you can cruise through the heats and keep something back for the final.
“I was surprised how fast I was going in the 400m heats and the 200m freestyle heats, which pushed me on a bit but also tired me.”
Meanwhile, Lewis Coleman ended a disappointing meet in Glasgow in the 200m individual medley heats, failing to make the final as he could only finish 14th fastest.
The 22-year-old was only able to produce a time of 2mins 4.63secs, meaning that he would miss out on a second final after failure in the men’s 200m freestyle earlier in the week.
