OK, hearken back to the movie "Chariots of Fire". Two chaps from the UK, Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, uphold the honor of the British Empire with two gold medals in the 1924 Paris Olympics. For various reasons (such as not running in a 100m prelim on a Sunday), Liddell ends up winning the 400 meters and Abrahams the 100 meter dash. Which is historically accurate, though not every part of the movie was. Liddell set a world record in the 400 meters to boot.
Flash forward to March 16. Olympic gold medalist Rebecca Adlington and rival Joanne Jackson -- both from the UK! -- duel in the pool stroke for stroke in the 400 meter freestyle at the British national championships. Jackson holds the lead most of the way, but Adlington nearly catches her at the end. Result: a new WORLD (that's right, WORLD) record for Jackson, who nearly breaks the 4:00 barrier (for women, obviously) in the race.
While the Brits have always had good swimmers; breaststrokers David Wilkie and Adrian Moorhouse come to mind -- they're just not a powerhouse with stacks of swimmers like the US or the Aussies. So it's good to see the girls setting a record for the glory of Queen and country.
Here's the race, with video:
British Long Course Championships: Flash! Joanne Jackson Sets World Record in 400 Free
Oh yeah: was any of this on ESPN Sportscenter? Was it even MENTIONED on ESPN Sportscenter? Of course not. How can non-professional sports get more than a toehold in this country when the major networks don't cover them? (And there's no more ABC Wide World of Sports any more, either).
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