Rio Olympics 2016: Siobhan-Marie O’Connor wins silver in 200m individual medley with huge personal best
But it wasn’t good enough to beat Hungary’s answer to the Iron Lady: Katinka Hosszu
SIOBHAN-MARIE O'CONNOR won Britain’s third medal in the pool with a huge personal best in the 200m individual medley.
But it wasn’t good enough to beat Hungary’s answer to the Iron Lady: Katinka Hosszu.
The Hungarian claimed her third gold of the Games in an Olympic record time.
O'Connor said: Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, whose training can be hampered by ulcerative colitis, said: “It is an absolutely amazing feeling. I have had probably the most consistent block of work that I have ever had leading up to this.
“I was really confident coming into it because sometimes I can have disruptions. I felt in a really good place. My team have just been amazing at keeping me fit and health and in training. It is brilliant and I am over the moon with that result.
“I was pretty nervous in the call room. I just knew I had to try and stick to how I swim the race best. In the past sometimes I have gone out too hard and tried to really sit with Katinka and I haven’t had a finish.
“I just had to swim it how I know best and when I turned on the breaststroke I was surprised I was quite close. When I looked around and saw the time I was over the moon because I didn’t think I had that time in me and I am really pleased to have pushed her as hard as I could.
“It is amazing to be a part of it [the Team GB swimming team]. This is such a brilliant performance, we are just on an absolute roll this week and I am just so proud to be part of the team.
“We have had a good few years and changed a lot and we have got some amazing swimmers on our team. Our staff and our coaches and our support team are absolutely incredible, they have done everything for us and we are so well prepared, we have come into this met with a lot of confidence.”
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On this evidence, O’Connor’s time may well come though and having qualified fastest, the 20 year old swam superbly.
Hosszu, already the 400m medley and 100m backstroke champion in Rio, understandably pulled away a bit on the backstroke leg.
But O’Connor kept the Hungarian honest and finished just 0.30 seconds behind her in 2.06.88, a new British record.