Man of Steel Tancock flexes his muscles in Sheffield

 

WITH hands on hips and chest puffed out, all Liam Tancock needed was a Superman cape and he would've been British Swimming's version of the Man of Steel in Sheffield.

MAN OF STEEL: Liam Tancock saved some of his energy in Sheffield to concentrate on Commonwealth Games qualification (Getty Images)

Faster than a speeding bullet might be an exaggeration for his efforts in the Steel City but the 24-year old was nigh on untouchable at Ponds Forge and one 100m backstroke title should really have been a hat-trick of golds.

But after a world leading time in the 50m backstroke semi finals and the third fastest time in the world in the 100m freestyle morning heats (quicker than Olympic champion Cesar Cielo Filho‘s efforts so far this year), Tancock stopped himself, pulling out of the finals to focus on Commonwealth Games qualification in the 100m backstroke.

"I have no ambitions to do the 100m freestyle at a major games," said Tancock.

"I'm all about going to meets and doing really well and I would need to go a hell of a lot faster to win freestyle in major meets."

Of course, he stormed through to win the 100m backstroke final in what would have been a world record time before the introduction of the now-extinct non-textile ‘super' swimsuits 25 months ago.

And while his times were worthy of praise alone, it was his unwavering focus on ‘the processes' which drew me in.

London 2012 is (or certainly should be) the ultimate goal for nearly every member of the British swim team but it is clear the Commonwealths are the next step towards that and Tancock wasn't the only person to withdraw from races to focus on their main events.

But while Tancock was a shining light in keeping his diary uncluttered this week, the same couldn't be said of some of his female teammates in the British squad.

‘It's been a long week' became the phrase of the competition with Jaz Carlin - undoubtedly a contender to Jo Jackson and Rebecca Adlington's dominance in the middle distance freestyle events - in particular feeling the rigours of a gruelling schedule.

NEW COMPETITION: Rebecca Adlington faces a new contender as the queen of middle distance swimming in the shape of Jaz Carlin (Getty Images)

But it's a schedule Adlington, who repeated her feat of 2008 to lift the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle titles, is planning to embrace this season.

"I would like to try doing all three this season because at London hopefully I can go for more than one event," said Adlington, whose usual rival Jackson played a bit part role in Sheffield after her on-going asthma problems.

"Previously I've just been focused on the 800m but I think I need to try it and see how it goes.

"I realise at London I'll be a bit older and I might not be able to recover in between all these races so it's important to do this now. I feel old now - it takes me so much longer to recover than it used to."