BUDAPEST 2010: Simmonds wins Battle of Britain with Spofforth

By David Jordan, Sportsbeat, in Budapest

LIZZIE Simmonds held a ferocious fightback from compatriot Gemma Spofforth at bay to clinch a British 1-2 in the 200m backstroke at the European Championships in Budapest.

PURE JOY: Lizzie Simmonds beat British team-mate and world champion Gemma Spofforth to 200m backstroke gold in Budapest (Reuters)

Simmonds, 19, blew the majority of the field away after romping into a two-second lead at the halfway stage, where she was ahead of European record pace.

Spofforth, 22, was not to be outdone however, and she led the comeback, reeling Simmonds in with every stroke in the final stretch, only to run out of water and be forced to settle for silver.

This was always set to be the Battle of Britain. Simmonds arrived in Budapest as the fastest in the world this year over 200m while Spofforth is the reigning world champion over 100m.

At the World Championships last year, Spofforth finished fourth in the 200m final, just one place and the width of a fingernail ahead of Simmonds - but the youngster had her revenge in Hungary.

"I'm really pleased with that performance," said Simmonds, who touched home in 2:07.04 minutes - 1.21 seconds ahead of Spofforth.

"Coming into this meet, the heats were all about getting to the final for me but once I was in the final, I really wanted to perform - that was big swim.

"I tried to conserve as much energy as possible for the final and I tried to take it out fast in the final and then on the final length I didn't know where I was.

"I knew that Gemma was a couple of lanes away but I just kept pushing for the line and I touched home, looked at the scoreboard and was in disbelief."

Meanwhile, Spofforth, who is the first to admit her 200m is not as strong as her 100m, struggled to hide her disappointment, even though her priorities lie at October's Commonwealth Games this year.

"I wanted to win, every time I race I want to win and this was no different," said Spofforth. "So there is plenty of disappointment but I'll just have to put it down to the stage of the season.

"It's great for Lizzie though - there's no-one else that I'd have rather lost to than her."

Meanwhile, Robbie Renwick continued his excellent form in Budapest to win his 200m freestyle semi-final in 1:47.94 - the fourth fastest time in the field.

Germany's Paul Biedermann, the man best known for sinking Michael Phelps in this discipline at last year's World Championships, clocked the fastest time across the field, but Britain's Renwick was just 1.06 off the pace.

 The nation's leading energy supplier British Gas is the Principal Partner of British Swimming, and have pledged £15m to support the sport at all levels - from paddling pool to podium. For more information visit www.britishgas.co.uk/swimming