Kindred makes it a hat-trick after second Beijing gold

By Paul Carter

Sascha Kindred has won his third successive SB7 100m breaststroke title, making it two golds out of two in Beijing.

Great Britain’s star swimmer also broke his own world record after touching home in 1:22.18, half a second faster than the mark he set at the World Championships in Durban back in 2006.

He didn’t have it all his own way in the race and was pushed hard over the first 50m by Australian surprise package, Blake Cochrane, who had knocked a massive chunk off his personal best just to qualify for the final.

But the 30-year-old kept his nerve and cruised past his rival over the last 25m to finish a second ahead of the field.

“I managed to bring out the performance at the right time,” he said.

“My breaststroke has not been right and Blake put pressure on me but I have been in that situation before and I knew what to do.”

Kindred’s victory was the highlight of the day in the Water Cube as, although Great Britain picked up more medals, many were not the colour the swimmers had been hoping for.

Kindred’s girlfriend Nyree Lewis lost her title in the S6 100m breaststroke and saw her world record broken by Mirjam de Koning-Peper as she had to settle for silver.

“I could see de Koning-Peper on my right side and so I knew she was on my shoulder,” said Lewis.

“I should have gone quicker but it just wasn’t there tonight. I was hoping to catch the Chinese girl on the last 50m but I just couldn’t catch the Dutch swimmer.”

Jim “the Swim” Anderson won a bronze in the S2 100m freestyle to add to his 200m silver on day one, while a disappointed Claire Cashmore could only pick up a bronze in the SB8 100m breaststroke.

“I wanted that gold medal so much. At least there’s 2012 in London, that’s just the way I’ve got to look at it,” she said.

Bronze was the colour for Anthony Stephens, too, who was also disappointed.

“I’m not really sure what happened there. I’m in the best shape of my life after some good gym work but I’m going to go back and assess my splits and see what happened.

“I’m happy to get a medal though. I’ve not medalled at a major meet. It just wasn’t the colour I was looking for.”