Devastated Davies Left Looking For A Favour From The Selectors

By Liz Byrnes in Glasgow

Georgia Davies was “absolutely devastated” after she finished well outside the consideration time for the World Championships in South Korea this summer.

The 29-year-old led from start to finish to win the 100m backstroke British title for the third time in the last four years but her time of 1min 00.31secs was 1.19secs adrift of that guaranteed to make the Great Britain team and 0.84 outside the cut-off for consideration for selection.

For Davies, who trains with the Energy Standard club in Belek, Turkey, it was a stark contrast with 2018 when two bronzes with Team Wales at the Commonwealth Games was followed by four trips to the podium – including two to the top step – at August’s European Championships.

She won silver over 100m then in 59.36, which would probably have been sufficient to book her place on the team for Gwangju in July had she replicated it.

However, there was confusion and a sense of shock poolside and Davies was honest in her assessment of the possible ramifications.

Georgia Davies won two bronze medals in Australia last year. Pic: Getty Images.

“I have no idea,” she said. “The standards they have set, there is the automatic one and the consideration one and I have not seen anyone be selected when they have ben outside the consideration time.

“I know there is always a chance for the relay to qualify but in order for that to happen all four individual strokes need to be fast enough.

“And that time I just swum is not good enough. And I would not be happy: I want to be going to World Championships but I need to be better than that. I don’t know what went wrong to be honest.”

She had felt on track to qualify after a good block of training which only compounded the outcome at Tollcross.

“Definitely,” she said. “I feel I am quite confident in my training and I know what it takes to go those times. Only eight months ago I was in this exact pool swimming those times. I feel like I have had a really consistent block doing very similar stuff to what I did last year but I honestly don’t know what happened.”

Now it is in the hands of head coach Bill Furniss and national performance director Chris Spice – the men who make the final decisions regarding selection.

“They are the ones who make the call,” Davies said. “If they think that they want to give me a chance I’d be so eternally grateful but ultimately the time is there for a reason.

“They don’t want to take people to the World Championships who don’t deserve to be there. And ultimately 60.3 doesn’t deserve – based on their qualifying standards – to be there but I know I am a better swimmer than that.

“I know I have proved myself in the past. If I can only work out what went wrong and correct that then maybe they will put their trust in me and past experiences.

“But it is up to them, it is in their hands, I can’t do any more now.”

In contrast, Harriet Jones, of City of Cardiff, finished second in the 50m butterfly.

The 22-year-old just missed the final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Gold Coast, locked out by one place and 0.18secs in ninth.

Second fastest through from the morning heats in 26.79, Jones returned to take second in 26.84, 0.04 behind winner Charlotte Atkinson.

Jones’ Cardiff teammate Xavier Castelli was eighth in the 100m backstroke in 56.10.