Maughan coming to terms with her efforts at British Championships

By Samuel Wakefield, Sportsbeat

AMELIA Maughan battled nerves, doubts and injury to secure two European Junior Championship swims at the British equivalent - and admits she's only coming to terms with it now after a hectic week in London.

 
PLEASED AS PUNCH: Amelia Maughan was happy with her efforts at the British Championships in London

Maughan admitted to not knowing what to expect ahead of the Olympic trials in London but there was little need to worry as she impressed in the 200m and 100m freestyles in particular.

She finished ninth in the 200m in 2:01.18minutes - missing the final by 0.76seconds - and seventh in the 100m in 56.02 with, most importantly, both times inside the European junior qualifying standard.

Maughan even recovered from straining a ligament in her elbow in the 200m semi-final to hit the mark in the 100m - and she can't quite believe just how well she has done.

"It hasn't quite sunk, all my family and friends have been supporting me so much and to be honest I didn't think I was going to do that well," said Maughan.

"But now I am starting to realise how well I did with people saying congratulations and saying how well I have done, so I guess it has sunk in a bit.

"I can't wait for the European Junior Championships, it will be so much fun, but there are many competitors who are going really fast at the moment.

"But it will be a really good competition and I've been to Antwerp before and it is a very fast pool so hopefully it will be a good meet. I'm going to be training for it now."

Maughan opened her campaign at the Olympic Aquatics Centre in the 400m freestyle, clocking 4:19.88, and closed it in the 50m splash and dash recording a time of 26.51.

She didn't make it out of the heats of either but Maughan credits her opening swim in the 400m freestyle for the performances that were to come in the 200m and 100m.

"Before I raced I had a feeling it was going to be a bad week but the 400m gave me every confidence and I have just taken it from there," she added.

"Confidence levels rose and I started to enjoy the week more and it has just got better and better and it has turned into a brilliant week."

To celebrate 15 years of support for British Swimming, Kellogg's is offering a ‘Free Kids Swim' on 30 million packs of cereal to encourage families to take the plunge together. Collect a voucher on pack and take it down to your local participating pool. For more information, please visit www.kelloggs.co.uk/swimming

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