Freya Anderson won bronze in a dramatic medley relay final in Birmingham

By Josh Graham

Freya Anderson was furious after being pipped for silver by five hundredths of a second in the 4x100m medley relay final.

Birkenhead-born Anderson, 21, swam the final leg at the Sandwell Aquatics Center in Birmingham and looked set to pull England to silver before Canada went first in a dramatic finish.

In the immediate aftermath, Anderson was left with regrets about what might have been, but once the dust settled she admitted that her fourth relay podium of the Games was nothing to sniff at, especially since she had already put in a lot of effort when she came fifth in the women’s 100m freestyle. final earlier on Tuesday night.

“I’m a bit bummed but a medal is a medal and I’m glad we could do it in front of a home crowd,” said Anderson, who is one of more than 1,100 elite athletes in UK Sport’s World Class programme, funded by the national lottery. , allowing them to train full-time, have access to the best trainers in the world and benefit from pioneering technology, science and medical support.

“We’re a bit annoyed to be overwhelmed by so much, but the whole team has done brilliantly.

“I knew I just had to put my head down. I ran the individual today so I was a little tied up. We didn’t know where we were coming from, but to get a medal is amazing.

“I just wanted to make the crowd and my teammates proud. This team has always done so well, it’s certainly an achievement we should all be proud of.”

Lauren Cox won her first medal of the Commonwealth Games but her opening leg left the team with some work to do in sixth place.

James Wilby, Adam Peaty’s conqueror in Sunday night’s 100m breaststroke final, gained a place before James Guy took the home nation into the medal places, handing it to Anderson in third.

A solid swim looked set to take home second place with the crowd roaring every stroke, but it was not to be, and team-mate Wilby said Anderson should be proud of her efforts, despite feel highlighted at the end result.

Wilby said: “We’ve all had individuals tonight but it’s a big effort for the team.

“Freya put an absolute champion 50 years ago, even if she can be a little disgusted by it. We should be really proud of that.”

Anderson said she wanted to turn silver into gold after two second-place finishes in the women’s medley relay and 4x100m freestyle.

But as it turned out, she only managed to equal the bronze medal she won in the women’s 4x200m freestyle.

In the individual, Anderson clocked 57 seconds to finish one place behind compatriot Anna Hopkin, with a rampant Australia claiming a one-two-three underscoring their group dominance this week.

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