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All the up-to-date news on Melanie Marshall

Melanie Marshall news update

All the latest news of Boston-area international swimming star Melanie Marshall based at Loughborough University, former member of Boston Amateur Swimming Club and life member of the South Lincs Swimming Club in Spalding.

2007 news

Tough going for Mel in world medals attempt

March 25 to April 1

Melanie Marshall missed out on podium glory in the FINA World Championships in Melbourne — the scene, last year, of her feat in becoming the most successful English competitor in an individual Commonwealth Games when she won six medals.

This time around, though, Melanie found life a touch tougher in a competition that ran from March 25 to April 1. In the 200m backstroke event, she finished third in her qualifying heat in 2:13.60 but her time saw her finish 20^th on the list of fastest swimmers and thus missed out on a place in the semi-finals.

In her favoured discipline, the 200m freestyle, Melanie qualified from the heats in a time of 1:59.59 but then had to settle for sixth spot in her semi-finals in a time of 1:59.14 and missed out on a place in the final, ending up as 11^th fastest in the rankings.
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In the 4 x 200m freestyle relay, Melanie was part of the British squad and along with team-mates Joanne Jackson, Julia Beckett and Caitlin McClatchey helped to ensure qualification from the heats in 8:00.34. But despite conjuring up a faster time in the final (with Francesca Halsall replacing Julai Beckett), the GB squad had to settle for fifth place overall.

Melanie was also involved in the 4 x 100m medley relay, swimming the concluding freestyle leg to play a part in helping the squad (also including Lizzie Simmonds, Kirsty Balfour and Terri Dunning) to clinch the last qualifying place into the final in 4:05.85. Medal honours were then only just missed when the squad (with Francesca Halsall standing in for Simmonds) came fourth in 4:02.18, just 0.21 seconds adrift of China in the bronze medal place.

In the 4 x 100m freestyle relay Melanie teamed up with Francesca Halsall, Julia Beckett and Rosalind Brett to finish as eight fastest qualifiers from the heats in 3:41.28. And it was eighth place again in the final for the same quartet in a faster time of 3:40.94.

2006 news

Gold Coast camp work beckons

October 2

An eight-week training camp is about to begin for Melanie Marshall on Australia’s Gold Coast in readiness for her return to competitive action for the 2006-2007 swimming season. She is part of a Great Britain contingent undertaking the schedule — one that will be followed in due course by a return to Australia for next year’s World Championships (to be held in Melbourne, the scene of her six-medal Commonwealth Games feat). Melanie has already been selected for the GB squad for the competition that starts on March 25.

Freedom accolade for swim star Mel

September 20

Melanie Marshall gained another top accolade when she was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Boston — in recognition of her feats in swimming’s international arena, most notably her achievements in winning six medals in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March. Those exploits made her England’s most decorated female competitor in any single Commonwealth Games. Her reward when attending the council chambers was to accept the Freedom honour from Mayor of Boston, Councillor Richard Leggott. He said: “We certainly don’t give these out every week, month or even every year. But you are being rewarded for your achievement of excellence.” The mayor and council chief executive Mick Gallagher signed the freedom scroll to make the award official – a small copy of which was presented to Melanie in a silver case. Among the rights bestowed upon her is an age-old tradition of being allowed to herd sheep through the town centre! After the ceremony, Melanie said: “I was really overwhelmed. It was nice to hear what people think. I didn’t realise what an impact things have had on others.”

Golden conclusion to Mel’s Euro meet

August 6

A gold medal was Melanie Marshall’s reward as the European Championships drew to a conclusion in Hungary. The crowning glory of her five-event involvement came as part of Britain’s 4 x 100m medley relay squad. Mel contested the opening backstroke leg in 1 minute 02.99 seconds before handing over in succession to team-mates Kirsty Balfour (breaststroke), Terri Dunning (butterfly) and Fran Halsall (freestyle) for a 4 minutes 02.24 seconds winning time — knocking three seconds off the previous British best time for the discipline. They were 0.11 seconds ahead of Germany with France taking the bronze slot.

Fourth spot for Mel in favoured event

August 4 and 5

Melanie Marshall just missed out on a podium position in her favoured 200m individual freestyle discipline in the European Championships in Hungary. She was fourth in the final, her time of 1:58.95 being half a second off bronze and 1.7 seconds adrift of gold medallist Otylia Jedrzejczak of Poland. Mel had qualified as third fasted from her heat (2:00.36) and fourth quickest from the semi-finals (1:59.44).

Elsewhere, she was also involved in the British 4 x 200m freestyle relay. Other members of the squad were Jo Jackson (Durham Aquatics), Fran Halsall (City of Liverpool) and Caitlin McClatchey (Loughborough University) — set a new British best time of 7:57.86 (Mel’s first leg time being 1:59.99). But they still had to settle for fourth spot.

The German team smashed the world record by nearly three seconds to win gold in 7:50.82. Poland took silver in 7:56.32 and France won bronze in 7:56.44.

It’s backstroke bronze joy for Mel

August 2

Melanie Marshall is back among the top competition medals. She secured a hard-won bronze in the 200m backstroke at the European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She attacked hard in the final and was always among the front runners. Esther Baron of France eventually emerged a decisive victor in 2 minutes 10.07 seconds, more than two seconds clear of her rivals. And in the touch for the other podium places, Ukraine’s Iryna Amshennikova got home 0.04 seconds ahead of Mel’s 12:12.17. The final had been postponed from the previous night when thunder, lightning and heavy rain set in and played havoc with the outdoor pool’s electronic timing system. To book her final place, Mel was fifth fastest swimmer from the semi-finals with a time of 2:12.88. Earlier she was fourth fastest from the heat rankings in 2:12.75.

Mel’s backstroke swim came after she had been part of the British 4 x 100m freestyle relay team alongside Caitlin McClatchey, Ros Brett (both from the same Loughborough University camp as Mel) and Fran Halsall (City of Liverpool). The quartet came fifth in the final in a time of 3:41.44, six seconds adrift of champions Germany (who set a new world record in 3:35.22) and nearly three seconds off bronze spot. Mel is also expected to contest the 4 x 200m freestyle relay on Thursday August 3 and her blue ribband individual 200m freestyle discipline on Friday August 4.

Barcelona gold glory is secured

June 10 and 11

In the third and concluding leg of the Mare Nostrum tour event in Barcelona, Mel Marshall took gold in the women’s 200m freestyle event with a strong swim after dominating from start to finish. She was largely untroubled as she touched for the victory in 1 min 59.10 seconds, just ahead of Camelia Potec of Romania in 2.00.17 and Arantxa Ramos of Spain in 2.01.28. Mel had qualified third fasted in a time of 2.01.71. Elsewhere on the Barcelona agenda, Mel also raced to a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke. She qualified fastest from her heat in 1.02.94 and then went quicker in the final (1.02.29). Bust Aussie pair Tayliah Zimmer (1.01.69) and Sophie Edington (1.02.11) edged her out to third on the medals podium. Mel had not been involved in the first leg of the Mare Nostrum competition in Monaco over the weekend of June 3 and 4.

More medals for Mel

June 7 and 8:

There were more medals for Mel Marshall in her latest competitive action when she was involved in the Mare Nostrum tour meet in France. She claimed a silver success in the women’s 100m backstroke discipline when clocking in at 1 minute 02.28 seconds - just half a second behind Tayliah Zimmer of Australia, the pair having qualified as the fastest duo in the same order from the heats. There was also silver success for Mel in her favoured 200m freestyle discipline. Emerging as fastest qualifier from the heats (2.00.81), she was edged out into second spot in the final, her time of 1.59.80 being just by three tenths of a second adrift of Annika Liebs of  Germany.

World Short Course Championships

April 5 to April 9:

There was no medals success for Melanie Marshall at the world short course championships in Shanghai. She contested the 100m and 200m freestyle events but missed out on podium finishes despite reaching both finals. In the 200m discipline Mel qualified as fifth fastest from her heat in 1 min 57.51 seconds. Despite improving on that time to 1.57.06, she had to settle for sixth place in the final, some 2.12 seconds adrift of gold medallist Yu Yang of China. On the 100m front, Mel was fifth fastest qualifier from the heats in 54.26 seconds and sixth quickest from the semi-finals in 54.15. A time of 53.81 in the final, though, was good enough only for fifth place.

Mel aiming for more glories

Tuesday March 28:

Melanie Marshall is preparing herself for another bid for medals glory. Fresh from achieving a six-medal haul in the Commonwealth Games, She is building towards her next challenge in the pool — the world short course championships in China, a competition that will run from April 5 to April 9 in Shanghai. For the event in China, Melanie will revert to being an integral part of the British squad having earned the glory of being the most decorated England competitor at a single Commonwealth Games with her four silver and two bronze medals in Melbourne.

Commonwealth Games 2006

Melbourne, Australia

Brilliant Melanie sets an all-time medal haul Games record

Tuesday March 21:

Melanie Marshall etched her name in the history books by becoming the most prolific English woman medallist at a single Commonwealth Games. Her silver success in the 4x100m medley relay was her sixth medal at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. It means she surpasses the five medals won by swimmers June Croft in 1982, Karen Pickering in 1994 and Karen Legg in 2002. She equals the record set by swimmer Brian Brinkley in 1974 and shooter Malcolm Cooper in 1982. The feat that gave her celebratory status came after she led off the medley team in the backstroke discipline. But the Australian quartet — in setting a new world record — proved just too quick for Mel, Terri Dunning, Kate Haywood and Fran Halsall (timed in at 4.04.61) to overhaul. But silver success gave Melanie her place among the sports all-time legendary names.

Monday March 20:

Two more silver medals came Melanie Marshall’s way during the later part of the day. First she clocked a personal best of 2 minutes 10.87 seconds in finishing second in the 200m backstroke, just behind Australia’s Jo Fargus who set a new Games record of 2.10.37. Melanie had qualified as third fastest from her heats in 2.12.43 — vindicating her decision to opt out of the 100m freestyle. Her second silver came in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay along with Rosalind Brett, Amy Smith and Francesca Halsall just ahead of Canada in 3.42.65 but behind the hot favourites and uncatchable Australians who set a new Games record of 3.36.69. The double haul took Melanie’s medals haul to five — with still the 4 x 100m individual medley relay to come on Tuesday.

Monday March 20:

Fresh from her success in claiming two individual bronze medals plus a team silver, Melanie Marshall took to the pool again — this time in the 200m backstroke. And she won through to the final in the third fastest qualifying time of 2 minutes 12.43 seconds (good enough to win her heat). Fastest heat time was set by Joanna Fargus of Australia in 2.10.84.

Saturday March 18:

Less than half-an-hour after her bronze medal backstroke feat, Melanie Marshall was back in the pool as part of the English 4 x 200m freestyle relay squad. And further medal success came her way. She powered through on the decisive anchor leg in an individual time of 1.59.4 to help her team to achieve a coveted silver medal position behind hot favourites Australia. For the England squad, Jo Jackson led the way in 1.59.1, Kate Richardson took over the second leg and Julia Beckett completed the third leg before Melanie completed the job as the team were timed in at 8.01.23.

Saturday March 18:

A fine display in the final of the 100m backstroke earned Melanie Marshall her second bronze medal of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She produced a powerful display to prevent Australia landing a 1-2-3 clean sweep. Mel was always up with the pace and returned a time of 1.01.55 to claim third place, only a fraction behind Giaan Rooney (1.01.42) and gold medallist Sophie Edington (1.00.93). The bronze medal was deserved reward for Mel’s decision to tackle the backstroke discipline rather than the 100m freestyle and signalled something of a return to her roots, as she was a strong backstroke swimmer in her junior days.

Friday March 17:

Melanie Marshall switched disciplines to tackle the qualifying heats of the 100m backstroke event and produced an excellent display to leave her seven rivals adrift as she powered to a win in a time of 1.01.92 seconds. It was good enough to put her through to the semi-finals as second fastest qualifier behind Sophie Edington of New Zealand in 1.01.32. Later in the day, Melanie won through to the final by finishing third fastest qualifier from the semis in a time of 1.01.91 seconds behind Aussie pair Sophie Edington (1.01.30) and Giaan Rooney (1.01.68).

Thursday March 16:

Melanie Marshall secured a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the 200m freestyle event in Australia. The 24-year-old from Wrangle qualified as fifth fastest for the final in Melbourne in 2 minutes 00.50 seconds. And despite putting in a gutsy display and swimming to a time of 1.58.11, she was unable to peg back Scotland’s Caitlin McClatchey (gold) and Australia’s Libby Lenton but in the final, she still took credit with third spot for herself and the England squad overall. It was England’s first medal in this year’s Games. In 2002, Melanie won a silver medal as part of England’s 4 x 100m relay team in the Manchester Games. In the remainder of the current Games, Melanie has the 100m backstroke and three relay events on her agenda.