Road To Rio: Swimming duo make a splash with double success in Belgium

Middlesbrough’s Willmott was in especially good form, outshining both triple European champion Katinka Hosszu and Commonwealth gold medallist Hannah Miley as she confirmed her continued good progress ahead of next year’s Olympics in Rio.

Willmott, who won two silver medals at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, will primarily be targeting the 400m Individual Medley next summer, and her success in the event in Antwerp augurs well for a season that will peak at the World Championships in Kazan, which are scheduled for late July and early August.

The 21-year-old was always in control of the final, pulling clear of Hosszu, who has dominated the event at European level in recent seasons, and finishing comfortably clear of Miley, who edged a thrilling Commonwealth final last July.

Willmott, who also claimed a silver medal in the 400m freestyle behind team-mate Jazz Carlin and a bronze in the 200m Individual Medley, celebrated her second success in the final of the 200m butterfly, an event that is rapidly becoming one of her specialities.

One of her two Commonwealth silvers came in the 200m fly, and while she will be wary of taking on too many events at an Olympics, she will surely be tempted to enter the event at the World Championships in order to test herself at the very highest level with a possible Olympic appearance in mind.

Taylor, who is from Harrogate, will hope to compete in at least two breaststroke events in Rio, and having claimed a Commonwealth gold in the 100m, she triumphed in the both the 50m and 100m events in Antwerp.

The 18-year-old is regarded as one of the brightest prospects on the senior British squad, and her early-season performances suggest she is more than capable of building on last year’s breakthrough season, which saw her set a new British record as well as claim two Commonwealth medals.

Both Willmott and Taylor have relocated to London to train at the Aquatic Centre in the Olympic Park at Stratford, and the move appears to be paying dividends with their form at the start of this season representing another step forward from where they found themselves at the same stage of last year.

The Flanders Cup proved a successful competition for the whole of the British team, with British swimmers claiming 56 medals in total, 20 of which were gold.

As well as Willmott and Taylor, Carlin, James Guy, Adam Peaty, Ben Proud and Lauren Quigley also secured a double by winning both of their events.

“We saw some nice early-season times and some good racing with the vast majority of the team swimming well,” said British Swimming head coach Bill Furniss. “The racing was of a high standard and we witnessed some very encouraging early-season performances. All in all, the weekend proved an excellent start to the season.

“A lot of the athletes raced multiple events every session and, considering none were rested and are all at different stages of preparation ahead of the major events, I was pleased with the performances.

“The event forms part of our ongoing race strategy where we promote our team behaviours, work on our skills and challenge the coaching group. I know athletes and coaches alike took a lot from the event and will apply these to what will be an important year for us in the four-year cycle.”

Meanwhile, Harrogate’s Jack Laugher was part of the British Diving squad that travelled to Rio earlier this month to acquaint themselves with the venue for next year’s Olympics.

A group of Britain’s leading divers trained in the pool that will host next year’s Games, where Laugher will hope to compete in both the individual and synchro events.

The group spent two weeks in Brazil as part of their winter training schedule, ahead of a World Cup programme that will help form part of the Olympic qualification process.