Double Commonwealth Medal Joy for Bolton School's Emma
Published on isbi School News dated Monday 8th of November 2010
Year 12 swimmer Emma Saunders returned to Bolton School from the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi with not one but two medals!Emma was the youngest member of Team England to pick up a medal after she joined forces with Rebecca Adlington in the 4x200m freestyle relay where the team won bronze and also set a new English record! Emma, who is the 2010 European junior champion over 50m backstroke, swam a superb leg in the relay alongside Adlington, Jo Jackson and Sasha Matthews to claim the bronze in 7.58.61 minutes, behind Australia who took gold and New Zealand who took silver.
She then went on to help England's 4x100m freestyle relay squad claim Silver, taking her tally to two medals, an amazing achievement for the youngster. Emma joined Amy Smith, Jess Sylvester and Fran Halsall to clock 3.40.03 and finish third in the race, but the England team were upgraded to silver after Canada, who had originally placed second, were disqualified for a false start during one of their exchanges. Emma swam the third leg in 55.51 seconds before handing on to Jess Sylvester.
Reality now hits as Emma catches up with her coursework at School whilst continuing her training schedule at the City of Manchester pool - she visits the pool nine times a week! Her main aim for the Commonwealth Games had been to reach the 100m Freestyle final, which she achieved, recording an 8th place finish; she also recorded a new personal best, allowing her to reach the final. The two relay medals were an added bonus. Emma's next big decision is whether to finish her A Levels in the summer of 2012 or to take a year out so she can focus wholly on the London Olympics.
On the 4x200m freestyle relay, Emma said: "That's the most fun I think I've had in swimming. It was amazing to do that relay in a record time and win a medal. I knew we were just outside the medals at the takeover but I just gave it absolutely everything."