City of Manchester swimmer Chloe Golding basked in a strong start that helped her clock a personal best and earned 200m backstroke bronze at the World University Games in Naples, Italy.
Golding, a sports science and physiology student at Manchester Metropolitan University, stormed the Scandone Swimming Pool with a 2:09.57 race – her best-ever time over the distance.
The Warwick-born ace was delighted with a lightning quick first length, clocked at 31.03, that saw her clinch third behind American duo Lisa Bratton and Asia Seidt.
“I’m really happy,” said Golding, 19.
“In training, I’ve been working on my first 100 because my back end is usually pretty good, I’ve got a strong second half.
“To start with I was just focussing on not being too relaxed. The aim is obviously to be nice and comfortable but I wasn’t letting my stroke rate drop or anything.
“It was a strong front end and I backed it up. It wasn’t quite as fast as usual on the back end, because I paid the price for the first 100, but I’m delighted with the performance.”
Golding burst onto the scene in 2017 with a shock victory at the Swim England National Winter Championships, registering a then-personal best of 2:09.93 and Commonwealth qualification.
The multiple national champion at age group level went on to appear at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast as part of Team England.
The Universiade is widely recognised as the second largest multi-sport Games in the world after the Olympics, with over 10,000 participants from more than 150 countries.
Golding knew she was capable of bettering her 2017 mark on the big stage on the west coast of Italy.
“I knew I had a PB in me,” she said.
“I’d waited a couple of years for another drop and I knew I was capable of making the final, and a medal as well. I’ve got what I sought out to do.
“It was a personal best and it was nice to do it at such a big event. It’s nice to know I can do it when there’s pressure on me.”
British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national governing body for Higher Education (HE) sport in the UK, organising leagues and competitions for more than 150 institutions across 52 different sports. For more information visit bucs.org.uk
