Blackburn misses ‘B’ final
Lisa Blackburn missed out on the 200 metres Individual Medley ‘B’ final yesterday, placing 18th overall in heat times.Her time of two minutes, 31.87 seconds was more than five seconds slower then her best in the same event over the summer.But it wasn’t total disappointment for the veteran, said national coach Ben Smith who noted that Blackburn would be returning to Naples, Florida to continue training after a short break in Bermuda.“She is swimming okay for early season and will have picked up some good experience and information on where she is in her preparation for her Olympic qualification bid,” said Smith.“She will be returning to Naples and will be aiming to improve her race speed and technique so that we can expect better results at her next meet.“Lisa has just recently started a new programme in Florida and it will take time to settle in before we will see the improvements under her new coach.”In the 100 breaststroke ‘B’ final on Monday night, Blackburn clocked one minute, 14.75 seconds, good enough for 15th place overall.“It was exciting to see Danielle Beaubrun from Saint Lucia swim 1:10.63 and make the Olympic qualifying time,” added Smith.“Within the Caribbean region we are small teams and we work to support one another.”