Jay Lelliott wins 400m Freestyle silver at 2017 Universiade

Jay Lelliott won 400m Freestyle silver to claim Great Britain’s first swimming medal of the 2017 Universiade in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Bath University swimmer clocked 3:48.88 to come home second behind Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk’s meet record 3:45.96.

Lelliott came into the event as defending champion, having won the title two years ago in Gwangju, South Korea.

He looked sharp as he won his heat in 3:48.30 – the fourth fastest time of his career and faster than the 3:48.84 he set to win gold two years ago.

But while the English swimmer lead the final through the opening 100m, he couldn’t hold on to Romanchuk, who was competing off the back of 1500m Freestyle silver at the World Championships in Budapest.

“The heat felt great – at about 250m I felt like I was in a good position so I started to shut it down a little bit,” said the 22-year-old.

“But in the final I just couldn’t quite get the catch with my stroke and I struggled with it.

“I’m a bit upset about that, I’m a bit devastated, I wanted to go quicker – but at the end of the day what’s happened has happened.”

The result brings Lelliott his third Universiade medal, having also won 800m Freestyle silver two years ago.

Jackson and Hopkin finish fourth with 4x100m Free Relay

Jessica Jackson and Anna Hopkin were the other English finalists on the opening day in Taiwan.

The pair teamed up with Scotland’s Lucy Hope and Wales’ Kathryn Greenslade in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay.

The British quartet finished fourth in 3:40.86, missing out on bronze by just 0.77 seconds.

#WUGSGB: 4️⃣th place by just 0️⃣.0️⃣2️⃣ 😱

Great swim by @rkellyno4 in 5️⃣0️⃣m butterfly 🏊‍♀️#SUTaipei2017#TargetGREATNESSpic.twitter.com/89MUFWLPlW

— BUCS (@BUCSsport) August 21, 2017

There was another fourth place on the second day for Loughborough University’s Rachael Kelly.

Kelly was an agonising 0.02 seconds shy of the podium in the 50m Butterfly final. She she came home in 26.53.

Image credit: Team Bath Twitter