Swimming: Britons celebrate gold haul

James Hickman, Alison Sheppard and Steve Parry led the way as Britain celebrated an unexpected medal haul on the final day of a FINA World Cup meet here yesterday.

Hickman took his tally to three golds and a bronze with victory in the 100m butterfly and 100m individual medley. Sheppard added gold in the 100m freestyle and a silver in the 100m individual medley to the gold she had already won, and Parry turned in a gold medal-winning performance in the 200m backstroke to add to his earlier silver.

The Exeter 17-year-old Liam Tancock capped off an impressive two days for Britain with a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke.

Perhaps the biggest achievement was that of the 15-year-old Chris Alderton from Wear Valley, who broke two 21-year-old 800m and 1500m freestyle British junior records.

The Chinese youngster Yu Yang took two golds yesterday in the women's 400m freestyle and 200m butterfly as her country claimed five golds.