Simmonds sets world record

Simmonds produced a stunning swim to shave nearly a second off her own 200 metres medley best, clocking 3:08.14.

The 17-year old, a double Paralympic champion in Beijing, has enjoyed a successful week at the British Gas Swimming Championships, also achieving the London 2012 qualifying standard in the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle.

"To come into the 200 and smash my world record, I just can't believe it," she said. "I'm so chuffed. I was really emotional, I just couldn't believe it.

"To get a world record in this pool in front of the home fans is just amazing.

"It is going to be really good in the summer, to have a home crowd and everyone cheering and knowing it is going to be ten times more in the Paralympics and I can't wait."

However, by the standards of recent British Championships, most notably 2008 and 2009, records and personal bests have been few and far between this week among the sport's established names.

Since Fina, swimming's world governing body, outlawed non-textile 'supersuits', competitors have had to recalibrate their expectations.

At the Beijing Olympics 25 world records were set, including Rebecca Adlington's best in the 800m freestyle.

One year later, the World Championships in Rome were dubbed the 'plastic Games' such was the appliance of science to swim suit technology, with a massive 43 world records broken.

In contrast, at last year's World Championship in Shanghai, just two swimmers set new marks - Ryan Lochte in the 200m medley and China's Sun Yang in the 1500m freestyle.

So enjoy and saviour Simmonds's new best - and don't expect the Olympic record books, flawed almost beyond recognition by the sport's unfortunate flirtation with NASA technology, to be too extensively rewritten in the months ahead.