Darren Mew was sensationally sent home from Montreal last night following his disappointing performance in the 100m breaststroke heats, where he failed to progress to the semi finals after clocking 1:02.43. That time was over two seconds outside his Commonwealth Record of 1:00.02 and Mew, the fourth fastest performer all time in the event, was at a loss to explain his poor showing.
The University of Bath swimmer will now focus his attention on the forthcoming Commonwealth Games trials as he contemplates a cut in his lottery funding following his Montreal outing.
“Both for Darren and the team, it was best that he went home to resolve whatever made him go so slow,” British head coach Ian Turner said “We’ve had serious words with Darren before he returned home about the physiological side of what he is doing and secondly about Darren’s perception of the volume of work required for a 100m breaststroke. He struggles to taper off a minimum work load.”
Turner went on to say that both Mew and James Gibson, another swimmer to disappoint at this meet, had to ask themselves “serious questions about where their future lies. Bill has confronted Darren and we are all aware that at some time or another we have to say ‘enough is enough you guys’, and we have to review things.”