The suit is not all - at least not yet. Racing in an old-style Speedo (because her new LZR was too big for her liking) Jemma Lowe, of Stockton, celebrated her 18th birthday by taking an axe to her personal best in the heats of the 200m butterfly at the British Olympic trials in Sheffield and set a British record of 2:06.64.

Coming into the trials, Lowe, coached by Graeme Antwhistle, was ranked 57th on the all-time list on 2:09.52. Now she is 9th. Her 2:06.64 axed 2.25sec off the national standard that had stood to Georgina Lee since the Olympic trials in April 2004.

Lowe is a member of Britain's Smart Track youth development programme. She swam inside world record pace at 50m and 100m, in 27.56 and 59.56 respectively. At 150m, she was a touch behind the pace of Jessica Schipper (AUS) at best, on 1:32.75.

The race saw fellow youth swimmers Ellen Gandy (2:08.88), Hannah Miley (2:09.06) and Jessica Dickons (2:09.89) race inside the Olympic qualification A time that must be achieved at the trials to secure selection for Beijing.

Caitlin McClatchey, Commonwealth 200m and 400m freestyle champion for Scotland in 2006, followed up with a 54.31 British record in the 100m freestyle, with 17-year-old Francesca Halsall, who had held the standard at 54.53 since January, cruising home to a 54.88 for a final in which she has her sights set on a sub 54sec effort. Halsall turned in 25.87, 0.03sec outside the pace at which Britta Steffen travelled on her way to the then world record of 53.30, before visibly easing off on the way home.

Halsall was wearing the new adidas TechFit PowerWeb, a suit that could be said to be spring-loaded. And more of that coming at some stage.