By Hannah Blackwell
Medi Harris believes she is growing into her status as a medal-winning international swimmer after backing up her Commonwealth Games bronze medal with a silver at the European Aquatics Championships in Rome.
The rising Welsh star combined with Freya Colbert, Lucy Hope, and Freya Anderson to get Britain on the medal table on the opening night in Italy with second place in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay final.
In their second swim together as a quartet, Colbert, Hope, Harris and Anderson kept themselves in contention for the European title from lane one throughout a thrilling race, before ultimately touching for silver behind the Netherlands.
The silver medal follows Harris’s bronze in Birmingham last week in the final of the women’s 100m backstroke.
The 19-year-old Swansea University swimmer from Porthmadog is enjoying a stella debut senior season and said: “I just go in and swim as hard as I can, I guess.
“I just wanted to be near the other girls, so to be able to swim with these was really special – and I kept thinking I need to give Freya the best chance, so I had to swim hard.
“Going to Worlds and Commonwealth Games has really helped, and getting to know the team has been really good.
🥉in Birmingham and now 🥈in Rome!🇮🇹
A huge congratulations to @MediHarris & the @britishswimming 4x200m Freestyle Relay team on your performance at #LENRoma2022!👏 https://t.co/3PIFNscE6d pic.twitter.com/r1bUumXrFn
— Swim Wales (@SwimWales) August 12, 2022
“I’ve come into each meet just trying to enjoy each one as they come, and that’s definitely what I’m doing, especially with the relays.”
There was no podium place for Welsh pair Matt Richards and Kieran Bird in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
As with the women’s event, the final quartet was a brand-new one for this meet, with Richards leading off, Jacob Whittle up second, Bird in third and Tom Dean bringing the effort home.
Also going from an outside lane, the British team saw the podium chasers steadily pull clear and keep themselves there.
Ultimately, it was a sixth-placed finish for a new-look team, with valuable relay experience set to be a key theme for athletes across this third meet of the summer.
12 days @birminghamcg22 with the @SwimWales and @TeamWales team. Hard work, emotional and an absolute pleasure to work with this young Welsh team.
So much talent, supported by world class management and volunteers 🏴💙
Diolch everyone
— Fergus Feeney (@fergus_feeney) August 8, 2022
After collecting her bronze Commonwealth medal, Harris admitted last week, ““I would have never thought I would be on this podium with these girls.
“If you’d have told me I would be on the podium with them when I was watching the Olympics last year, I wouldn’t have believed you at all.”