Britain finish with fine flourish in Shanghai

Tancock successfully defended his title in the 50m backstroke while Miley came from eighth after 100m to claim silver in the 400m individual medley.

It brought the number of medals won by Britain in the pool to five as well as the 10km open water title secured by Keri-Anne Payne

On Saturday, Rebecca Adlington had added the world 800m freestyle title to her Olympic crown as she produced a blistering final length to overhaul defending champion Lotte Friis at the World Championships in Shanghai.

It was Adlington’s second medal of the competition following her silver in the 400m freestyle on the first night and Great Britain’s third in total in the pool with Ellen Gandy having also claimed silver in the 200m butterfly.

With two gold and three silver medals, the team exceeded their target which was to match their four-medal haul in Melbourne four years ago, a year out from the Olympics.

Tancock blasted down the 50m at the Oriental Sports Centre in 24.50secs to win by seven-hundredths of a second from European champion Camille Lacourt of France with South African Gerhard Zandberg in third.

The 26-year-old then led the 4x100m medley relay team off as they came sixth before returning to speak to reporters.

The Loughborough ITC swimmer said: “What can I say? 2009 I became world champion and it was one of those special moments, standing on the podium, listening to the national anthem, waving to the crowd, my team-mates. To do it again two years later, and retain the title, against tough opposition...

“On the day it’s who gets out there, who gets the best start and who touches the wall first and it was my turn. I loved it.

“I knew it was good, it felt pretty good, you know when you are having a good race.”

Tancock is one of the most consistent top-class performers on the British team having taken five world medals since winning bronze in the same event on his senior international debut in Montreal in 2005.

He puts his consistency down to his love of racing against the best the world has to offer.

He will go on holiday to Cyprus before returning to training to focus on the Olympic trials next March where he will concentrate on the 100m backstroke with the one-length race not an Olympic event.

Miley was overcome with emotion after her race which, given she is coached by father Patrick, was a real family effort.

Eighth after the opening butterfly leg, the 21-year-old moved gradually through the field and was third with 50m to go. The Scot overhauled Olympic champion Stephanie Rice on the last length to claim silver by one-hundredth of a second over the Australian in a time of 4mins 34.22secs. American Elizabeth Beisel won in 4:31.78.

On Saturday, there was disappointment for Yorkshire’s Lizzie Simmonds, who came seventh in the 200m backstroke.

The 20-year-old had also finished seventh over 100m but the four-length race is her speciality.

However, sickness reared its head again and Simmonds did not warm up before the race in order to conserve energy.

She finished in 2:08.76, some way below the season’s best she set last month which would have been good enough for a medal.

The Beverley-born swimmer said: “I didn’t quite have it in the end and I’m disappointed because my best time would have been right up there but putting it in perspective, it’s great experience for next year.”