2018 British Summer C’ships: 15-year-old Matt Richards’ 50.57 1Free

2018 BRITISH SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 24th – Saturday, July 29th
• Ponds Forge, Sheffield
• LCM
• Live Stream
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Start Lists/Results

Night 3 of the 2018 British Summer Championships was void of able-bodied breaststroking events, which have been the hottest races thus far here in Sheffield, but there were still plenty of nice swims from the British contingency.

Night 3 Highlights:

Millfield’s Kieran Bird kicked things off with a win in the men’s 19+ 1500m freestyle. Hacking just under 8 seconds off of his previous personal best in the event, Bird notched 15:38.52 for the victory.

Slightly faster in the men’s 17/18 age group was Nathan Hughes of Hatfield, who roared to the wall in a time of 15:36.29. Hughes took on the 400m IM later in the session, which he wound up winning in 4:25.81.

Plymouth Leander’s Laura Stephens wrapped up her 3rd gold of these championships, taking the women’s 200m butterfly for 19+. She earned the 4th fastest time of her career to top the podium tonight in 2:10.37.

Scotland’s 100m fly national record holder, Keanna MacInnes, was also in the women’s 2fly race, winning the 17/18 age group in a big-time 2:10.49. The Heart of Midlothian athlete now checks-in as the 7th fastest British 17-year-old of all time in the event.

Loughborough’s Emily Barclay also broke into the all-time list, topping the women’s 50m free podium in a time of 24.94. That not only marks the 21-year-old athlete’s first time ever under the 25-second threshold, but her performance also now ranks as the 4th fastest time in history by any Brit of any age.

Matt Richards, who laid waste to British age group records as a 14-year-old last December, is now making moves on the 15-year-old category. Tonight he cracked off a winning 100m freestyle time of 50.57 to nab the men’s 16 age division (age as of 12/31/18) and demolish his previous personal best of 52.00 set just this past April.

In taking the gold tonight, Richards’ 50.57 fell just .04 shy of surpassing the British age record for 15-year-olds. That’s held by Craig McLean in 50.53 from 2014. For consolation, Richards’ effort does establish a new Welsh Junior Record. And, for perspective, his mark would enter as #16 on the all-time Americans list for men 15/16 in history.