2019 British C’ships Day 6 Prelims Recap: Men’s 200 Free Face-Off

2019 BRITISH SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 16th – Sunday, April 21st
• Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Glasgow, Scotland
• Prelims at 10am local (5am Eastern)/Finals at 6:30pm local (1:30pm Eastern)
• SwimSwam Selection Analysis
• SwimSwam Elite Men Preview/SwimSwam Elite Women Preview
• SwimSwam Emerging Women Preview/SwimSwam Emerging Men Preview
• Final Start Lists
• Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap/Day 3 Finals Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Recap/Day 4 Finals Recap
• Day 5 Prelims Recap/Day 5 Finals Recap
• Live Results

Men’s 50m Fly – Prelims

• British National Record – 22.75, Ben Proud, 2017

Open Top 8:

The reigning World Champion in this event, Ben Proud, took control of the men’s 50m fly event early, clinching the top seed in the only sub-24 second time of the field.

23.99 is what the Energy Standard swimmer threw down to hold a .26 advantage over rising teen Jacob Peters of Poole. Peters has already nailed 2 bronze medals here in Glasgow, one in the 100m fly and one in the 200m fly.

As a reminder, Proud was disqualified in this event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games for a false start, but he bounced back with silver at last year’s European Championships where he finished behind Ukraine’s World Record holder Andrii Govorov.

Stirling’s Scott McLay has had a heck of a meet already for himself, however, making major time drops in the 100m free and 100 fly event. You can read more about his achievements here. This morning he set himself up as the 3rd seed in 24.32.

Lurking in the final tonight is Sheffield’s Cameron Brooks-Clarke, the man who took home the silver in last year’s meet, as well as the 3rd place finisher from 2018 in Sam Horrocks. Brooks-Clarke hit 24.42 this morning for 5th seed, while Horrocks sneaked into the final in 24.74.

Women’s 100m Breast – Prelims

• Selection Time #1 – 1:06.26, Selection Time #2 – 1:06.66
• British National Record – 1:06.34, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, 2016

Open Top 8:

Olympic silver medalist in the 200m IM, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, already most likely booked her World Championships ticket for Gwangju in that event last night. But, the 24-year-old Bath athlete is hoping to add a 2nd event to her repertoire with this 100m breast.

Clocking 1:07.27 this morning, O’Connor cleared the field by well over a second, opening with a quick 31.42 opening 50m. She’s the reigning British National Record holder in 1:06.34 from 2016 and this morning’s outing checks-in as the 7th fastest time of her career. These Championships represents just her 2nd time racing in 2019.

Of her race this morning, the Bath athlete stated, “That was good, I’m pleased with that. I was slightly disappointed with last night so it was nice to get in this morning and see what I could do in the heat. I felt pretty strong so I’m looking forward to tonight.”

18-year-old ‘Emerging Female to Watch’ on our list, Tatiana Belonogoff, took bronze in the 50m breast on night 1 here and is looking to challenge O’Connor tonight. 1:08.73 is what the European Junior Championships gold medalist produced for 2nd seed, keeping herself in the mix amidst the British best.

Jocelyn Ulyett holds the National Record in the 200m breast and ranks as the 3rd seed this morning in 1:08.82, while Molly Renshaw produced a 1:08.92 for 4th seed.

Another teen in Kayla Van Der Merwe clocked 1:09.09 for the 6th seed. She took the transition final in the 50m breast on night 1. Don’t sleep on Sarah Vasey, the 50m breaststroke gold medalist. Her personal best of 1:06.78 in this longer sprint ranks her as the 4th fastest British performer ever

Men’s 200m Back – Prelims

• Selection Time #1 – 1:55.54, Selection Time #2 – 1:56.23
• British National Record – 1:55.58, James Goddard, 2010

The standout 100m backstroke her, Luke Greenbank, most likely sealed his name onto the British medley relay or Worlds, but the 21-year-old is hungry for an individual event bid.

The Mel Marshall-trained Greenbank nailed a new lifetime best of 53.92 and leads the 200m back here in 1:57.51. That marked the only sub-2:00 time of the field and falls within just over a second of the 1:56.23 minimum time qualification.

He has proven in the past he’s capable, but you’d have to look at the 2015 European Games in Baku. At that competition he nailed a gold medal-winning mark of 1:56.89, which kept him at the 5th fastest performer in British history.

The rest of the field will need to produce some magic to make it not only onto the podium, but within range of the QT. That includes last year’s champion Brodie Williams, whose PB of 1:58.62 from last year will need to be chopped to bits to make Gwangju.

Of note, Xavier Castelli, the 10th fastest performer ever in this event, was a no-show. Also, Joe Litchfield, who took bronze last night in the 200m IM, was disqualified in this morning’s 2back heats.

Women’s 100m Fly – Prelims

• Selection Time #1 – 57.22, Selection Time #2 – 57.56
• British National Record – 57.25, Ellen Gandy, 2012

Open Top 8:

Alys Thomas qualified here in the women’s 200m fly and looks primed to make something happen in this 100m sprint as well. She’s leading the way in a mark of 58.17, one of the top times of the 29-year-old veteran’s career.

She holds a personal best a 57.85 as the 6th fastest performer in British history and put up a super solid 58.06 mark at the 2018 Commonwealth Games for 7th. Last year she took silver in a mark of 58.91 behind Harriet Jones. Jones took the title last year in 58.85 and holds the 6th seed this morning in 59.97. She’ll need her A-game tonight to make the 57.56 minimum consideration time.

Loughborough’s Charlotte Atkinson produced 59.01 for 2nd seed, while Ellesmere 18-year-old Freya Anderson is on the hunt for her 3rd individual gold medal here in this event after already nailing wins in the 200m free and 100m free.

Men’s 200m Free – Prelims

• Selection Time #1 – 1:45.70, Selection Time #2 – 1:46.47
• British National Record – 1:45.14, James Guy, 2015

Open Top 8:

The men’s 200m free held their cards close to their chest, relatively, in light of what the top 8 men are all capable. The top contenders, all separated by just .67, are not just competing for an individual bids, but for the coveted men’s 4x200m freestyle relay spots.

Somewhat surprising, last year’s British champion Stephen Milne continued with his relative poor showing here at this year’s meet, finishing 10th in 1:50.33 to sit out of the final, pending any scratches.

In his stead, on-fire Duncan Scott is on the move in this 200m free, taking lane 4 in a morning mark of 1:48.27. He holds the 2nd fastest British time ever in 1:45.16 from the 2017 World Championships and took bronze at last year’s Commonwealth Games in 1:46.30.

The Stirling stud was also 1:45.34 for gold at last year’s European Championships, so the man is ready to add this event to his 100m free and 200m IM qualifying marks for Gwangju.

Bath’s British National Record holder in this event, James Guy, hit 1:48.88 this morning, while Tom Dean holds the 3rd seed in 1:48.84 after his PB for 200m IM silver last night. Guy is still looking for Gwangju qualification here after falling just short with his 100m and 200m fly wins.

Jay Lelliott no-showed this event based on making the 200m back final

16-year-old Matthew Richards busted out the swim of his life in this event, rocking a 1:49.63 to fire off a new British Age Record and impress yet again at these championships.

Women’s 1500m Free

• Selection Time #1 – 15:57.85, Selection Time #2 – 16:03.60
• British National Record – 15:47.26, Jazz Carlin, 2013

Women’s 1500m free will be recapped with tonight’s finals.