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Matt Richards Posts 47.59 100 Free To Break The British Record

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

In the preliminary heats of the men’s 100 free at the 2023 World Championships, Matt Richards posted the fastest overall time of 47.59. With his swim, he also takes down Lewis Burras‘s British record time of 47.63 from 2022 Worlds, as well as his own Welsh record time of 47.72 from the prelims of British Nationals this April.

Richards breaking the British record in the 100 free is notable, as he wasn’t even supposed to swim the event originally. He finished third to Burras and Duncan Scott during the finals at Nationals, but Scott dropped the event from his schedule, which gave him the opportunity to race.

Compared to Nationals, Richards was considerably faster in the back half of his race. He took his race out 0.13 seconds slower on Wednesday, but finished 0.26 seconds quicker. The back half of Richards’ race was also where he outperformed Burras’ record.

Splits Comparison:

Matt Richards, 2023 World Championships (new British Record) Lewis Burras, 2022 World Championships (former British Record) Matt Richards, 2023 British Nationals (former Welsh record)
50m 23.15 22.76 23.02
100m 24.44 24.87 24.70
Total 47.59 47.63 47.72

Richards is coming off of victory in the 200 free, where he upset podium favorites David Popovici, Tom Dean, and Hwang Sunwoo. Now, he will be a serious medal contender in the 100 free.

Burras also raced the 100 free at Worlds, finishing 31st in a time of 48.99 to miss the semi-final.

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Sapnu puas
1 year ago

I got Olympic tickets for 4×100 freestyle finals and I swear if they don’t qualify a team I will be suing British Swimming for emotional distress

Fukuoka Gold
1 year ago

Who had “Matt Richards beating Popovici in 200 and Chalmers in 100 back to back” in their Bingo cards?

snailSpace
Reply to  Fukuoka Gold
1 year ago

Let’s wait with that second one a bit…

Zippo
1 year ago

There once was a swimmer named Matt,
Whose chance to compete was no small act.
With Duncan’s event scratched,
He dove in and dispatched,
Breaking records with speed and finesse intact.

skip
Reply to  Zippo
1 year ago

the event isn’t scratched, a swimmer scratched from the event…so that doesn’t make sense

Fukuoka Gold
Reply to  skip
1 year ago

ChatGPT fail

Swim Alchemist
1 year ago

Richards owes Scott a nice dinner.

Scuncan Dott v2
Reply to  Swim Alchemist
1 year ago

Scott was never gonna swim this anyway due to the clash with the 2IM

Alison England
Reply to  Scuncan Dott v2
1 year ago

Indeed! And who’d have thought that Burras had beaten them both in the final at trials!

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Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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