2024 British Olympic Trials: Day 5 Finals Live Recap

2024 Aquatics GB Swimming CHAMPIONSHIPS (OLYMPIC TRIALS)

• Tuesday, April 2nd – Sunday, April 7th
• Prelims at 10 am local (5 am EDT), Finals at 7 pm local (2 pm EDT)
• London Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• British Swimming Olympic Selection Policy
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview
• Entries
• Prelims: Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap/Day 5 Recap
• Finals: Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap
• Results
• Livestream: Channel 4 YouTube coverage

Heat Sheet

Order of Events

• Men’s 800 Freestyle
• Women’s 100 Butterfly
• Men’s 200 Breaststroke
• Men’s 50 Freestyle
• Women’s 200 Individual Medley

Hi, Friends!!! Two things:

1. Let’s collectively bring back ‘Chunnel’
2. It is the penultimate night of the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships 2024.

I feel like we may have more luck getting news out about the second point, so let’s start with that. We can circle back to the first point if we have time.

The evening starts off with the fastest heat of the Men’s 800 free. Defending champion and winner of the 1500, Daniel Jervis, is not present on the start list, so top honors fall to Tobias Robinson. The Loughborough University swimmer placed 2nd in the 1500 in a massive personal best and has nothing to lose tonight as he has already qualified for the Olympics in the Open Water. The 3rd and 4th place finishers from the 1500, Alexander Sargeant and Tyler Melbourne-Smith, will look to move up the podium in the 800 as all three chase the tough 7:47.80 nomination standard.

While a few swimmers have breached that time, no British swimmer has ever been faster than the nomination standard in the Women’s 100 fly. With the national record set by Ellen Gandy back in 2009 sitting at 57.25, it would be quite the herculean task for any of the Paris Final swimmers to swim faster than the nomination standard of 57.17. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to try, as four women were sub :59.00 this morning. Leading the charge is Harriet Jones, who clocked a time of 58.44 this morning but was quickly followed by Keanna Macinnes, Lucy Grieve, and Laura Stephens. While the Women’s 100 breast and 100 freestyle are still undecided, the winner of this event will look to put up a swift time in order to join Kathleen Dawson on the 4×100 medley.

From the 100 fly, we move into two men’s events: the 200 Breaststroke and the 50 Free. In both events, swimmers desperately try to punch their own tickets to Paris. James Wilby and Gregory Butler lead the way in the 200 Breaststroke, both having swum 2:12s this morning. The 50 free will be a dog fight, but expect Ben Proud to lead the pack as he was a top dog this morning, swimming the only sub-22 time this morning, hitting the wall in 21.70. The fight for 2nd will be desperate as David Cumberlidge, Alexander Painter, and Lewis Burras all will look to vie for a discretionary consideration while Matt Richards attempts to add a second individual event.

In Tokyo, Abbie Wood placed 4th in the 200 IM, and she will look to be able to better that result, but first, she must qualify tonight. She posted the fastest time this morning, hitting the wall in 2:11.33, but will have to fend off 400 IM winner Freya Colbert and the 2nd place swimmer Katie Shanahan.

Men’s 800 Freestyle– Fastest Heat

• World Record: 7:32.12 – Zhang Lin, China (2009)
• British Record: 7:44.32 – David Davies (2009)
• 2021 Champion: Daniel Jervis – 7:50.33
• Nomination Standard: 7:47.80
• OLY A/B Standards: 7:51.65/7:54.01

Top 8:

1. Tobias Robinson (Lboro Uni) – 7:51.51
2. Tyler Melbourne-Smith (Lboro Uni) – 7:59.59
3. Reece Grady (Stockport Mo) – 7:59.71
4. Alexander Sargeant (Millfield) – 8:03.91
5. Luke Hornsey (Edinburgh Uni) – 8:06.04
6. Joseph Deighan (Swansea Uni) – 8:10.78
7. Thomas Trebilcock (Swansea Uni) – 8:11.67
8. Harry Wynne-Jones (Co Milton Keynes) – 8:17.06

The nomination standard of 7:47.80 was always going to be a tough ask for a 10k open-water swimmer, but Tobias Robinson certainly gave it his best shot. Robinson, who led from start to finish, opened up a two-second lead at the 200. It was up to five seconds at the halfway mark, with Robinson flipping at 3:54.45.

Robinson’s lead only grew as he won by a healthy margin of over eight seconds, hitting the wall in 7:51.51, a massive new personal best. His previous best actually came from his 800 split in the 1500, where he was 7:53.89 to the feet. While short of the standard, he did get under the Olympic Qualifying Time (A-cut) of 7:51.65, so he could theoretically swim the event, as could Dan Jervis, who didn’t swim the event this evening but has been fastest enough in the qualifying period to also be under the A-Cut time.

The race for second came down to the wire with just .12 separating Tyler Melbourne-Smith and Reece Grady. Grady was faster in the last 100 by .42, but just ran out of space to run down his opponent.

Women’s 100 Butterfly – Finals

• World Record: 55.48 – Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden (2016)
• British Record: 57.25 – Ellen Gandy (2009)
• 2021 Champion: Harriet Jones – 57.79
• Nomination Standard: 57.17
• OLY A/B Standards: 57.92/58.21

Top 8:

1. Keanna Macinnes (Uni of Stirling) – 57.92
2. Lucy Grieve (Uni of Stirling) – 58.31
3. Laura Stephens (L’borogh PC) – 58.68
4. Harriet Jones (Co Cardiff) – 58.81
5. Ciara Schlosshan (Edinburgh Uni) – 59.49
6. Hollie Widdows (Mt Kelly) – 59.83
7. Shannon Stott (Co Sheffield) – 1:00.45
8. Holly Hibbott (Bath PC) -1:01.38

There was a bit of an upset in the 100 fly as Keanna Macinnes, the 200 fly winner, pulled off the win, hitting the wall in 57.92. The Scottish record holder lowered her own mark from 57.97 and, by tying the Olympic Qualifying time, could have an opportunity to swim the event individually as she is already on the team by virtue of her 200 fly win. With the win, Macinnes will likely take on the fly duties in the women’s medley relay and potential in the mixed medley (a lot of things remain undecided).

Lucy Grieve, her training partner at the University of Stirling, hit her second personal best on the day, winning the silver medal in a time of 58.31. Before today, she hadn’t been under 59 and has now done so twice. Finishing up the podium was 200 fly specialist Laura Stephens, who touched in 58.68, off her personal best of 57.98

The Para Paris Final was a scintillating affair as four swimmers all scored enough points (Points are determined by comparing the swimmer’s time to the world record) to be nominated to the team. Leading the way was Olivia Newman-Baronius, who equaled the 100-fly S14 world record of 1:03.33, while Poppy Maskill, also in the s14 classification, was just behind on 1:03.69.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke– Finals

• World Record: 2:05.48 – Qin Haiyang, China (2023)
• British Record: 2:07.30 – Ross Murdoch (2014)
• 2021 Champion: James Wilby – 2:08.06
• Nomination Standard: 2:08.95
• OLY A/B Standards: 2:09.68/2:10.33

Top 8:

1. James Wilby (L’borogh PC) – 2:10.03
2. Gregory Butler (L’borogh PC) – 2:10.48
3. George Smith (Uni of Stirling) – 2:12.79
4. Archie Goodburn (Edinburgh Uni) – 2:13.64
5. Max Morgan (Reed’s SC) – 2:13.88
6. Rory Dickson (Uni of Stirling) – 2:14.23
7. Maxwell Anderson (Co Cardiff) – 2:16.04
8. Harvey Freeman (Lboro Uni) – 2:17.04

After falling just short of the nomination standard in the 100 breast and placing 2nd to Adam Peaty, top qualifier James Wilby had to give the 200 breast his everything to try to improve his chances to make his 2nd Olympics. However, it was Archie Goodburn who led at the halfway turn, hitting the wall in 1:02.08, with Wilby sitting in 3rd (1:02.58). Wilby and Gregory Butler took over the lead at the 150-meter turn, and the two duked it out over the closing meters, with Wilby just pulling ahead to win the gold medal in 2:10.03, just ahead of Butler’s 2:10.48

Disappointingly, Wilby was over a second outside of the nomination standard of 2:08.95, so will need to rely upon the discretionary picks of the Performance Director and Head Coach. While it is possible, each new qualifier for the team decreases the number of spots open for Wilby.

Breaking an age group record was Max Morgan. Placing 5th in a time of 2:13.88,  Morgan dropped over two seconds from his prelim time of 2:16.04. The previous fastest 16-year-old was Callum Smart, who swam 2:16.02 back in 2017.

Men’s 50 Freestyle– Finals

• World Record: 20.91 – Cesar Cielo, Brazil (2009)
• British Record: 21.11 – Ben Proud (2018)
• 2021 Champion: Ben Proud – 21.42
• Nomination Standard: 21.88
• OLY A/B Standards: 21.96/22.07

Top 8:

1. Ben Proud (Bath Univ) – 21.25
2. Matt Richards (Millfield) – 21.83
3. Alexander Cohoon (Lboro Uni) – 21.90
4. David Cumberlidge (Edinburgh Uni) – 21.98
5. Lewis Burras (Lboro Uni) – 22.09
6. Alexander Painter (Millfield) – 22.16
7. Jordan Cooley (Leeds Uni) – 22.24
8. Calvin Fry (Lboro Uni) – 22.32

That went as expected, but also maybe a little faster than expected, as the National Record Holder, Ben Proud, hit the wall in 21.25. Proud led from the get-go, opening up a lead by the 15m mark, and just kept on chugging along into the finish. Proud won the bronze medal at the 2024 World Championships in Doha in a time of 21.53, with the gold medal-winning time being 21.44; he would have easily eclipsed that. Proud sits only behind Australian Cameron McEvoy’s 21.13 (from the 2024 Worlds Prelims) in the world rankings.

With Proud punching his ticket on the ‘Chunnel’ that means there is one less spot open for those swimmers waiting to see if they will be selected by the Performance Director and Head Coach. That being said, the 2nd place finisher won’t have to suffer that agonizing wait, as Matt Richards has already qualified for the team.

While Proud’s time overshadows the field, Richard’s silver medal-winning time of 21.83 stands not only as a new personal best but also a new Welch Record. His previous best and the former record was 21.98, from last summer’s championships. Richards will look for his 3rd individual event tomorrow as he is the top seed in the 200 free.

Alexander Cohoon, who has been an impressive improvement curve, nabbed the bronze medal in 21.90. At the European U23 Swimming Championships, Cohoon was 22.07, so dipping under 22 and placing 3rd in a strong field is a massive achievement for the youngster, who by virtue of his 4th place finish in the 100 free has booked himself a ticket to Paris.

Women’s 200 I.M. – Finals

• World Record: 2:06.12 – Katinka Hosszu, Hungary (2015)
• British Record: 2:06.88 – Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (2016)
• 2021 Champion: Abbie Wood – 2:09.23
• Nomination Standard: 2:10.62
• OLY A/B Standards: 2:11.47/2:12.13

Top 8:

1. Abbie Wood (L’borogh PC) – 2:08.91
2. Freya Colbert (L’borogh PC) – 2:10.46
3. Katie Shanahan (Uni of Stirling) – 2:11.39
4. Leah Schlosshan (Co Leeds) – 2:11.65
5. Phoebe Cooper (Co Sheffield) – 2:13.50
6. Elizabeth Booker (L’borogh PC) – 2:14.86
7. Candice Hall (Co Sheffield) – 2:15.60
8. Alicia Wilson (Guildford Ct) – 2:16.26

After putting two swimmers into the final at the Tokyo Olympics, this event, by nature of its placing at the end of the night was bound to be exciting. Both Abbie Wood (4th – 2:09.04 ) and Alicia Wilson (8th – 2:12.86) were in Tokyo and made appearances in tonight’s final.

Wood entered as the top seed and went at the race hard. Wood led at the 50, the only swimmer under 28, hitting the first turn in 27.85. Not known as a backstroker, she managed to hold off the likes of Freya Colbert and Katie Shanahan and still led at the 100 mark, albeit by just .09 over Colbert (1:00.83 vs 1:00.92). Wood, who also made the finals at the Tokyo Games in the 200 breast but opted not to swim it here, used the 3rd 50 to pull away, splitting a speedy 37.08. Wood surged down the last length to hit the wall in 2:08.91, setting a new personal best and breaking the 2:09 barrier for the first time.

Wood’s time easily surpasses the 2:11.20 she swam at the 2024 Worlds (6th-2:11.20) and would have actually won the bronze ahead of Yu Yiting’s 2:09.01. She now ranks 8th in the world this season.

Freya Colbert, the 400 IM, and 200 Freestyle winner came in second, also dipping under the nomination standard of 2:10.62, with her time of 2:10.46, also a new personal best. Already having made the team, Colbert should be able to swim this event in Paris, should she choose to. With no new names being added as Wood qualified for Paris as part of the 4×200 relay, swimmers waiting for consideration should breathe a little easier tonight. One such swimmer is Katie Shanahan. The Scot entered as the top seed with a time of 2:09.40 but has appeared not to hit her taper and placed 3rd in a time of 2:11.39. In the 200 back and 400 IM, however, she managed to touch second in both times under the nomination standard, so she has put herself in a good position to be selected for the team and the ride in the “Chunnel.”