Kelly Surprises to Win 100 Fly; Pavoni Breaks English Record on Friday at British Nationals

We’ve seen a lot of great swimming this week around the world (there’s 8 major national championship meets going on), but the Brits have been as hot as anyone through two days of their Nationals in Glasgow. This is a selection event (but not the only selection event) for a slew of meets including the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships, and with a roster cap of 24 for Euros, at least, there will be some tough decisions to be made.

Full video, start lists, and live results available here.

Men’s 50 Fly – FINALS

The National Record holder Ben Proud of Plymouth Leander was quite a ways off of the time he did at this same meet last year, where he had his big breakout. But a 23.42 will still be a solid time for a second-straight men’s 50 fly final, coupled onto a 1-2 PL finish with his teammate Antony James (23.90).

Proud started his meet off gently in this 50 fly before he roles into the more hyper-focused 50 and 100 freestyle Olympic events. He’ll be the 2nd seed in the men’s 100 free in Saturday’s prelims behind Adam Brown.

Women’s 50 Breast – FINALS

County of Leeds’ Sophie Taylor took the win in the women’s 50 breaststroke with a 30.98. That’s the fastest a British woman has been in this race in nearly half-a-decade, and makes her only the 3rd in British history under 31 seconds.

In a broader sense, that swim builds even more anticipation for the women’s 100 breaststroke. In that race, she’ll challenge the links of  Sophie Allen, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, and Stacey Tadd, three teammates at Bath, for the spot on England’s medley relay at the Commonwealth Games.

Sarah Vasey from Derventio took 2nd in 31.43, and Corrie Scott was 3rd in 31.62.

Men’s 200 Free – FINALS

In the first men’s Olympic final of the night, James Guy took his second title of the night, going a 1:47.54 to win the men’s 200 free. That put him just ahead of Bath’s Calum Jarvis (1:47.77) for the title.

That 200 free result for Guy doesn’t quite stand up to the 3:45 National Record that he swam in the 400 free on Thursday, as it wasn’t even a personal best for him. The good news, though, is that his best time in this 200 free came at Worlds last summer, so perhaps his 400 free still has some room to grow at either the Commonwealth Games or the European Championships.

Men’s 400 IM – FINALS

Roberto Pavoni, one of a handful of stars who remains at Loughborough after the reorganization of that club, won the men’s 400 IM final in a new English Record of 4:12.24. That knocked two tenths off of his own record done at the Olympics; further, while it’s not a British Record, it is the fastest ever done by a Brit outside of the 2008-2009 rubber suit era.

Lewis Smith from Stirling took 2nd in 4:15.76, followed by Sheffield’s Max Litchfield in 4:16.61.

Men’s 100 Back – FINALS

Chris Walker-Hebborn won his 2nd-straight British National Championship in the men’s 100 back on Friday, which should put him in to the Commonwealth Games for England. However, runner-up Liam Tancock’s 54.51 doesn’t appear as though it will be fast enough, meaning that Tancock is in danger of being left out of the British international picture for the second-straight year.

Women’s 100 Fly – FINALS

The biggest surprise winner of the meet so far came in the last open final, where 20-year old Rachael Kelly of Loughborough won the event in a lifetime best of 58.40.

The surprise didn’t come so much in her time, as she only dropped about a tenth since this meet last year; rather the quality of the names that she beat was most impressive. Siobhan-Marie O’Connor took 2nd in 58.42; while this is not her primary event, she is very good at it, and has been on-fire at this meet so far. Third place went to Fran Halsall in just a 58.78.

Halsall didn’t really do much in this 100 fly in 2013 after focusing more-and-more on the sprint freestyles following the Olympics. However, early in 2014, she had looked back to her old self, swimming 58-low in Marseille about a month ago.

This was Halsall’s second race of the session; it’s not obvious as we’ve highlighted the finals events first, but Halsall swam a 50 free semi-final before this 100 fly final.

The full A-Final in this race was under a minute, including Swansea’s Alys Thomas, who took 4th in 59.15.

Semi-Finals

• In the women’s 50 free  semi-final, Fran Halsall took the top seed in 25.02, with Rebecca Guy sitting 2nd in 25.34, and Sian Harkin touching 3rd in 25.37. While we can all hope for some sub-25’s in finals, there’s a few really good swimmers lurking in this final – Lauren Quigley is 4th in 25.52, Amy Smith is 5th in 25.57, and Jessica Lloyd is 6th in 25.65.
• It was Adam Peaty who was the first to break the minute barrier in this men’s 100 breaststroke with a 59.83 for the top seed. Ross Murdoch is the 2nd seed in 1:00.16, and 200 winner Michael Jamieson is the 3rd seed in 1:00.85. There’s a lot of good names in that final, emphasized byt he fact that Craig Benson is down at the 6th seed in 1:01.42. That race is still wide-open.
• Lauren Quigley swam back-to-back women’s races and still managed to take the top seed in this 100 back in 1:00.01. Behind her were Georgia Davies (1:00.32), Jessica Fullalove (1:00.89), and Lizzie Simmonds (1:00.89). On Saturday, these two finals are significantly more spread out, with the 50 free being the first women’s open final, and the 100 back being the last.