Freya Anderson Breaks Decade-Old British Record in 200 Free at European Derby

2019 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – EUROPEAN DERBY

• Saturday, November 23 – Sunday, November 24, 2019
• 5:00-7:00 PM Local Time (12:00 noon – 2:00 PM, U.S. Eastern Time)
• London Aquatics Centre – London, England
• Short Course Meters (SCM) format
• European franchises: Aqua Centurions, Energy Standard, Iron, London Roar
• Start Lists

British 18-year old Freya Anderson broke the British Record in the women’s 200 meter freestyle on Saturday at the International Swimming League stop in London. While Anderson is British, and was swimming in London, she represents the Italian-based Aqua Centurions in the league, and she finished in 5th place for them in the race.

Anderson’s time of 1:53.33 broke the old record of 1:53.79 that was set at a World Cup meet by Fran Halsall in 2009 in the waning days of the now-outlawed polyurethane supersuit era.

Anderson’s previous best time in short course was a 1:54.15 that she swam last weekend at a Stockport-hosted open meet. This week is her ISL debut, and while there are bigger names also making their first appearances in the league this week, she made her presence felt with that record-breaking swim on Saturday.

Splits Comparison:

A comparison of the swimmers’ splits reveals what one might expect between Anderson and Halsall. Halsall, more of a sprinter, really faded over the last 75 meters of her previous record-setting swim, whereas Anderson, who is more of a 100/200 swimmer, was actually better in her final 50 than she was in either her 2nd or 3rd split.

This is one of 3 lifetime best swims for Anderson on Saturday, who is a member of the British team that will swim at the European Short Course Championships in December. She also swam 52.19 in the 100 free to leadoff Aqua Centurions’ 4th-place 400 free relay, and swam a 24.24 to place 6th in the 100 free. Her previous best times in those races were 52.50 and 24.57, respectively.