William Bell Breaks British Record in 800 Free for 17-Year Olds

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)
• Live Stream
• Live Results

British men’s distance swimming had been without much spark since Stephen Milne decided to ratchet-down his focus toward the middle-distance 200 and 400 meter freestyle events over the last 2 years or so.

That group has seen a spark this week in Glasgow; first with Daniel Jervis’ near-record setting 1500 free, and now with a British Age Record for 17-year olds in the men’s 800 free from William Bell of Leicester.

Bell finished 2nd in the race in 8:01.20, behind only Sheffield’s Samuel Budd (7:59.72). Even without Jervis or Milne in the race (with the latter being the 2nd-fastest Brit ever), Budd now climbs to 11th in the all-time British rankings in the event, while Bell ranks 17th all-time for all ages.

The old National Age Record for 17-year olds in this event was an 8:03.01 done by Thomas Allen in 2009. Bell’s own previous personal best, done 3 weeks ago in Sheffield, was 8:10.18.

With the men’s 800 free being added to the Olympic schedule starting in Tokyo in 2020, more national records and age records around the world are expected to be broken as the race receives more focus than it used to as a non-Olympic event.