British Championships, Day 4 Men’s Finals: Duncan Scott Rattles 200IM Rankings With Virtuoso 1:56 Display
Duncan Scott was inside his British 200IM record pace before coming home in the third-fastest time in the world this year at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in London.
The eight-time Olympic medallist was ahead throughout and threatened his national standard before coming home in 1:56.44 for his second victory this week following gold in the 200 fly, although he has no intention of competing in the gruelling fly event. Scott had already been preselected for the short medley at the World Championships in Singapore thanks to his silver behind Leon Marchand at Paris 2024.
Ollie Morgan clinched the 50/100 back double with victory in the one-length race while Ed Mildred claimed the 100 fly title and while outside the QT, it qualified the British men’s medley relay team for Singapore.
The meet doubles as trials for the World Championships which run in Singapore from 27 July to 3 August. Swimmers who won a medal in an individual event at Paris 2024 will be selected to the Great Britain team for this event.
To qualify for worlds, a swimmer must finish first in an Olympic event and record a time that equals or betters those in the table below. Athletes that finish second in a time equal or better than that in the table will be considered for selection to a team that will have a maximum of 30 athletes.
Male swimmers that have so far qualified this week are Morgan (100 back), Max Litchfield (4IM), Richards (100 free) and Scott (200 fly) and the 4×1 free and 4×1 medley relay among the men. Jacob Mills was inside the cut for the 100 free in second.
- Start Lists/Results
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- Preview: Angharad Evans
- Preview: Ollie Morgan
- Aquatics GB YouTube Channel
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- Day 1 Prelims Report
- Day 1 Men’s Final
- Day 1 Women’s Finals
- Day 2 Prelims Report
- Day 2 Women’s Finals
- Day 2 Men’s Finals
- Day 3 Prelims Report
- Ollie Morgan Demolishes British 100 Back Record In 52.12
- Day 3 Women’s Finals
- Day 3 Men’s Finals
- Day 4 Prelims Report
Men’s 50 Back
Morgan rocketed into the top 15 all-time with his British 100 back record of 52.12 on Thursday evening. The excitement of not only his achievement but also Manchester United’s epic comeback in the Europa League meant he had little sleep but that had no apparent impact on his 50 back prelim where he clocked 24.76.
The 21-year-old returned for the final where he claimed his second title in as many days with another PB of 24.43 to go within 0.39 of Liam Tancock’s British record of 24.04 that’s stood since the 2009 worlds. Jonny Marshall took his second silver in 24.88 for his maiden voyage inside 25secs with Cameron Brooker third in 25.02.
Morgan told Swimming World: “Super-happy, nice to come away with a PB again. The 50 has been a bit of a weird one recently because I’ve not been able to get it right. This morning felt really good so I knew that with the right prep, and a bit of caffeine, I could come in and do a good job tonight.”
The Paris Olympian threw his cap into the crowd where it was caught by a young boy with a T-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘Team Morgan’ on the back. “It’s my little cousin,” said Morgan. “I gave him my hat yesterday and I was like ‘I’m going to need that back because I need it for the rest of the week’ and he was like ‘oh’. I was like ‘I’ll throw it to you every time I race if you want.’ So, he’ll give it back to me afterwards. I’ll throw it to him on Sunday (after the 200) and he can keep it.”
Men’s 100 Fly: QT, 51.35
Ed Mildred upgraded 200 fly silver to 100 gold in 51.80 and although that was outside the QT for an individual swim in this event in Singapore, it qualified the men’s medley relay. Jack Brown (51.87) and Jacob Peters (51.91) joined Mildred on the rostrum. It’s been some journey for Mildred who enjoyed a fine junior career in European waters before he faltered as he made the step to the senior stage.
“I was a successful junior swimmer,” he told Swimming World. “I won a lot at British age group championships and European juniors but breaking into that senior field is quite tough and it’s something I’ve struggled with. I’m not going to lie, it’s taken a lot of mental resilience and a lot of swings of emotions to be able to get there but happy to perform when it counts. I might not be happy with that time but a race is a race and you’ve got to go out and win the race and that’s what I did.”
Mildred moved to Manchester Performance Centre where he’s guided by Ryan Livingstone and trains alongside the likes of Olympic champion James Guy and Matt Richards. There were times however, when he did question his future in the sport given his struggles with the transition into the senior ranks.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Last year after trials I had to do a lot of searching of what I wanted. I’m my own biggest critic and I put a lot of pressure on myself to go out and perform. Which is a blessing because I try my absolute hardest every time but it’s a curse when things don’t go right. everyone gets those doubts and when you put so much pressure on yourself, you get it more than anybody else. Things seem to be taking a turn in the right direction so it’s good.”
Men’s 200IM: QT, 1:57.18
Scott was out like a rocket and reached halfway in 53.93, 0.59 inside his British record pace. The eight-time Olympic medallist was in clear water in a race against the clock as he came home in 1:56.44, the third fastest in the world this year behind Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita (1:56.35) and Hubert Kós and his 1:56.40 although the Hungarian won’t compete in the event at worlds. It comes in as the seventh swiftest of Scott’s career topped by his 1:55.28 British record en-route to silver at the Tokyo Olympics. He led home an all-Scottish podium ahead of Matthew Ward (1:59.13) and Evan Jones (1:59.21).
That was really tough,” said Scott. “I felt that quite a bit. It’s great with those boys – credit to them, they take it out, you know. IM you’ve really got to utilise your strengths as much as you can and figure out how to get the most out of your weaknesses as well. that’s why they send it out the way they do and it makes for me…it puts me under a little pressure through that first quarter of the race and then I’ve just got to really try to go to work. So, I’m happy with that.”
Para Swimming
Paralympic silver medallist Rhys Darbey showed why he is a podium regular in the 200IM, going inside the SM14 Singapore selection mark in 2:08.49 and securing an emphatic 942 points, aided in part by a brilliant breaststroke leg. Fellow SM14 man Cameron Vearncombe took the silver on 881, with Bruce Dee (SM6) just behind on 878 points.
“I’m really happy with that to be honest, I’m just so glad that I’ve got that time for the Worlds. The atmosphere in here is great and it’s a fast pool so I enjoyed that,” he said.
The multi-classification 100 fly gold went to Will Ellard, in an event that brought him Paralympic silver nine months ago. His tally of 910 points was well clear of fellow S14 swimmers Mark Tompsett and Jude Gunner, who won silver and bronze respectively.