British Championships, Day 5 Men’s Finals: Ben Proud Wins 50 Free In 21.67 As Jacob Mills Twice Breaks 22Secs
Olympic silver medallist Ben Proud won the 50 free in a season’s best of 21.67 as 17-year-old Jacob Mills broke the 22-second barrier for the second time in a day at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in London.
Mills – 17 – led the way in prelims in a huge PB of 21.96 before Proud clocked 22.06 in the final heat although the Olympic silver medallist eased through the final metres.
Proud has been preselected for the World Championships thanks to his trip to the Paris podium while Mills was inside the cut in the 100 free where he went 48.03 behind winner Matt Richards and all but booked himself a ticket to Singapore.
Tyler Melbourne-Smith won the 800 free and Greg Butler clinched the 100/200 breaststroke double with victory in the longer race.
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.
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Men’s 800 Free: QT, 7:47.80
Tyler Melbourne-Smith pulled away from the field to come home in a PB of 7:58.68 with last year’s silver medallist the only man inside 8mins. Melbourne-Smith, however, had mixed emotions, describing his turns as “terrible,” and said: “It was an alright swim but I need to be a bit quicker.” Luke Hornsey was second in 8:03.11 with Alex Sergeant third in 8:04.28.
Men’s 200m Breaststroke: QT, 2:09.55
This has been an event in which Britain has enjoyed huge success. In recent times that has seen Michael Jamieson win Olympic silver in the same London Aquatic Centre in 2012 and James Wilby and Ross Murdoch claim armfuls of world, European and Commonwealth medals. Wilby isn’t competing this year in either the 100 or 200 and nor is Adam Peaty in the shorter race. Greg Butler won the 100 and led throughout to win the 200 in a PB of 2:10.17 with Filip Nowacki setting a 17-years age group record in 2:11.09 for second and George Smith third in 2:12.67.
Men’s 50 Free: QT, 21.88
Proud had already been preselected for this event and found himself in the unaccustomed position of lining up in lane five after Mills posted the speediest prelim. The Olympic silver medallist had a customary fine start, rising ahead of the field, and although Alex Painter went with him to his left, the 30-year-old got his hand on the wall first in 21.67, a season’s best. Mills broke 22secs for the second time in 21.99 with Painter third in 22.01.
It was a season’s best for Proud as he bettered his 21.73 from the Edinburgh International Meet despite not being shaved and having had much-needed rest following Paris. His time stands third in the world rankings which have taken shape over the last week as Egor Kornev went 21.43 at the Russian Championships and Leonardo Deplano 21.62 at the Italian Championships.
The pair spoke for a moment on poolside with Proud – owner of world, European and Commonwealth titles as well as that Olympic silver – imparting valuable advice to the teenager. “After the race I said to him, these are the experiences that money can’t buy,” said Proud. “You can’t practice this anywhere else apart from the big events. It seems like he was literally disappointed with a 21.99 which is very exciting from a 17-year-old. He’s an exciting one to watch and hopefully he keeps hungry and keeps aiming for a bit more because there’s a lot more to come.”
He was a little disappointed with his prelim swim of 22.06 and that he didn’t break 22secs. He soon turned that into a lesson learned. “I wanted to practice this week and race and that was exactly it. I had to go up against a new one who is exciting. I know this event very well, I know myself and I knew I had to squeeze a little bit more out considering the time of the year.”
Proud made his senior international debut at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona. Since then, he’s competed at a further six editions, winning sprint freestyle medals at the last three including gold at Budapest 2022. Proud was also crowned world 50 fly champion in the Hungarian capital in 2017. Now, the inclusion of all the 50m strokes at LA 2028 has led to him considering what would be a fourth Olympics.
“To be honest, I was going to take it year by year and just try to add different things to my career and almost beef it up in a way so I can walk away and be quite proud of it,” he said. “Now with the 50s coming to LA and had a lot of talks with Steve Tigg (GB head coach) and I’m building up motivation to kind of like – how can I develop myself into a good athlete in three years’ time? Obviously that’s a long way away and I’m not going to hold myself to anything but I think year by year there’ll be different challenges just like any other time. I’ve turned 30 now so I’m looking at things a bit differently and that’s nice.”
Mills has had a few days to remember at the Aquatic Centre. He dipped inside the cut for the 100 in 48.03 behind winner Matt Richards and all but booked his place on the plane before his exploits in the 50. Asked how he’d describe his competition, he said: “I don’t know where to start. Near-perfection – let’s go with that! Two PBs and I’m really happy with this week. Top two junior times in the world this year so far so I am really pleased. What can I say?”
Of the final he pointed to the presence of the Olympic silver medallist, saying: “It definitely adds a bit of pressure having Ben next to you but I tried to go out there and do my best tonight so that’s all I could do.”
Mills, who is coached by Jamie Main at Repton School, was five when Proud started out on the international stage. And his are some fine footsteps in which to follow as both man and athlete.
“Ben’s the absolute best role model,” said Mills. “Ask anyone and Ben is that role model for sprint freestyle in Britain and I think everyone wants to be more like Ben. So, I’m trying to make myself more like him and that’s all I’m doing at the minute.”
