British Championships, Day 6 Prelims: James Guy & Duncan Scott Book Centre Lanes For 200 Free Clash
James Guy led the way as he booked lane four for the 200 free alongside Duncan Scott on the final day of the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.
The pair share share 14 Olympic medals but two into one doesn’t go so they must cross swords to see who’ll join Matt Richards at the World Championships with the Welshman preselected for the event following silver behind David Popovici at Paris 2024.
Angharad Evans posted the sixth-fastest 100m breaststroke by a British woman in 1:06.22 while Freya Anderson headed the 100 free, days after missing the 200 final.
Olympic and world medallist Luke Greenbank looked in fine fettle in the 200 back while Ben Proud returned the morning after 50 free gold to reach the 50 fly final where Jacob Peters booked top spot.
To qualify for the Singapore worlds – which run from 27 July to 3 August – 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.
- Start Lists/Results
- Selection Policy
- Preview: Angharad Evans
- Preview: Ollie Morgan
- Aquatics GB YouTube Channel
- BBC Sport website/iPlayer
- 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
- Day 4 Men’s Finals
- Day 4 Women’s Finals
- Day 5 Prelims Report
- Day 5 Women’s Finals
- Day 5 Men’s Finals
Men’s 50 Fly
Jacob Peters and Lewis Fraser filled the top two slots in 23.27 and 23.54 respectively followed by Josh Gammon (23.73) with Proud through in fourth 23.89. The 30-year-old won the world title in 2017 and told Swimming World: “I’m not used to this right now! I think the biggest thing for me this weekend was getting some quality training done. I found in Edinburgh (Edinburgh International Meet) two-back-to-back races over two days was actually quite taxing on the body and that’s purely because of the work I’m doing so for me this is a good opportunity to get that sort of heavier racing done. It’s starting to get things rolling gearing towards hopefully doing two events out in Singapore.”
Men’s 200m Backstroke
Luke Greenbank looked long and smooth as he booked lane four in 1:57.92. Ollie Morgan – who set a British record of 52.12 in the 100 back – and Jonny Marshall both clocked 1:59.33 with Matthew Ward the fourth man inside 2mins in 1:59.63. There’ll be two Greenbanks in the final with the younger sibling Sam through in sixth,
Greenbank has collected four world medals including silver and bronze in the 200 back at Budapest 2022 and Gwangju 2019 respectively but he didn’t make the team for the Fukuoka worlds in 2023 and then last year was DQd in the prelims in Paris.
Looking at his prelim in London, Greenbank told Swimming World: “For a morning swim, 1:57, season’s best. I think there’s plenty more to come in the final but for me it’s just about making that time and getting on the team here. That’s all I want to do, I’m not going to get too distracted: Ollie’s on fine form, Jonny swam really well there, those Bath boys are all amazing. So I think it’s about coming top two and making that team – not to say that I’m not going to go for the win but just managing my expectations. I know that after this meet if I get on that worlds team I’ve got a lot more I can get out of myself over the next few months. So tonight all about making that time really.”
Women’s 100m Breaststroke
Over the last 12 months, Angharad Evans has broken the British 100br record, finished sixth at the Olympics and become a world short-course medallist. She went 2:21.86 to take the 200 title and book her ticket for Singapore before returning to the pool for the two-length race. Out in 31.38 and back in 34.84, Evans posted 1:06.22 for the sixth time in British history and just 0.01 off the former national record of 1:06.21 set by Molly Renshaw in 2021. Kara Hanlon was next through in 1:08.38.
Speed comes naturally to Evans be it a prelim or final. “What I’m finding now is my stroke rate is really dropping and I’m still maintaining that speed which is exciting going into the future,” she said. “I felt pretty relaxed with that actually but that’s what I said last year in the heats and I ended up tensing up with the pressure. But what is boding well for me is that I have no pressure tonight – I’m on the team so I’m just going to see what I can do tonight. If I can get close to my own British record so that’s the goal tonight.”
Women’s 100 Free
Freya Anderson missed the 200 free final but made no mistake over 100 when she headed qualifiers in a season’s best 54.37. Eva Okaro returned the morning after joint bronze in the 100 fly to book lane five in 54.95 with 0.61 separating the remaining six qualifiers.
Okaro – also winner of the 50 free and 50 fly – told Swimming World: “The main goal this morning was to just keep it long and easy and I did want to turn top three in my heat and then kind of bring it home as good as what I could. After the 100 fly last night, I’m so tired and my whole body hurts but I’m just going to get a good nap in, get some good food and see what I can do later.”
Men’s 200 Free
August 2025 will mark 10 years since James Guy was crowned 200 free world champion in Kazan, Russia. Since then he’s collected Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth titles. On Sunday, he booked lane four in 1:46.85 with the sole sub-1:47 swim as Duncan Scott – the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist – claimed the adjacent lane in 1:47.31. Tyler Melbourne-Smith (1:47.46), Evan Jones (1:47.48) and Max Litchfield (1:47.89) were all inside 1:48. Richards has already booked his spot in the four-length event and was Sixth in 1:48.12 with Jack McMillan (1:48.58) and Alex Painter (1:48.78) clinching the final two spots in the final. Charlie Hutchison was the first man to miss out in 1:48.83 with Joe Litchfield and Kieran Bird – who swam the 4×2 prelims before GB went on to defend gold – also missed out.
Guy told Swimming World: “It’s just making sure you make it back. Obviously you’ve got two heats after to make the final so you don’t want to be too slow. You’ve just got to make sure you’re in, that’s the most important thing.”
Women’s 800 Free Slowest Heats
Ava Cook of City of Sheffield was the only woman inside 9mins when she headed the morning heats in 8:57.61. Of note was Ellie Hull, born in 2011 and posting the sixth-fastest time of 9:04.85. While the start sheet wasn’t available at the time of writing, defending champion Amelie Blocksidge is expected to be in the centre lanes for the fastest heat in the evening session.
