14-Year Old Whittle Swims 50.3; 16-Year Old Richards Swims 49.9 in 100 Free

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)
• SwimSwam Selection Analysis
• SwimSwam Elite Men Preview/SwimSwam Elite Women Preview
• SwimSwam Emerging Women Preview/SwimSwam Emerging Men Preview
• Final Start Lists
• Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap
• Live Results

A pair of British sprint records went down in the finals races of the men’s 100 freestyle on Thursday at the British Swimming Championships. Both swims came in the transition final, which was the secondary final reserved for swimmers aged 23-and-under.

Matthew Richards of the Royal Wolverhampton School won that heat in 49.98. That broke his own prelims record of 50.29, which was both the previous Welsh Junior Record and British 16-year olds record in the event. The old British mark for that age belonged to Duncan Scott, the current senior National Record holder, who was a 50.67 when he was 16.

Finishing 3rd in that heat was 14-year old Derventio Excel swimmer Jacob Whittle, who touched in 50.37. After making history this morning in what we believe to be the fastest-ever time globally by a 14-year old, Whittle has undercut that mark again. The swim also stands as a new British age record. His best time coming in to the meet was just 52.04.

Editor’s note: while results list swimmers’ ages based on December 31st of this year, national age records are tracked based on the athlete’s age on the date of swim. Both swimmers will age up later this year.