16-Year-Old Matt Richards Cranks Out 48.88 100 Free In Kazan

Retta Race
by Retta Race 7

July 05th, 2019 News

2019 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The teen who has been downing British Age Records left and right did it again tonight while competing on day 3 of the 2019 European Junior Championships in Kazan.

16-year-old Matt Richards busted out the swim of his life to take the first international elite medal of his young career, smashing a personal best of 48.88 to top the men’s 100 free podium.

Splits for the teen’s race include 23.72/25.16, with Richards showing a Chalmers-esque back half strategy in the race after hitting the mid-point mark in 3rd place.

The Royal Wolverhampton swimmer planned his attack masterfully, first producing a 49.91 PB in the prelims to overtake his 49.98 punched at the British Championships this past April. Then he produced a time of 49.50 to further challenge the clock and log another PB and British Age Record.

Saving his best for last, however, Richards cranked out a monster 48.88 to clinch the victory, stand atop the podium and further cement his name into the Age Group books in Great Britain. But, he’s doing more than that, with his sub-49 effort now checking Richards in as the 7th fastest British Open Age swimmer ever in the men’s 100m free.

Top 7 British Performers Ever in Men’s 100m Free

Duncan Scott UniOfStirl 97 British Championships 2019 Glasgow 1 18/04/19 47.87
Simon Burnett Windsor 83 Olympic Games 2008 Beijing, China 1 10/08/08 48.20
Adam Brown Hatfield 89 FINA World Championships 2013 Barcelona, Spain 1 31/07/13 48.48
Benjamin Proud Plymouth Lea 94 Edinburgh International Meet Edinburgh 1 11/03/16 48.52
Liam Tancock

David Cumberlidge

Exeter City 85 British Gas Champs (50m)

World University Games

Sheffield 1 19/03/09

05/07/19

48.76
Calum Jarvis N Cornwall 92 British Championships 2015 London 1 15/04/15 48.79

Matt Richards, Royal Wolverhampton, 02, European Junior Championships 2019 Kazan 05/07/19, 48.88

7
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

7 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
NCAA Chairfan
4 years ago

Kid needs to go to NC State. He will have a WR if he does.

KeithM
4 years ago

Paris looks like it could be incredible for British men’s sprint. Whittle’s times at that age are mind blowing.

Yeet
4 years ago

You’ve missed David Cumberlidge off the list, he swam 48.7 at WUGS yesterday leading off the 4×100 relay..

Dude
4 years ago

I’d love to know what other people think, is this swim more impressive than 14 yo Jacob Whittles 49.97?

Dee
Reply to  Dude
4 years ago

49.9 from a 14 year old is mind-blowing, so it would have to be that. I wouldn’t want to compare them though – I’m just enjoying Britain having a few good young sprinters for a change. Both massively talented.

Texas Tap Water
Reply to  Dude
4 years ago

Nah. 14 yo swimming 49.97 is so much more impressive

Foz
Reply to  Dude
4 years ago

The 49.97 was a relay swim. Let’s compare apples to apples – 48.88 for Richards (born Dec. 2002), 50.4 for Whittles (born Sept. 2004). Both awesome swimmers with huge potential!

About Retta Race

Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

Read More »