17-Year-Old Jacob Mills Cracks British Age Record In 100 Free With 48.11 Prelim Swim

2025 AQUATICS GB SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 15th – Sunday, April 20th
• Prelims at 9:30am local (4:30am ET)/Finals at 7pm local (2pm ET)
• London Aquatics Centre
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  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

Another British sprint freestyler has emerged as a contender for an individual berth at the World Championships.

Jacob Mills, a 17-year-old out of Repton Swimming, threw down a time of 48.11 in the prelims of the men’s 100 free during Day 3 prelims at the Aquatics GB Championships in London, knocking more than a second off his previous best time and breaking the British Age Record in the process.

Mills’ time improves on his previous PB of 49.33, set one month ago in Edinburgh, and erases the British Record for 17-year-old boys of 48.19, set by Jacob Whittle at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.

Split Comparison:

The improvement curve for Mills over the last six months has been steep. He broke 50 seconds for the first time at the Rotterdam Qualification Meet in late November, clocking 49.61, and has been between 49.33 and 50.14 five times in 2025 prior to his swim this morning.

Prior to his first sub-50 swim, Mills held a best time of 50.16, set at the 2024 European Junior Championships where he finished 11th. At that meet, he showed signs of someone who was going to break 50 in the near future from a flat start after he produced three 49-second relay splits.

In addition to breaking Whittle’s record for 17-year-olds, Mills also went under the existing record for 18-year-old boys, which stands at 48.23 from Matt Richards in 2021. However, it’s worth noting that the 16-year-old record is the fastest of the three, with Whittle setting that mark at 48.11 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

All-Time British Performers, Men’s 100 Freestyle (LCM)

1. Matt Richards, 47.45 – 2023
2. Lewis Burras, 47.63 – 2022
3. Tom Dean, 47.83 – 2022
4. Duncan Scott, 47.87 – 2019/2021
5. Jacob Whittle, 48.03 – 2023
6. Jacob Mills, 48.11 – 2025
7. David Cumberlidge, 48.16 – 2024
8. Simon Burnett / Alexander Cohoon, 48.20 – 2008 / 2024
9. –
10. Alex Painter, 48.44 –  2024

Heading into tonight’s final, Mills holds the #2 seed behind Richards, who clocked 48.07 this morning, while Alexander Cohoon (48.23), Whittle (48.55), Tom Dean (48.63) and Jack McMillan (48.83) make it six men sub-49 coming out of the prelims.

Richards moves into #4 in the world this season, while Mills ranks 5th and Cohoon also cracks the top 10 in 8th.

Mills is also scheduled to swim the 50 free and 200 free later in the meet.