2016 British Championships Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2016 BRITISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS/OLYMPIC TRIALS

• Tuesday, April 12th – Sunday, April 17th
• Tollcross International Swimming Center, Glasgow, Scotland
• Prelims at 10am local/6am EDT; Finals at 6:30pm local/1:30pm EDT
• British Swimming 2016 Olympic Games Selection Policy
• Live Streaming
• DRAFT Psych Sheet
• Start Lists/Results

*Note on Finals Session: The schedule of events will feature three finals – a senior final targeted at the Rio Olympics and European Championships in London, a Target Tokyo Final for potential additions to the European Championship in London and a Junior Final for those looking to qualify for the European Junior Championships in Hungary. For the purposes of this article’s context, we will be reporting on the ‘senior final’ of each event.

If the first place swimmer does not meet or exceed that qualifying time, then the athlete may be considered for selection as long as he/she falls within 2% of the 2nd time listed by each event. Runners-up also must be within 2% of the 2nd qualification time in order to be considered for selection. You can read more about the policy here.

WOMEN’S 800 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• British Record – 8:14.10, Rebecca Adlington (2008)
• 1st Place OLY Standard – 8:22.93
• 2% Consideration – 8:27.12
• The Podium –
  • Jazmin Carlin, 8:27.49
  • Camilla Hattersley, 8:30.99
  • Keri-Anne Payne, 8:34.03

Although Jazmin Carlin snatched up her 2nd British Title of the meet, she once again wasn’t able to clock the British Olympic standard. First it was the 200 freestyle, tonight it was the 800 freestyle, where Carlin stopped the clock at 8:27.49 to fall well over 4 seconds from the 8:22.93 first place standard. Carlin does, however, fall within the 2% consideration time, so she very well may be safe to go in this event.

Overall, Carlin is having a rather disappointing meet, having won this event last year in a time of 8:21.58. Carlin also cranked out a super swift 8:18.15 to earn the bronze medal in the event at the 2015 FINA World Championships, so tonight was a sluggish performance for the 25-year-old.

Surging to 2nd place from her 3rd place finish after prelims was 20-year-old Camilla Hattersley, who earned a personal best by 3 full seconds, registering a time of 8:30.99.

Veteran swimmer Keri-Anne Payne from Warrander claimed bronze in 8:34.03.

MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• British National Record – Simon Burnett – 48.20
• British OLY Standard – 48.16
• 2% Consideration – 48.60
• The Podium –
  • Duncan Scott, 48.66
  • Ben Proud, 48.72
  • Adam Barnett, 49.07

A thrilling race ensued in the men’s 100m freestyle, which rendered a mild upset in the form of Scottish swimmer Duncan Scott stealing the gold out from under Plymouth Leander’s Ben Proud in the last 10 meters.

After a swift .58 reaction time of the blocks, Proud took the sprint out in a solid 23.23 and turned first with Scott right on his side. The two were fairly even until 18-year-old Scott made his moved and touched out Proud right at the end.

Proud’s best time heading into the meet was the 48.52 from Edinburgh from from a couple of months ago, so he was slightly off his game tonight with a mark of 48.72. Scott took advantage, winning the race with a mighty 48.66, improving upon his own Scottish National Record he earned this morning with his prelim swim of 48.81. For Scott, today represents the only 2 outings in which he’s ever ventured into sub-49-second territory.

Of note, both swimmers fall outside of the 2% consideration standard of 48.60, so they’d need to rely on a ‘save’ from the British Swimming High Performance Director in order to notch a spot on the British roster for Rio.

If you’re wondering where Scott’s teammate, Robbie Renwick from the University of Stirling went, the 3rd qualifier into this event from prelims scratched the event earlier today.

The 400 free relay time, compiled of the top four finishers for finals, to be considered is a 3:14.55 at a minimum. Britain technically has a spot locked down in that event for the Olympics via their 10th-place finish at Worlds in 3:15.70, but weren’t faster than 3:14.55 even with relay starts, so British Swimming could very-well choose to leave this relay home.

The prelims aggregate was 3:16.30 and finals aggregate is 3:15.96.

 WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• British National Record – Ellen Gandy – 2:04.83
• British OLY Standard– 2:06.51
• 2% Consideration – 2:08.15
• The Podium –
  • Aimee Willmot, 2:08.82
  • Alys Thomas, 2:08.87
  • Emily Large, 2:09.47

London Aquatics’ Aimee Willmott soared into the top spot of the women’s 200m butterfly final to follow-up on her 400m IM silver medal from night 1. Willmott split this race 1:06.89 to take the gold in a mark of 2:08.82. Whereas her 400 IM silver medal finish fell within the 2% consideration standard, her 200 fly falls short by about 7 tenths, despite the fact this is Willmott’s 3rd-fasetest 200 free outing of her career.

Alys Thomas improved upon her 2:09.28 prelim outing, registering a 2:08.87 here for 2nd place just by .05 of a second. That mark sits just .25 of a second off of her lifetime best of 2:08.62, the time she clocked to finish 4th at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Bronze tonight went to Newcastle’s Emily Large who touched in 2:09.47. That’s a huge swim from Large who is just 14 years old. Her best entering the meet was the 2:13.20 she threw down just this past March, so making strides she sure is.

MEN’S 400 IM – FINAL

• British National Record – Daniel Wallace – 4:11.04
• British OLY Standard – 4:12.08
• 2% Consideration – 4:13.71
• The Podium –
  • Max Litchfield, 4:12.05 (*Automatic*)
  • Roberto Pavoni, 4:14.31
  • Dan Wallace, 4:18.11

Immediately after younger brother Joe Litchfield claimed the win in the night’s ‘Target Tokyo’ 400m IM final, Max Litchfield lit the pool on fire by storming to the wall in a British Olympic-qualifying time of 4:12.05 in the men’s open final edition of the same event.

By a super slim margin of just .03 of a second, Litchfield nabbed an Olympic berth with a personal best by almost 3 seconds, thrilling the crowd as he dominated down the stretch.  Even after Australia’s and Japan’s Olympic Trials have concluded, Litchfield’s time now ranks a the 3rd-fastest in the world this season, quite a confidence booster headed into his final months of training before Rio.

Loughborough’s Roberto Pavoni came in the silver spot tonight in a time of 4:14.31, while former University of Florida Gator, Dan Wallace, settled for bronze in a mark of 4:18.11.

Wallace is having a particularly rough meet, having already finished out of the final in the men’s 400m freestyle event. Now in this 400 IM, the 22-year-old finished well off his personal best of 4:11.04, the mark he earned in prelims in Glasgow en route to ultimately winning this event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Wallace was 4:13.07 as recently as Kazan, so tonight’s swim was discouraging.

WOMENS’ 50 FREESTYLE

• British National Record – Fran Halsall – 23.96
• British OLY Standard – 24.37
• 2% Consideration – 24.71
• The Podium –
  • Fran Halsall, 24.48
  • Anna Hopkin, 25.39
  • Rachel-Louise Masson, 25.58

Just .12 off of the British Olympic Standard tonight was Loughborough swimmer Fran Halsall, who took the women’s splash n’ dash in a time of 24.48. Given the fact that Halsall has already dipped beneath the standard with her 24.23 outing from Marseille in March, the crowd was hopeful she’d feed of Litchfield’s momentum and run away with a sub-24.37 time this evening in the sprint. Although that’s not the case, at least her time checks in under the 2% consideration time of 24.71 and should render her safe for qualification in this event.

Bath’s Anna Hopkin and South Aberdeen‘s Rachel-Louise Masson finished with the silver and bronze in the race, clocking times of 25.29 and 25.58, respectively.