2017 British Swimming C’ships Day 6 Finals Live Recap

2017 BRITISH SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 18th – Sunday, April 23rd
• Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield
• LCM
• Qualifying Times Analysis (for this meet)
• Qualifying Times Analysis (for 2017 World Championships GBR squad)
• Meet Site
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream
• Live Results

*Note on Finals Session: The schedule of events will feature three finals – a senior final targeted at the World Championships, a Target Tokyo Final for potential swimmers at the World Junior Championships and Commonwealth Youth Games and a Junior Final for those looking to qualify for the European Junior Championships and European Youth Olympic Festival. For the purposes of this article’s context, we will be reporting on the ‘senior final’ of each event.

MEN’S 50 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• FINA A – 23.67
• British 1st place standard – N/A
• British consideration standard – N/A
• The Podium:
  • Ben Proud – 22.80, *NR
  • Adam Barrett – 23.52
  • Robert Fannon – 24.28

22-year-old Ben Proud manhandled this 50m butterfly field tonight, crushing a monster 22.80 to not only top the podium, but also clock a new British national record. He held the previous mark in 22.93 from when he won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but blasted off another .13 to notch a super speedy 22.80. With that one-breath effort in Sheffield tonight, Proud now ranks #1 in the world and collects his 2nd gold of the meet to go with his 50m freestyle stunner last night.

Runner-up status tonight went to Adam Barrett, who touched in 23.52, while Robert Fannon wound up on the podium as well in his bronze medal-garnering time of 24.28. Between prelims and finals, Barrett was the only other swimmer besides Proud to dip beneath the 24-second threshold, but he simply couldn’t match Proud’s start and underwater blast-off tonight. He still notches a time within the world’s top 10 on the season.

WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• FINA A – 58.48
• British 1st place standard – 56.81
• British consideration standard – 57.81
• The Podium:
  • Alys Thomas – 57.85
  • Charlotte Atkinson – 58.22
  • Rachael Kelly – 58.41

Swansea’s Aly Thomas was able to successfully defend her 100m butterfly title, firing off a new personal best in the event. Prior to this meet, Thomas’ personal best sat at the 58.66 she rocked for the win at the 2016 edition of this meet, but she surpassed that already with her morning swim of 58.49.

Tonight, the now-7th fastest British performer of all-time dipped beneath the 58-second threshold in spades, stopping the clock at a mark of 57.85. Even with that fantastic swim, Thomas falls just .04 outside of the consideration mark for Budapest. But, her 2:07.87 200m butterfly silver medal-winning swim did fall under the consideration time in that event on day 3.

Isle of Man’s Charlotte Atkinson already scored the 200m butterfly and 50m butterfly victories, but threatened in this sprint race tonight up through the last 25m. Her morning swim of 58.55 already earned a new Isle of Man record and Atkinson outdid that swim with an even faster 58.22.

Bronze went to Atkinson’s Loughborough teammate Rachael Kelly. Although she fell down a spot from her silver medal from last year, she improved her 2016 time from 58.72 to 58.41.

For perspective, one needs a tie of 57.96 to crack into the world’s top 10 on the season, with the top 5 all positioned below 57.40.

MEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

• FINA A – 1:58.55
• British 1st place standard – 1:55.89
• British consideration standard – 1:57.00
• The Podium:
  • Luke Greenbank – 1:57.67
  • Joseph Hulme – 1:58.63
  • Xavier Mohammed – 1:59.94

Loughborough surged to amother top finish tonight, led by European Games champion Luke Greenbank and his mark of 1:57.67. Right behind was Joseph Hulme pumped out a new personal best to earn silver in 1:58.63. Both men improved upon their morning swims, but were well outside the British consideration standard for the 2017 World Championships.

For Greenbank, his string of 1:57-point swims is frustrating for fans who remember his 1:56.89 whopper of a race back at the 2015 inaugural European Games, a time he hasn’t been able to match since. Post-race, the 19-year-old stated that he was ‘disappointed’ with that time.

Bronze tonight went to Xavier Mohammed.

WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• FINA A – 1:07.58
• British 1st place standard – 1:06.29
• British consideration standard – 1:06.90
• The Podium:
  • Sarah Vasey – 1:06.78, *consideration
  • Siobhan-Marie O’Connor – 1:06.80, *consideration
  • Jocelyn Ulyett – 1:07.24

In what some may say was a surprise result, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor was denied her 2nd consecutive title in this race, with Sarah Vasey charging to the wall first by just .02 of a second. The reigning national record holder O’Connor had claimed the top seed in the morning with a swift 1:06.91 to represent the only sub-1:07 swim of the morning and dropped the 100m butterfly final to focus just on breaststroke tonight.

However, it was Loughborough’s Vasey who was able to hold on to her stroke against a tightening up O’Connor and just out-touch the Olympian to win in 1:06.78. That lays waste to her own personal best of 1:07.32 notched at the Luxembourg Euro Meet earlier this year, so quite the time drop for Vasey here in Sheffield.

But, as with Vasey’s, O’Connor’s time of 1:06.80 is also under the British consideration standard for Budapest and should be enough to get both women on the World Championships roster. For perspective, Vasey and O’Connor would have finished 6th and 7th, respectively, in the Rio final in the women’s 100m breaststroke with their swims tonight in Sheffield. Although, their times barely crack into the world’s top 10 this season.

The 200m breaststroke gold medalist here, Jocelyn Ulyett, who won that event in a new national record, touched in 1:07.24 in this 100m distance for bronze.

MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• FINA A – 1:47.73
• British 1st place standard – 1:45.45
• British consideration standard – 1:46.58
• The Podium:
  • James Guy – 1:45.55, *consideration
  • Duncan Scott – 1:45.80, *consideration
  • Calum Jarvis – 1:47.02

An enormously intense race ensued between Olympic teammates James Guy and Duncan Scott in this men’s 200m freestyle final, with the result coming down to the finish, as fans hoped. Bath’s Guy came out on top with a super solid time of 1:45.55, while Stirling’s Scott fired off a mega personal best of 1:45.80 for silver.

Scott led at the 100m mark in 51.17, but Guy tapped into another gear to keep the Scot from pulling ahead. Separated by a couple of lanes in the pool, the two men kept each other in check until the final 15m when they kept their heads down and charged to the wall, cranking out stroke after stroke for the win.  For Guy, this result crushes his most recent 1:47.11 clocked at the Arena Pro Swim in Indianapolis, while Scott’s mark slashes almost a second and a half off of his previous personal best of 1:47.28. The men now sit 3rd and 4th in the world rankings.

For Guy, this marks his 4th gold at these championships, having collected the top prize in the 100m/200m butterfly races, as well as the 400m freestyle on night one. Scott also made a haul here in Sheffield, adding this silver to his 200m butterfly bronze, 200m IM bronze and stunning 100m freestyle gold in a new British record. The 19-year-old Scott’s time tonight in the 200m checks in as a new Scottish national record.

Calum Jarvis finished in the 4th fastest time of his career tonight, clocking a 1:47.02, while Sheffield’s own Nicholas Grainger earned 4th and potential relay placement with a time of 1:47.28.