2019 British Swimming Championships Day 1 Prelims Recap

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)
• DRAFT – Start List
• British 2019 World Championships Selection Policy
• British 2019 World and European Junior Championships Selection Policy
• British 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival Selection Policy
• SwimSwam Selection Analysis
• SwimSwam Elite Men Preview/SwimSwam Elite Women Preview
• SwimSwam Emerging Women Preview/SwimSwam Emerging Men Preview
• Final Start Lists
• Live Stream
• Live Results

Women’s 50m Breast – Prelims

• British National Record – 30.04, Imogen Clark, 2018

Open Top 8:

With reigning national record holder Imogen Clark out of the mix due to injury, at least for this 50m,  her domestic rival in this sprint event took over the top seed.

Loughborough’s Sarah Vasey earned lane 4 with a solid morning swim of 31.32, well on her way to following up her 2018 Commonwealth Games title with a possible British national title here.

Behind her is 18-year-old Tatiana Belonogoff, one of our ’emerging females to watch’, as the Guildford City teen clocked 31.51 to flank Vasey for tonight’s final, as will current 200m breast national record holder Jocelyn Ulyett.

Not typically a sprinter, Ulyett’s PB rests at the 31.37 thrown down 2 years ago, so she’ll need to hustle to maintain a possible podium slot tonight.

Of note, 2 additional teenagers made the top 8 in Warrender Baths Katie Goodburn (31.97) and City of Leeds’ Rebecca Clynes (32.02). Goodburn is just 16, while Clynes is 17, with both making the women’s open final.

Men’s 50m Back – Prelims

• British National Record – 24.04, Liam Tancock, 2009

Open Top 8:

Right off the bat it’s surprising to see that City of Cardiff’s Xavier Castelli finished out of the top 8th, taking 9th in 26.07. The 29-year-old veteran carried an entry time of 25.44 and is used to finishing in the top 3 at major domestic competitions. We’ll see if he makes it into the A-final via a possible, although unlikely, scratch.

Making the grade was 19-year-old Nicholas Pyle of Newcastle, another one of our ’emerging males to watch’. Pyle won this 50m event at last year’s British Championships and followed that up with European Junior Championships bronze in the 100m back last year. Pyle’s time last year was 25.45, so he’s already within .28 of that time.

Stockport Metro’s Thomas Howdle wasn’t in the 2018 final, so is looking to snag his first domestic national title, leading the pack in 25.62. That’s already a new personal best for the 22-year-old, with this morning’s effort marking his first-ever time under the 26-second threshold.

Women’s 200m Free – Prelims

• Selection Time #1 – 1:55.82, Selection Time #2 – 1:56.66
• British National Record – 1:55.54, Joanne Jackson, 2009

Open Top 8:

Last year’s bronze medalist in this event, Holly Hibbott, marked the only swimmer of the morning to dip under the 2:00 threshold, although the entire field played their cards closely to their chests.

The 20-year-old Stockport Metro swimmer is following up on her triple medal appearance on the Gold Coast last year at the Commonwealth Games, where Hibbott took the individual silver medal in the 400m free. In this 200m distance, Hibbott’s PB rests at teh 1:58.10 she clocked at that same meet to become Britain’s 9th fastest 200 freestyler ever.

But, ready to rock as well is 18-year-old Freya Anderson, the woman who is a multi-World Junior Championships gold medalist, as well as a mega-relay medalist across both the Commonwealth Games and European Championships last year.

The Ellesmere Titan holds a lifetime best of 1:58.19 registered just this year at the Edinburgh International Swim Meet to sit behind Hibbott as the 10th fastest British swimmer ever.

Don’t sleep on Edinburgh’s Kathryn Greenslade, as the 21-year-old took the 200m free title last year in 1:58.53. She clocked 2:01.79 this morning to enter as the 7th seed for tonight’s final.

Also, Bromley teen Tamryn Van Selm put up the swim of her young life to log a morning time of 2:01.24 for the 5th seed. She was already as quick as 2:03.15 heading into this meet, but now Van Selm slashed 2 seconds off that mark with her new LTB. She’s chasing the 2:00.34 British Age Record for female 15-year-olds.

University of Stirling’s Aimee Willmott wound up DFS this women’s 200m free.

Men’s 400m Free – Prelims

• Selection Time #1 – 3:45.32, Selection Time #2 – 3:46.87
• British National Record – 3:43.75, James Guy, 2015

Open Top 8:

Last year’s British Championships picture looked different, with James Guy taking silver to Sheffield’s Jay Lelliott‘s gold. Guy has since sworn off the men’s 400m free.

Lelliott is still here, taking the 6th seed in 3:54.59, but it was Daniel Jervis of Swansea who logged the only sub-3:50 time of the morning in 3:49.84. Olympian Stephen Milne is lurking as the 2nd seeded swimmer in his prelims time of 3:53.02, while his Rio teammate Cameron Kurle is also right there in 3:53.11.

Last year it took just 3:50.85 to win the title, so Jervis is already past that mark his time this morning. But, his personal best is 3:48.08, while Milne’s is 3:46.00, so if the Perth City swimmer can match his best he’ll leave Jervis in the dust.

Women’s 400m IM – Prelims

• Selection Time #1 – 4:35.09, Selection Time #2 – 4:37.01
• British National Record – 4:31.33, Hannah Miley, 2009

Open Top 8:

The 3rd fastest British female performer ever in this 400m IM event, Abbie Wood of Loughborough, didn’t waste any time making her presence known by cranking out a top seeded time of 4:40.93.

That held off both 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist and silver medalist Aimee Willmott and Hannah Miley who are hunting Wood tonight with respective morning swims of 4:42.02 and 4:45.19. On the Gold Coast, Willmott topped the podium in 4:34.90 to 3-time Olympian Miley’s 4:35.16.

15-year-old Katie Shanahan of City of Glasgow turned some heads by claiming the 6th seed for tonight’s final in 4:50.09. The teen chose the right time to lay down a personal best with her mark this morning beating her 4:50.69 from last year’s British Summer Championships. The 15-year-old British Age Record is held by Rosie Rudin at 4:43.56, but Rudin surprisingly scratched this event.

Men’s 100m Breast – Prelims

• Selection Time #1 – 59.19, Selection Time #2 – 59.92
• British National Record – 57.10, Adam Peaty (World Record), 2018

Open Top 8:

Making it look easy once again was Olympic champion, World champion and World Record holder Adam Peaty, who punched the wall in a mighty 58.50 this morning. Although he’ll need to repeat the feat tonight to make it official, Peaty’s morning time marks the first clocking under a British Selection Time #1, the strictest of the qualifying criteria.

Runner-up in the heats was Scottish national record holder and 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Ross Murdoch, who was also under 1:00 in 59.33. That ties Murdoch’s 6th fastest time of his career and sets him up nicely to put down something special this evening.  Murdoch’s time now inserts the Scot into the season world rankings as 6th fastest swimmer.

Murdoch’s Stirling partner in crime, Craig Benson, was in action as well, claiming the 3rd seed in 1:00.00, while Loughborough ace James Wilby is next in line as the 4th seed in 1:00.27. Wilby already nailed a world-class mark of 59.23 at this year’s Edinburgh International.