2019 BUCS Finals Session Roundup – Day Two

• November 15th-17th
• Ponds Forge ISC, Sheffield
• SCM
• Meet Info
• Entry List
• Swim Swam preview
• Live Stream

The finals session of day two of the 2019 British Universities & Colleges Short Course Championships kicked off with a bang tonight with a total of 7 Championship Records broken throughout the session. The first of those records went to Loughborough’s Marie Wattel, who lead the women’s 200m freestyle from start to finish. She touched in a time of 1.54.63, while Edinburgh finished in 2, 3 with Kat Greensdale taking silver (1.56.19) and Lucy Hope with bronze (1.57.32). Wattel later continued her winning form by breaking 2 more Championship Records in the 100m butterfly (57.03) and the 50m freestyle (24.48).

After swimming a lifetime best time in the 1500m freestyle yesterday, Duncan Scott collected a further 3 medals tonight (2 gold, 1 silver). He dominated the men’s 200m freestyle, turning just under 3 seconds ahead of the rest of the field at 100m. He finished in a new CR time of 1.42.78, followed by Ulster’s Jack McMillan (1.44.86) and Craig McLean of Stirling (1.47.29). His second gold of the evening came in the 50m freestyle, where his time of 21.53 was just 0.13 outside Ben Proud’s 2015 record. Sheffield Hallam’s Joe Litchfield denied Scott another gold in the 100m butterfly, out-touching him in a time of 51.69, with Scott finishing in 52.03. 

Loughborough had a 1-2-3 finish in the women’s 50m breaststroke, with Imogen Clarke taking gold (30.04) almost a second ahead of her teammates Megan Morrison (30.93) and Carmella Kitching (30.94). Megan Morrison later took her second silver of the evening in the 200m breaststroke behind Manchester Metro’s Katie Matts (2.21.80). 2012 and 2016 Olympian Craig Benson did the double in the men’s breaststroke events tonight, winning both the 50m (26.93) and the 200m (2.07.62). 

The podium finishes for the backstroke events saw a mix of the same names for both men and women. In the women’s 50m backstroke, it was Edinburgh’s Emily Crane who finished first (26.97), followed by Ulster’s Danielle Hill in a new Irish Senior Record time of 27.12 (her second of the evening- her 50m freestyle time of 25.00 was also a new ISR) and Stirling’s Cassie Wild (27.53). In the 200m backstroke, it was Edinburgh’s Kat Greenslade who dominated the race, winning in a time of 2.06.50. The Welsh swimmer managed to hold of Nottingham Trent’s Courtney Price who finished second (2.07.55). Cassie Wild clocked her second podium finish of the night, claiming bronze in a time of 2.10.48. 

In the men’s 50m back, Stirling’s Martyn Walton won in 23.95, just 0.10 off the CR. In the 200m backstroke, Loughborough’s Luke Greenbank set a new CR in a time of 1.52.94. In the women’s 4x50m freestyle relay, Edinburgh1 finished a staggering 3 seconds ahead of second place Loughborough (1.40.57 and 1.43.31 respectively), while in the men’s it was Stirling who brought home the win. They broke their own CR in a time of 1.26.32 which they set at this meet last year. Edinburgh were second (1.29.95) and Loughborough third (1.31.33). 

Team Scores were unavailable at the time of publishing.