2021 British Olympic Selection Trials Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2021 BRITISH SWIMMING SELECTION TRIALS

• Wednesday, April 14th – Sunday, April 18th
• Prelims at 10am local/Finals at 7pm local
• London Aquatics Centre
• British Olympic Selection Policy
• Primary Olympic Selection Meet (not only opportunity)
• Entries
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Live Stream
• Live Results

MEN’S 400 IM – FINAL

British National Record – 4:09.62, Max Litchfield 2017
British OLY QT – 4:13.47
FINA ‘A’ – 4:15.84

GOLD – Max Litchfield, 4:12.67 Olympic Qualifying
SILVER – Brodie Williams, 4:12.95 Olympic Qualifying
BRONZE – Mark Szaranek, 4:17.44

The national record holder Max Litchfield controlled the race through the 350m mark but Bath’s Brodie Williams gave him a run for his money coming into the wall like a freight train. Both men got under the British Swimming-mandated qualification time of 4:13.47, with Litchfield finishing in 4:12.67 to Williams 4:12.95.

Williams came home in 58.97 to Litchfield’s final 100m of 59.54 to keep it extremely close in this grueling event.

Litchfield owns the British standard in 4:09.62 from when he placed 4th at the 2017 FINA World Championships. As for Williams, the man had never been under 4:16.63 before but here he is most likely qualifying for an Olympic Games with a nearly 4 second time drop.

Litchfield now ranks 5th in the world this season, while Williams enters the chat as the 7th fastest performer worldwide this season. Former Florida Gator Mark Szaranek rounded out the top 3 in 4:17.44.

WOMEN’S 200 FLY – FINAL

British National Record – 2:04.83, Ellen Gandy 2009
British OLY QT – 2:08.32
FINA ‘A’ – 2:08.43

GOLD – Alys Thomas, 2:08.09 Olympic Qualifying
SILVER – Keanna MacInnes, 2:08.86
BRONZE – Laura Stephens, 2:09.53

Just one swimmer was able to dip under the British Swimming Olympic consideration time, as 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Alys Thomas got it done for gold in 2:08.09. She was pushed by Scottish athlete Keanna MacInnes who nailed a new lifetime best by nearly a second in 2:08.86.

Plymouth Leander’s Laura Stephens scored third in 2:09.53 after placing 2nd in the 100m fly on night 1 in a new personal best of 57.98 in that sprint.

Thomas owns a lifetime best of 2:05.45 and is Great Britain’s 3rd fastest performer all-time. The 30-year-old was most recently 2:07.40 at the 2019 British Swimming Championships and followed with a 5th place finish in 2:07.48 at the 2019 FINA World Championships.

MEN’S 100 FREE – FINAL

British National Record – 47.87, Duncan Scott 2019
British OLY QT – 48.35
FINA ‘A’ – 48.57

GOLD – Duncan Scott, 47.87 *Ties British Record, Olympic Qualifying
SILVER – Matt Richards, 48.23 Olympic Qualifying
BRONZE – Tom Dean, 48.51

The men’s 100m free was a phenomenal race, with Duncan Scott tying his own British national record to top the field in 47.87. Opening in 23.16 and bringing it home in 24.71, Scott crushed the only sub-48 second time of the field, although post-race he said he was disappointed with the result.

Coming in also under the consideration time was 18-year-old Matt Richards, the 2019 European Junior Champion in this event who just fired off a massive new personal best of 48.23. That hacked .65 off of the 48.88 that garnered him gold almost 2 years ago to give him a very good chance of being selected for Tokyo.

Versatile Tom Dean collected bronze in 48.51, just outside the qualification time and .02 faster than his 48.53-morning swim.

Remarkably, not to be missed was the fact 16-year-old Jacob Whittle busted out the swim of his life in 48.76 to take 4th. At just 16, he rocked a sub-49-second outing. Look for a separate post on this head-turning close.

Scott now ranks #3 in the world on the season with tonight’s Tokyo-worthy outing.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE – FINAL

British National Record – 4:00.60, Joanne Jackson 2009
British OLY QT – 4:05.96
FINA ‘A’ – 4:07.90

GOLD –Holly Hibbott, 4:07.03
SILVER – Leah Crisp, 4:14.03
BRONZE –  Tamryn Van Selm, 4:16.17

Bath National Centre’s Holly Hibbott finished just over a second outside the British Swimming-mandated QT for Tokyo, touching in 4:07.03 when a 4:05.96 was needed. Hibbott placed 10th in this event at the 2019 FINA World Championships, putting up a time there of 4:07.92, so her outing here at Trials beat out that result by almost a second.

However, she does own a lifetime best of 4:05.01 as GBR’s 4th fastest woman all-time. She posted that mark at the 2018 European Championships when she took 4th. She is also the reigning Commonwealth Games silver medalist, having hit 4:05.31 in 2018 on the Gold Coast.

MEN’S 200 BREAST – FINAL

British National Record – 2:07.30, Ross Murdoch 2014
British OLY QT – 2:09.05
FINA ‘A’ – 2:10.35

GOLD – James Wilby, 2:08.06 Olympic Qualifying (pre-selected)
SILVER – Ross Murdoch, 2:08.98 Olympic Qualifying
BRONZE –  Greg Butler, 2:13.43

2018 Commonwealth Games champion James Wilby went for it on the front half, opening in 1:00.8 before scaling it back to ultimately touch in 2:08.06. The man who is already pre-selected for Tokyo wound up easily getting under the British Swimming-dictated Tokyo qualification time of 2:09.05.

Also getting under the standard was Wilby’s partner in crime on the Gold Coast, Ross Murdoch of the  University of Stirling. The 27-year-old said post-race he was delighted with his result tonight, which checked-in at 2:08.98. Both he and Wilby were not far off what they put up in Gwangju where they finished in 11th and 12th, with Murdoch logging 2:08.51 to Wilby’s 2:08.52 there.

As quick as this pair was on the home front, they have some work to do to catch up to the likes of Japan’s Shoma Sato and Rusia’s Anton Chupkov who are in the 2:06-range heading into Tokyo.