2022 British Swimming Championships Day 2 Prelims Recap

2022 BRITISH SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 5th – Sunday, April 10th
• Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield
• LCM (50m)
• World Championships & Commonwealth Games-qualifying competition
• British Swimming 2022 Budapest Selection Policy
• Commonwealth Games Selection Policies vary by home nation
• SwimSwam Preview
• Draft Entries
• Live Results
• Livestream

The all-important 2022 British Swimming Championships continued today from Sheffield, with swimmers vying for spots on both the World Championships and Commonwealth Games rosters.

We already saw Adam Peaty bust out a solid 58.58 marker in the men’s 100m breast while several women, including Freya Colbert, dropped major time in the 200m freestyle.

Day 2 brings Peaty once again in the water while the likes of James Guy, Luke Greenbank and Kathleen Dawson also join the party.

Men’s 50m Breaststroke Top 8

To say that the men’s 50m breast field is stacked is an understatement, as Peaty leads the charge of multi-Olympians, Commonwealth Games medalists and World Championships medalists.

Peaty indeed landed lane 4 handily in a time of 27.10, but in a 50m where anything can happen, Glasgow’s Craig Benson stepped up to nab the next fastest time in 27.65.

Ross Murdoch and James Wilby are right there in the mix with respective efforts of 27.71 to tie as 3rd, while Greg Butler is also vying for a potential roster spot with his 27.75.

Women’s 50m Butterfly Top 8

Cardiff’s Harriet Jones marked one of two women to dip under the 27-second barrier this morning in this 50m fly. The 24-year-old hit an AM time of 26.51 while Derventio eXcel’s Georgina Pryor was right behind in 26.98.

Jones is Great Britain’s 4th fastest performer all-time in this event, owning a lifetime best of 26.34 from last year. With the athlete already within .17 from that mark, look for something special to possibly transpire in her pursuit of making the World Championships team in this sprint.

Men’s 200m Butterfly Top 8

The men’s 200m fly heats played their cards close to their chests this morning, with no one going lower than the 1:58.18 Mason Wilby registered for the top seed.

26-year-old James Guy clocked a cool 1:59.31 to reap the 3rd seed while Jay Lelliott split the pair with 1:58.41.

That means we’ll need to see about a 3 second time drop for anyone to get near the British Swimming-mandated qualification time of 1:55.33 needed for the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.

Guy represents the #2 performer all-time for Great Britain, owning a lifetime best of 1:55.20 from last year. He is still seeking his first elite international long course medal in this 2fly event after having nabbed bronze at the 2020 European Short Course Championships.

Of note, Hector Pardoe of open water fame is lurking as the 5th seed, while Bath’s rising flyer Ed Mildred is also one who can rival for the podium here. He played it safe with a 2:00.24 but has been as fast as 1:58.00 in his career.

Women’s 100m Backstroke Top 8

Swansea’s Medi Harris is looking hungry for this 100m backstroke win, grabbing the pole position with a morning outing of 1:00.16. That led the charge of athletes, including Kathleen Dawson of Stirling, the woman who helped GBR nab gold in the mixed medley relay at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Dawson checked in with 1:00.98 while her Stirling teammate, Cassie Wild, logged 1:01.78 for 4th. Loughborough’s Lauren Cox is among the contestants in 1:01.24 while Yale’s Isabella Hindley clinched the 7th seed in 1:02.43.

Harris is the rising backstroker who put up some promising times already this year at the British Universities & Colleges (BUCS) Championships. She took down a Georgia Davies record with a swift 100m back time of 59.30, lowering that to 59.24 just weeks later at the McCullagh International.

Women are chasing the 59.92 qualification standard, a mark only Dawson, Harris, and Wild have been beneath in their careers.

Men’s 100m Backstroke Top 8

Bath’s Brodie Williams made it happen this morning to grab the top seed in this men’s 100m back, clocking a time of 54.48 as a .03 lead ahead of Joe Litchfield.

Litchfield qualified for this event for the 2020 Olympic Games in a time of 53.75 before dropping the event there in Tokyo to focus on the relays.

As for Williams, the 23-year-old is already within striking distance of his career-quickest mark of 54.23 from 3 years ago.

Although Luke Greenbank is already pre-selected in the men’s 200m backstroke for Budapest, and narrowly made it into the final here to add a 2nd event.

Taking Canadian swimmer Sebastian Somerset out of the mix, the Loughborough man was tied with Craig McNally for 8th; however, Greenbank appears on the start list for the A-final.

Women’s 200m Breaststroke top 8

Olympian Abbie Wood looks primed to take another victory here, potentially adding the 200m breast title to her 200m free victory from night 1.

This morning Wood paced the field with a strong 2:26.96, holding a 2+ second advantage over Lily Booker‘s time of 2:29.18. The pair represented the only swimmers to get under 2:30 in the heats.

Wood has been as fast as 2:21.69, which is nearer to where she’ll need to be to hit the 2:23.91 qualifying time set by British Swimming.

Of note, just one spot for the World Championships roster is available, as national record holder Molly Renshaw has been pre-selected for the event based on her 2020 Olympic Games final appearance.