2023 BRITISH SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, April 4th – Sunday, April 9th
- Prelims at 9:30 am local (4:30 am EDT)/Finals at 6:00 pm local (1:00 pm EDT)
- Ponds Forge, Sheffield
- LCM (50m)
- World Championships Qualifier
- World Championships Original Selection Criteria
- Revised Selection Criteria
- Draft Entries
- Day 1 Finals Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap/Day 3 Finals Recap
- Live Results
- Livestream
Freya Colbert swam her way onto the World Championships team in the 400 IM on day one of this meet and out-swam Katie Shanahan in the A final. Tonight, those two will face off again, this time in the women’s 200 backstroke. Colbert and Shanahan hit the fastest times of the prelims round with a 2:11.31 and 2:11.58, respectively, setting themselves up for a good battle tonight. They will be chasing the gold medal as well as the World Championships qualifying time of 2:08.07.
Jacob Peters was inches away from the men’s 100 butterfly cut of 51.56 in the morning when he swam a 51.68 and Lewis Fraser wasn’t far behind with his 51.99. They will lead the men into the final tonight but will have to watch out for British record-holder James Guy who was a bit off his best during prelims with a 52.34.
The final two events of the night are the women’s 100 freestyle, featuring the likes of Anna Hopkin, Freya Anderson, and Lucy Hope, and the men’s 200 breast, where James Wilby holds the top seed.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
- British Record: 2:06.66 – Gemma Spofforth (2009)
- World Championships Selection Standard: 2:07.29
- Katie Shanahan – 2:07.81
- Freya Colbert – 2:08.73
- Evie Dilley – 2:12.70
Katie Shanahan nearly added her name to the list of qualifiers for the 2023 World Championships by swimming a 2:07.81 to just miss the 2:07.29 selection standard. Shanahan came into this meet with a 2:09.22 best time from her swim at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and she hit a comfortable 2:11.58 to get top seed out of prelims.
This gold medal swim for Shanahan is a new best time by over a second and it means might get a chance to race the 200 backstroke at the World Championships this summer. Shanahan took bronze at the Commonwealth Games last year with her 2:09.22 but she didn’t race at the World Championships in 2022.
Freya Colbert missed the qualification as well cut but had already gotten herself onto the team with her 400 IM performance on day one. She is under the FINA A cut of 2:11.08 though, which means that she could race the event at World Championships if she is selected by the nominating committee. Great Britain didn’t have any entrants in the women’s 200 backstroke at Budapest 2022 and this year they could have two.
Evie Dilley had a solid swim for the bronze medal, touching the wall with a 2:12.70 to beat her morning time of 2:13.79 and just miss her personal best of 2:11.19.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
- British Record: 50.67 – James Guy (2017)
- World Championships Selection Standard: 50.88
- Jacob Peters – 51.16
- James Guy – 51.63
- Jamie Ingram – 51.98
Jacob Peters got the job done in the men’s 100 butterfly, soaring to the wall with a 51.16 to touch almost half a second ahead of James Guy. Peters was the top seed heading into this A final with a 51.68 prelims swim and he knocked 0.34 seconds off his 51.50 PB in the final.
Peters came very close to dipping under the 51.00 barrier for the first time and was also just outside of the 50.88 World Championships qualification time. He swam under the secondary consideration standard that British Swimming set at a 51.56, meaning that he will rely on the selection committee to get onto the team here.
British record holder and World Champs medalist in this event swam slower than the consideration standard here with a 51.63, putting him in a slightly precarious position for the upcoming World Championships. It’s not clear yet if his past times will be enough to get him a spot on the team after missing both qualifying cuts.
Jamie Ingram cracked 52 seconds for the first time by swimming a 51.98. He out-touched Lewis Fraser‘s 52.22 with that time and claimed the bronze medal. His best time before this 51.98 tonight was the 52.17 he hit at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
- British Record: 52.75 – Anna Hopkin (2021)
- World Championships Selection Standard: 52.98
- Freya Anderson – 53.48
- Anna Hopkin – 53.52
- Lucy Hope – 54.34
This battle came down to the very last second as Freya Anderson and Anna Hopkin battled it out in the women’s 100 freestyle final. Anderson managed to get it just ahead of Hopkin, stopping the clock with a 53.48 to win gold by just 0.04 seconds.
It would have taken a sub-53 swim to get the auto-qualifying cut for the 2023 World Championships so neither of the top two women is officially on the team yet. Having both cleared the secondary standard, however, they will both be in contention to race this event in Fukuoka later this summer.
At the 2022 World Championships, Hopkin and Anderson placed 9th and 12th in the 100 freestyle semi-final, respectively.
Lucy Hope and Abbie Wood joined that duo on the 5th place women’s 4×100 freestyle relay last year and they have both placed in the top four at the 2023 British Champs. Hope got a bronze medal with a 54.34 and Wood touched next in a 55.01 for fourth place. These times might be enough to get the quartet back into the relay race later this summer.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
- British Record: 2:07.30 – Ross Murdoch (2014)
- World Championships Selection Standard: 2:08.11
- James Wilby – 2:09.88
- Gregory Butler – 2:10.69
- George Smith – 2:13.10
James Wilby picked up his second national this week in the men’s 200 breaststroke final after winning the 100 on day one of British Champs. Wilby was the top seed tonight after his 2:12.70 morning swim and got down a 2:09.88 to claim the gold medal.
As was the case with each winner on day four of this meet, Wilby missed the World Championships selection standard. The cut is a 2:08.11, which is slower than Wilby’s best time of 2:07.49 but faster than his swim today. Wilby also missed the consideration time of 2:08.55.
Wilby won this event by more than a second as Gregory Butler came into the wall with a 2:10.69 to jump up from the 3rd place position he hit during prelims. He out-swam bronze medalist George Smith who touched in a 2:13.10 and Archie Goodburn who was right behind in a 2:13.17.
So. given that GB can essentially pick whoever they like. My thinking is they re-wrote the policy in part because their relays aren’t hitting, or going to hit, the CTs, which severely reduces the number of consideration picks. But I think they’ll want to take as many strong relays as possible to Japan, to give themselves the best shot at qualifying for Paris. With that in mind (could be wrong, of course), my thoughts on how the team is shaping up.
Women
Hopkin, Anderson obviously. Wood has a chance of making the CT in the 200IM, and will probably be picked anyway, alongside Hope and Harris for relay duties (and backstrokes in Harris’s case). Colbert is qualified, and also… Read more »
Clearly the men are slipping slightly and the women are on the rise. Let’s not forget that three of the Olympic medals were Peaty powered and only Greenbank won a medal in an event not featuring Peaty or Scott. If those two are off or not there at all, the landscape changes a lot. Smaller swimming countries are always going to be dependent on one or two stars.
That’s very misleading: the 200free was an event that featured Scott but was won by Dean, who is also british, and his medal in the 200free was not in any way dependant on Scott’s participation in the event.
Deans 200 Free was very dependent on Scott. He drafted him the whole way in the final to win by 0.02. Then Dean bombed on the relay lead off.
Very true however I would probably amend that to ALL other swimming nations other than US. If your guns don’t fire and/or close races don’t fall your way; golds become very scarce and medal tallies contract immensely (cases in point AUS London/Rio; JAP Tokyo).
Australia & USA certainly remain the only countries able to fill the gaps left by missing stars
The 4×200 gold is a sign of depth. Last time I checked Adam p doesn’t do the front crawl
Apropos of nothing really but given the controversy over GBR time standards and policy about-turns, I have gone ahead and measured times in all Olympic events to date (day 4 of 6) against the FINA A standards for each events.
Currently they would have 10 men and 12 women qualified. These DO include 4 in the M100FR (a relay that will clearly be “greenlighted” and curiously 4 in W200FR but only 2 in W100FR; yet the latter has been considered the more likely relay to receive the nod from selectors.
What IS actually surprising is that whilst the GBR men are considered the far stronger arm; to date they have 4 Olympic events which are “washouts” (nobody making the FINA… Read more »
No surprise on the IM and fly – I think 0/5 of our fastest 200 flyers from 2022 skipped and our top few IMers did too. 100br and 400fr are very bleak.
I think relay success may have shoehorned swimmers into certain events in GBR – In the past 12 months we have had 17 men swimming 49.5 of better in the 100 free, 16 men 55.0 or better in the 100 back (yet somehow nobody faster than 53.7!) and 20 men under 1.50 in the 200fr. We would never have seen numbers like that previously.
This is the result of perverse incentives. The selectors want a 400 Free swimmer to drop a 3:42 to just get picked. Not realistic. Better to swap the training and aim for a top 6 in the 200 Free.
The extreme time standards have got to be having an effect on event choice and whether it is worth swimming after 18 years of age. (Unless you want a scholarship to the States or you are Peaty/Guy//Scott level it is not).
Edit to add: we have seen repeatedly that selectors will leave trials winners at home in events that do not fit the relay first approach e.g. 200s stroke and medley. Even when they have won trials and got a FINA… Read more »
Whoever set those time standards are shootin’ themselves in the fins.
I’ve been watching the replay of day 4 finals, and I still come away massively underwhelmed on the men’s side. Are they ALL going to have to be rescued into Worlds by the selection committee – obviously not, but a lot of them will have to be. That can’t happen but the the top 3 times for 200 breast and 100 fly just did not show what it’ll take for Fukuoka.
Guy has never been that quick in the April trials on the 100 fly, but usually drops well in summer. Great swim for Peters. Job done.
Because Guy is usually not tapered due to pre-selection but there not doing that this year so he’s clearly shaved and rested
You think….he knows he would make the team anyway
Rumour has it, James guy has not done much fly work because no peaty means medley relays are finished, all work is being done for the 4 x 200 free
Shanahan had actually been 2.08 before but still a decent drop for her.
What’s Popovici up to today?
He swam 3:51.18 in the 400 free.
Tomorrow –> 100 free. Can’t wait !!!
Don’t set your standards too high, he’s definitely not tapered so anything under 48 will be a great time at this point of the season.