2023 Swim England National Winter Championships: Clark Lowers 50 Breast Record

2023 SWIM ENGLAND NATIONAL WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, December 14th – Sunday, December 17th
• Ponds Forge International Swimming Centre, Sheffield, England
• SCM (25m)
• Results
• Livestream

Day 1 Key Swims

Bath University’s Joshua Gammon powered his way to a decisive victory in the men’s 100m butterfly to kick off his campaign.

The 20-year-old national champion in the 200m fly stopped teh clock in a mark of 49.87 to register his first-ever outing under the 50-second threshold.

Gammon opened in 23.15 and closed in 26.72 to obliterate his previous career-quickest mark of 51.07 put up at this same competition last year.

This time, Gammon defeated defending champion Jamie Ingram of Manchester who settled for silver in 50.52 while Chelsea & Westminster’s Bryan Leong rounded out the podium in 52.19.

Ingram now checks in as the #2 British performer all-time in this SCM 100 butterfly event and is under a second off the longstanding British Record of 49.21 Adam Barrett put on the books in 2016.

European Short Course Championships multi-medalist Freya Colbert highlighted the women’s 400m free on night one, getting to the wall in a result of 4:02.38.

The Loughborough ace beat the field by about 5 seconds en route to capturing her first gold, with her performance here checking in as a new career-best. Entering this competition, Colbert’s PB rested at the 4:02.71 notched 2 years ago.

Day 2 Key Swims

Olympic finalist Abbie Wood grabbed the gold in the women’s 200m IM, posting a strong effort of 2:05.18.

That gave 24-year-old Wood a healthy advantage over teammate Colbert who settled for silver in 2:09.94 and another Loughborugh swimmer, Lily Booker, also landed on the podium in 2:10.09.

Wood’s time at this competition sliced just under half a second off of the 2:05.58 performance she registered for gold at this year’s European Short Course Championships.

Gammon was back in the water on day 2, taking on the 200m butterfly race. He produced another doozy of a swim, touching in a rapid 1:51.88 for the victory.

Reuben Rowbotham Keating was next to the wall, hitting 1:55.37 for Loughborough and then Sheffield’s Aaron Cox rounded out the top 3 performers in 1:56.77.

As for Gammon, his outing once again scored a monster new PB, surpassing the 1:54.31 notched last year. He’s now Great Britain’s 4th-best swimmer ever in this 2fly.

Joe Litchfield held steady in the men’s 100m free, turning in a time of 46.72 for his first-ever foray under the 47-second barrier.

Honey Osrin put up a mark of 2:03.20 to win the women’s 200m back by over 4 seconds. Osrin is now GBR’s 3rd-best swimmer all-time in this event, with her result destroying her previous PB of 2:05.70 from this year’s BUCS Short Course Championships.

Day 3 Key Swims

Gammon completed his butterfly sweep by taking the 50m sprint on the penultimate night of action.

Gammon stopped teh clock in a time of 22.55 to become the nation’s 3rd-fastest swimmer ever in the event. His result rendered Ingram the silver medalist in 23.00 and Leong the bronze in 23.70.

Imogen Clark lowered her British Record en route to winning gold in the women’s 50m breast. She notched a result of 29.17, erasing her own previous national standard of 29.30 set at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.

Loughborough’s Tyler Melbourne-Smith hacked 9 seconds off his lifetime best to capture gold in the men’s 1500m free.

The 18-year-old produced a gold medal-worthy swim of 14:43.77 to get the job done, albeit by just .03. Toby Robinson was a fingernail behind in 14:43.80 for silver and Stockport’s Reece Grady earned bronze in 14:58.95.

Day 4 Key Swims

Charlie Hutchison topped the men’s 400m free in a time of 3:41.39, clocking a new personal best in the process.

Entering these championships, 21-year-old Hutchison of Loughborough held a PB of 3:42.14 from the 2022 Scottish Short Course Championships. With his slightly quicker outing here, Hutchison now ranks as the 13th-best GBR performer of all time.