2026 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships: Day Five A-Finals Live Recap

2026 AQUATICS GB SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 14th – Sunday, April 19th
• Prelims at 9:30am local (4:30am ET)/B-Finals & Junior Finals at 6pm local (1pm ET)/A-finals at 7:45pm local (2:45pm ET)
• London Aquatics Centre
• European Championships Selection Policy
• SwimSwam Preview
• Meet Central
• Entries
• Prelims Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 4 | Day 5
• Finals Recaps: Day 1| Day 2 | Day 3| Day 4
• Start Lists/Live Results
• Livestream

We’re about to see the penultimate night of action take place at the 2026 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships, with the list of British European Championships qualifiers and Home Nation qualifiers for this year’s Commonwealth Games continuing to grow as each event transpires.

Tonight’s agenda includes the women’s 100m fly, men’s 800m free, men’s 50m free, women’s 200m IM, and men’s 200m breast, giving us several close contests on which to keep our eyes with just one day remaining at this thrilling competition.

START LIST

Already the women’s 200m fly victor here, Olympian Keanna MacInnes is the one to beat in the 100m sprint tonight.

She clocked a swift morning outing of 57.93 as the sole swimmer of the field to delve into sub-58-second territory, approaching her Scottish national record 57.67.

Lucy Grieve, Emily Richards and Eva Okaro, last night 50m fly victor, will be among those chasing MacInnes in the medal-contesting affair.

Jacob Mills landed lane four for the men’s 50m free final, hitting a time of 22.04. That holds just a narrow advantage over Matt Richards‘ mark of 22.09, with the Olympic champion looking to add this splash n’ dash to his 100m free gold.

This event is preceded by the men’s 800m free, with the likes of Luke Hornsey, Sean McCann and 1500m free silver medalist Alexander Sargeant ready to lock horns.

Abbie Wood will be seeking her first title of these championsips tonight, having topped the 200m IM field in a solid 2:11.88.

She won this event last year in 2:08.85 and finished 6th at the 2025 World Championships, so the Olympian’s resume is stacked in her favor.

17-year-old 400m IM winner here, Amalie Smith, as well as the 200m/400m free gold medalist, Freya Colbert will be in the mix this evening.

World Junior Championships multi-gold medalist Filip Nowacki will vie for his first gold here after finishing behind Adam Peaty in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke events.

Nowacki notched 2:10.35, but we know he’s capable of at least 2:07.32, the European Junior record he established last year for the World Jrs gold.

WOMEN’S 100 FLY – FINAL

• British Record – 57.25, Ellen Gandy, 2012
• GBR Euros QT – 57.48
• ENG Commonwealth QT – 58.14
• WAL Commonwealth QT – 58.81
• SCO Commonwealth QT  – 58.86
• NI Commonwealth QT – 59.20

GOLD – Keanna MacInnes, 57.57 *SCO Commonwealth QT*
SILVER – Ciara Schlosshan, 58.41 *SCO Commonwealth QT*
BRONZE – Lucy Grieve, 58.56

24-year-old Keanna MacInnes dominated this women’s 100m fly race, hitting the sole time of the field under the 58-second barrier.

Splitting 26.79/30.79, MacInnes delivered a new lifetime best of 57.57 to get the job done, adding this event to her line-up for this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

Edinburgh’s Ciara Schlosshan also made the Scottish roster, producing a swim of 58.41.

Already a 200m fly qualifier here, University of Stirling’s Lucy Grieve captured bronze in 58.56.

MacInnes’ 57.57 tonight erased her former Scottish national record of 57.67 notched in the semi-finals of last year’s World Championships to place 12th in Singapore.

MEN’S 800 FREE – FASTEST HEAT

• British Record – 7:44.32, David Davies, 2009
• GBR Euros QT – 7:50.14
• ENG Commonwealth QT – 7:56.81
• WAL Commonwealth QT – 7:59.12
• SCO Commonwealth QT  – 8:00.13
• NI Commonwealth QT – 7:55.69

GOLD – Reece Grady, 7:56.24, *ENG Commonwealth QT*
SILVER – Luke Hornsey, 8:00.18
BRONZE – Sean McCann, 8:00.45

Already the men’s 1500m free victor here, Reece Grady produced another gold medal-worthy result of 7:56.24 to reap gold in the 800m free.

Grady was too quick to catch the entire race, with the Stockport Metro ace turning in his best performance by a mile.

Entering this competition, Grady’s PB sat at the 7:59.71 put up at the 2024 Olympic Trials. Tonight, however, he hacked over 3 seconds off that result to now become the 11th-best British performer of all time.

Luke Hornsey was next to the wall in 8:00.18, with Sean McCann rounding out the podium in 8:00.45.

MEN’S 50 FREE – FINAL

• British Record – 21.11, Ben Proud, 2018
• GBR Euros QT – 21.88
• ENG Commonwealth QT – 21.95
• WAL Commonwealth QT – 22.42
• SCO Commonwealth QT  – 22.20
• NI Commonwealth QT – 22.38

GOLD – Jacob Mills, 21.91 *ENG Commonwealth QT*
SILVER – Matt Richards, 22.07 *WAL Commonwealth QT*
BRONZE – Gabriel Shepherd, 22.12

In a slightly surprising turn of events, 18-year-old Jacob Mills grabbed the gold in the men’s 50m freestyle event, denying Matt Richards a repeat victory.

Mills stopped the clock at a speedy mark of 21.91 as the sole competitor of the field to clear the 22-second barrier. That represented a new lifetime best, slicing .05 off the 21.96 he put up at last year’s edition of these championships.

Richards was indeed the runner-up this evening, hitting 22.07, with Gabriel Shepherd just a hair behind in 22.12.

The British qualification standard for the European Championships stands at a stiff mark of 21.88, so Mills fell just .03 outside that standard. He still cleared the 21.95 QT Swim England set for this summer’s Commonwealth Games, however.

Richards’ time of 22.07 handily beat the Welsh QT of 22.42 and the Olympic champion has already made the European Championships grade in the 100m free.

As a reminder, Mills is a five-time medalist from the 2025 World Junior Championships, including a silver in the splash n’ dash.

WOMEN’S 200 IM – FINAL

• British Record – 2:06.88, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, 2016
• GBR Euros QT – 2:11.27
• ENG Commonwealth QT – 2:10.99
• WAL Commonwealth QT – 2:14.08
• SCO Commonwealth QT  – 2:12.94
• NI Commonwealth QT – 2:14.82

GOLD – Abbie Wood, 2:08.17 *GBR Euros QT* *ENG Commonwealth QT*
SILVER – Freya Colbert, 2:10.82 *GBR Euros QT* *ENG Commonwealth QT*
BRONZE – Amalie Smith, 2:11.18 *GBR Euros QT*

27-year-old Olympian Abbie Wood just crushed the fastest 200m IM time of her career, ripping 2:08.17 en route to gold.

Splitting 27.65/32.20/37.02/31.31, Wood’s time tonight deleted her former PB of 2:08.85 logged at the 2025 edition of these championships.

She remains the #2 British performer of all time, sitting only behind national record holder and Olympic silver medalist Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, who notched a wicked 2:06.88 in 2016.

Freya Colbert, the 200m and 400m freestyle winner here, wrangled up the silver medal position in 2:10.82, with 17-year-old phenom Amalie Smith hitting 2:11.18 for bronze.

Colbert’s outing was just off her lifetime best of 2:10.46 from two years ago, while teenager Smith’s time tonight was only .09 behind her PB of 2:11.07 put on the books at the 2025 World Junior Championships.

For her part, Wood now ranks as the 3rd-swiftest performer on the planet this season.

MEN’S 200 BREAST – FINAL

• British Record – 2:07.30, Ross Murdoch, 2014
• GBR Euros QT – 2:09.55
• ENG Commonwealth QT – 2:12.21
• WAL Commonwealth QT – 2:12.11
• SCO Commonwealth QT  – 2:13.63
• NI Commonwealth QT – 2:12.27

GOLD – Filip Nowacki, 2:08.52 *GBR Euros QT* *ENG Commonwealth QT*
SILVER – Greg Butler, 2:09.51 *GBR Euros QT* *ENG Commonwealth QT*
BRONZE – Christian Ryan, 2:12.09

18-year-old Filip Nowacki dominated this men’s 200m breaststroke final, getting himself to the wall about a second ahead of his peers.

The Millfield ace stopped the clock at a speedy result of 2:08.52 to get the job done, with Greg Butler joining him under the 2:10 barrier.

Butler registered a result of 2:09.51 as the silver medalist with both mean notching British qualification standards for this year’s European Championships, as well as Swim England times for the Commonwealth Games.

Christian Ryan also landed on the podium in 2:12.09, good enough for bronze.

As for Nowacki, his lifetime best remains at the 2:07.32 European Junior Record he produced for gold at last year’s World Junior Championships. That rendered the teen GBR’s 2nd-best performer in history, sitting only behind British national record holder Ross Murdoch, who notched 2:07.30 at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.