Daniel Jervis Talks Bouncing Back From ‘Rock Bottom’ After 14:46.95 1500 Free

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

After hitting “rock bottom” last year, Daniel Jervis’ bounce-back performance on the third day of the 2023 British Trials felt even better than a lifetime best.

The 26-year-old Welsh Olympic finalist in the 1500-meter freestyle won his specialty distance event by more than 16 seconds in Sheffield with a 14:46.95, going faster than he went last year and less than half a second shy of his personal-best 14:46.51 from 2019.

It’s the second-fastest time in the world this season behind 25-year-old German Florian Wellbrock’s 14:40.18 from last week, well under the 2023 Fukuoka World Championships ‘A’ cut of 15:04.64. It’s also exactly one second away from David Davies’ British national record of 14:45.95 set back in 2004.

Last year, Jervis appeared poised for an international breakout as the top seed at the Commonwealth Games following a seventh-place finish at Worlds (14:48.86). Then he was forced to withdraw from the meet due to the lingering effects of a COVID-19 infection, derailing his best opportunity for a major international gold medal. But now Jervis seems to be back in peak form ahead of schedule with only three 1500 free races under his belt so far this year. He was nearly 20 seconds slower at February’s Pro Swim Series stop in Fort Lauderdale.

“It’s great,” Jervis said. “I’m really relieved, I’m really happy. I’ve put my heart and soul into this year, as everyone does, as I do every year. But this year, it meant so much more because I felt like I was at rock bottom, it was horrible but I knew I had people there for me and I am so grateful.”

“That’s why I’ve mentioned my mum and dad — that’s why I got emotional, because it means a lot,” he continued. “It was very hard for the opportunity to be taken away from me [at the Commonwealth Games in 2022]. I feel as if this was a bounce-back, that was only my third 1500m of the year, so I’m really happy with that.”

Burras: ‘No Ceiling’ for Britain’s 400 Free Relay

Day 3 ended with a bang as the top three finishers in the 100 free — Lewis Burras (47.99), Duncan Scott (48.00), and Matthew Richards (48.02) — all finished under the British consideration time of 48.05. Rather than get intimidated by his competition, the 23-year-old Burras discussed how he used the strength of this event as motivation and pointed to the bright future of Britain’s 400 free relay, which just barely missed the podium at Worlds last year with a national-record 3:11.14.

“Going into this meet, we had five people who could get on that podium and win that event,” Burras reflected. “In the call room, everyone was really relaxed and looking forward to the moment. I managed to get on board with that, I said ‘I’m nervous, this is going to hurt the last 20m, but I’m doing it with my peers, my competitors,’ and what a lucky position I’m in to have raced in the fastest-ever British 100m freestyle final.

“This relay is really exciting now,” he added. “There’s no ceiling for us, and why put a ceiling on it? We know what the ultimate glory is in our sport, and why can’t we dare to go for it, why can’t we dare to dream?”

Hopkin Confident After 50 Free Title

Anna Hopkin triumphed in the 50 free with a time of 24.51 — not a personal best (24.34 from the 2019 World Championships), but still a very satisfying swim for the 26-year-old Olympic gold medalist so early in the season.

“I was really happy with that,” Hopkin said. “The qualifying time was a tough one, but getting under that consideration time, it puts me in the mix, and that’s by far the fastest I’ve been at this point of the season, so that gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.

“With the 50m, it often builds through the season just because you start doing a lot more power-based stuff towards the end of the year,” she added. “I’m hoping the 100m will be in a good place after that, and hopefully both will keep getting quicker throughout the season.”

Colbert Enjoys ‘Mental Battle’ of 800 Free

After winning the 400 IM in a personal-best 4:35.50, 19-year-old Loughborough standout Freya Colbert secured her second title of the meet with another lifetime best in the 800 free (8:35.02). After her Day 2 victory, she compared the two races and broke down how she views the 800 free as a mental test of sorts for the 400 free.

“I think it’s very different,” Colbert said when weighing the 400 IM vs. the 800 free. “With the 400m IM there’s so much lactate, and then with this, it’s more of a mental battle. I’m still trying to get my head around it and get my pacing right — it definitely didn’t hurt as much at the end.”

“It was a nice PB [tonight], but one of my main reasons for taking on the 800m is that mental battle and getting my head around it,” she continued. “When I do the 800m, it gives me confidence for my 400m free. I look at other people around the world like Titmus and Ledecky, they’re all so strong on the 800m as well, so it’s about being strong on that double distance to give myself that confidence and the extra push on the 400m.”