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 / Day 4 Finals Recap / Day 5 Finals Recap / Day 6 Finals Recap
- Live Results
- Livestream
Matt Richards made history in more ways than one during his 200-meter freestyle victory at the British Championships on Sunday.
Not only did the 20-year-old lower another one of his own Welsh records by nearly a second with a winning time of 1:44.83, but he also became the first swimmer ever to go sub-22 in the 50 free (21.98 for third place), sub-48 in the 100 free (47.72 in prelims), and sub-1:45 in the 200 free.
Richards accomplished the feat all in the past three days, as his previous bests entering this meet stood at 22.38, 48.23, and 1:45.77. Dutch legend Pieter Van Den Hoogenband nearly hit those benchmarks with best times of 22.03, 47.68, and 1:44.89 from 2000-08. Romanian phenom David Popovici might soon join Richards in unchartered territory as he already owns the 100 free world record (46.86) and 200 free world junior record (1:42.97), just needing to lower his best 50 free time of 22.16 from last summer’s European Junior Championships.
Richards now ranks as the top performer in the world so far this year, a tenth of a second ahead of runner-up finisher Tom Dean (1:44.93), the reigning Olympic champion, who led for almost the entire race. Both Richards and Dean reached the wall under the auto-qualifying cut of 1:45.01. Dean has been as fast as 1:44.22 before and took bronze at Worlds in 2022 with a 1:44.98.
“I’m really happy with that,” Richards said after the win. “There are still lots of things to move on and improve on, I probably didn’t push it on enough in that middle 100m. The plan was to race the race at the end of the day, there was probably a slightly faster time than that, I felt I had a bit more in the tank at the end which is promising for the summer.
“But I’m pretty sure that’s world number one and two, I don’t think we’ve had that since Tokyo when Duncan and Deano were one and two, so that’s very promising for the summer and hopefully we can move it on there,” he added. “There’s lots of big fish in the sea in these events nowadays. There are guys out there going really quick, young guys, old guys, it doesn’t matter anymore. This is a great place to try new things and learn stuff to take into the summer. That’s the plan now, full steam ahead, back in training and get on ready for a big summer.”
MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE
- British Record: 1:44.22 – Tom Dean (2021)
- World Championships Qualification Standard: 1:45.01
- Matt Richards – 1:44.83
- Tom Dean – 1:44.93
- James Guy – 1:45.85
The race for third was contentious as well as James Guy and Duncan Scott battled it out. Guy ultimately touched with a 1:45.85 for the bronze medal, 0.05 seconds ahead of Olympic silver medalist in the event Duncan Scott. The aggregate time of the top four men was a 7:01.51, getting them well under the consideration cut for the 4×200 freestyle relay this summer.
These four men won Olympic gold in the 4×200 freestyle at Tokyo 2020 and will be in contention for another medal this summer at Fukuoka 2023.
“That was a world-class final. Two boys doing 1:44s, we haven’t had that since Olympic trials in 2021 when Duncan and I did it and then we went on to win the 4x200m Free at the Olympic Games with Matt, Jimmy, Duncan and Jarv [Calum Jarvis],” Dean said.
“It just bodes really well for that men’s 4x200m free in the summer again — the one last year was good, but we know we can do better,” Dean added. “I feel like the 4x100m free is following the same path the 4x200m has, and hopefully we can go to Japan and be world champions.”
Do I remember correctly that Marc Spackman that was recently announced, as the next head coach of Canadian swim club ESWIM, was coaching Matt for quite a while? I’m curious about what would attract a coach of such caliber into Canada? Or would this position with an age group club just a stepping stone for something much higher in Swimming Canada?
Marc just announced on his Instagram that they will welcome their fourth baby in September! What a big move overseas for his wife and kids! Does his family has any attachments to Canada?
Scott has gone under 48 many times. Burras a few, Dean twice and now Richards going 47.7.
GB 4×100 will be hard to beat.
formidable lineup. 4×200 may be better than ever too. Medley relay will be weak tho (No notable backstroker, Wilby 59 high)
Gotta love that GB’s entire relay has guy’s whose first and last names are first names
What’s the best realistic trio of barriers to be broken in the coming decade?
No one doubts that it will be Popovici’s feat and that he’ll probs be sub 22/47/1:42 by next year, but can he eventually go sub 22/46/1:41? Maybe 21/46/1:41 when he builds up more muscle, or will the 50 and the 200 be a trade-off?
If he goes sub 21/46/1:41 he is the best swimmer in history in my books, forget about someone named Michael
It is rare to be world class in all 3 in men’s swimming. Last strong example of this would be van den Hoogenband if I’m not mistaken. And even his 50 then was not as good as sub 21 would be now. Mid distance LC fly/free/im specialists are rare, but not that rare. And breaking 46 and 1:41 pushes the boundaries of possibility in a way arguably unlike any one of Phelps’ world record performances. So I actually think this is an interesting argument. In terms of versatility, and clutch factor, really hard to beat the 8 gold medals in one Olympics though…. Then you add on the longevity…. Phelps may still take the cake, especially depending on what you… Read more »
Didn’t Hwang just go a 1.44 last week?
I’m not sure those two are actually top 2
It was 1:45.36 last week. He clocked 1:44.67 Oct. 2022
Another way to do it is by best time ranking.
Top 100 in all 3 distances. I’m using WA’s database, which has dumb inclusions to account for, but is otherwise fine.
Men:
McEvoy – 19/5/37 (20.33 avg)
Hayden – 47/11/86 (48 avg)
Yeah, that is literally it. Richards is =105th in the 50, 0.01 off top 100. Too many male 50 specialists, without the 50 it would be a much longer list. Add up times would make a far more rational list.
Women:
Sjostrom – 1/1/8 (3.33! avg)
McKeon – 5/2/12 (6.33 avg)
Ruck – 24/15/11 (16.66 avg)
Heemskerk – 26/13/14 (17.66 avg)
Manuel – 10/4/43 (19 avg)
Ikee – 22/20/17… Read more »
Thanks for this! So interesting to see that there’s such a big difference between men and women in terms of the range over the 50/100/200 distances.
Under appreciated post
Plot twist: none of them met the UK time standard to qualify for worlds.
So who will be next?
Per comments below, Popovici is the closest active swimmer and .16 off in the 50. Seems likely he’ll hit that soon.
Scott is .21 off in the 50 but isn’t a 50 swimmer so not sure I see him ever going sub 22.
Hwang .39 off also in the 50 but same boat as Scott.
I’m going to throw out my wild prediction and say Southam. He’s .36 off in the 50, .23 off in the 100 and 1.77 off in the 200. I reckon he beats the 50 and 100 standard this year, and then goes sub 1:45 in Paris.
He’s swimming the 50 free at age champs tomorrow. 200 on Friday and 100 on Saturday.
He just swam a 2.5 second PB in the 400 (3:52). I think he could conceivably go sub 22 tomorrow and sub 48 this week but he’s not getting a 1:44.
The age group records to beat are:
50 Free – Chalmers 22.15
100 Free – Chalmers 48.03
200 Free – Thorpe 1:45.37
I reckon he could take the first two. He’s not beating Thorpe though.
Some other candidates:
Milak (22.19, 47.47, 1:45.74)
Kolesnikov (21.69, 47.11, 1:41.75 SCM)
Nemeth (22.14, 47.69, 1:46.19)
Ceccon (22.33, 47.71, 1:46.52)
Winkler