Matthew Ward Hits 50 Back Lifetime Best On Day Two Of Aquatics GB Next Gen

2025 AQUATICS GB NEXT GEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Day two of the 2025 Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships unfolded from Ponds Forge International Sports Center with Tyler Melbourne-Smith making waves in the men’s 200m freestyle.

Racing in last night’s final, Loughborough’s Melbourne-Smith clocked a time of 1:48.25 to get to the wall first, beating the field by over half a second.

Teammate Joe Litchfield notched a time of 1:48.83 to reap silver while Stirling’s George Smith rounded out the podium in 1:49.02.

As for Melbourne-Smith, his effort this evening was within range of the 1:47.46 PB he put on the books at this year’s Aquatics GB Championships.

The women’s 200m fly event was also on tonight’s agenda, with Loughborough’s Lucy Fox capturing gold in a time of 2:11.07.

That overtook the 19-year-old’s previous personal best of 2:11.67 established earlier this month at the British vs Canada meet.

This evening, Northampton’s Betsy Wizard snagged silver in 2:11.55 while Sheffield’s Shannon Stott bagged bronze in 2:12.89.

The men’s 19&O 50m back saw Bath go 1-2, with Matthew Ward leading teammate Jack Skerry. The former hit 24.94 to the latter’s 25.47 with Jamie Ferguson rounding out the podium in 25.54.

Ward’s time represents his first-ever foray under the 25-second barrier, overtaking his previous PB of 25.15 established at the Edinburgh International Meet this March. He now becomes GBR’s 6th-swiftest performer of all time.

Top 10 British Men’s LCM 50 Backstroke Performers All-Time

  1. Liam Tancock – 24.04, 2009
  2. Oliver Morgan – 24.43, 2025
  3. Scott Gibson – 24.83,2023
  4. Jonathon Marshall – 24.88, 2025
  5. Christopher Walker-Hebborn – 24.92, 2014
  6. Matthew Ward – 24.94, 2025
  7. Cameron Brooker – 25.02, 2025
  8. Marco Loughran – 25.03, 2013
  9. Matthew Clay – 25.04, 2006
  10. Jonathon Adam – 25.09, 2023

Additional Winners

  • European Junior Championships medalist Theodora Taylor clinched gold in the girls’ 16-year-old 50m breast, hitting 31.4o.
  • British ace Imogen Clark produced a time of 31.20 to take gold in the women’s 19&O 50m breaststroke race.

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About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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