Angharad Evans Crushes British Record In 100 Breast Prelims To Claim Top Seed At SC Worlds

2024 Short Course World Championships

• December 10-15, 2024
• Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
• SCM (25m)
• Meet Central
• Roster Index
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Pick’em
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Prelims Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2
• Finals Live Recap: Day 1

Great Britain’s Angharad Evans showed no nerves in the first World Championship swim of her career on Wednesday, making her presence felt in Budapest with a blistering swim in the heats of the women’s 100 breaststroke.

Evans posted the fastest time of the morning in 1:03.45, knocking nearly a full second off the British Record of 1:04.37 set by Molly Renshaw at the 2021 Short Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi.

The 21-year-old Evans previously had a best time of 1:04.50, set at the 2023 Scottish National Short Course Championships last December.

Split Comparison

With her performance, Evans cracks the top 10 all-time in the event, snagging 10th from Sweden’s Sophie Hansson, who was racing in the field this morning and qualified for the semis in 16th.

All-Time Performers, Women’s 100 Breast (SCM)

1. Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) / Alia Atkinson (JAM), 1:02.36 – 2013 / 2014
2. –
3. Lilly King (USA), 1:02.50 – 2020
4. Tang Qianting (CHN), 1:02.53 – 2024
5. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 1:02.91 – 2016
6. Katie Meili (USA), 1:02.92 – 2016
7. Leisel Jones (AUS), 1:03.00 – 2009
8. Eneli Jefimova (EST), 1:03.21 – 2023
9. Jessica Hardy (USA), 1:03.30 – 2009
10. Angharad Evans (GBR), 1:03.45 – 2024

 

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Evans heads into tonight’s semi-finals as the top seed, with defending champion Lilly King (1:03.50) and 2021 SC world champion Tang Qianting (1:03.52) close behind.

No one else in the field was sub-1:04. Evans was also the only swimmer to split under 17 seconds on the last 25.

The 2024 SC Worlds marks the first World Championship meet of Evans’ career, though she has plenty of international experience, most notably representing Great Britain at the 2024 Olympic Games this past summer in Paris.

After winning the 100 breast at the British Championships in April, solidifying her spot on the Olympic team, Evans broke the British Record in the LCM 100 breast at the AP Race London International in May, clocking a time of 1:05.54.

She went on to make the 100 breast Olympic final in Paris, placing sixth in a time of 1:05.85.

Evans spent one season representing Georgia in the NCAA, placing 7th in the 100 breast at the 2022 SEC Championships and then taking 20th in the event at NCAAs.

She has since returned to Great Britain to train at the University of Stirling in Scotland where she is coached by Brad Hay.