At U.S. Nats, Lewis Burras Becomes 5th Fastest British 100 Freestyler Ever

2019 US NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

While American Ryan Held lowered his own newly-minted U.S. Open Record in the men’s 100m free A-final to take gold in a speedy 47.39, the B-Final winner at U.S. National Championships also made history.

Taking the top spot in the B-Final of the men’s 100m free last night at the U.S. Nationals was Lewis Burras, the British swimmer who logged a lifetime best of 48.58.

Burras’ outing in Stanford marks the first time the Brit has ever been under the 49-second threshold in the event, with his previous PB resting at the 49.89 set at the Edinburgh International/British Championships in 2018.

Burras already cleared his PB in the prelims yesterday morning, finishing 16th in a time of 49.64. For the evening, however, the 19-year-old turned it on big-time to hit the wall in 48.58, splitting 23.28/25.30 in the process. His time represented just 1 of 2 sub-49 second performances in the B-Final, paired with Aussie Louis Townsend‘s 48.88. while Burras’ time would have taken 6th in the A-Final.

With his PB, Burras now inserts himself onto the all-time British performers list at #5.

British All-Time Performers Men’s 100m Free

1 Duncan Scott UniOfStirl 97 British Championships 2019 Glasgow 1 18/04/19 47.87
2 Simon Burnett Windsor 83 Olympic Games 2008 Beijing, China 1 10/08/08 48.20
3 Adam Brown Hatfield 89 FINA World Championships 2013 Barcelona, Spain 1 31/07/13 48.48
4 Benjamin Proud Plymouth Lea 94 Edinburgh International Meet Edinburgh 1 11/03/16 48.52
5 Lewis Burras 00 U.S. Nationals Stanford, CA 31/07/19 48.58

Burras is representing Gamecock Aquatics here at U.S. Nationals. He swam for UVA in the fall, but departed the school mid-season, announcing the University of South Carolina where he will be competing with the Gamecocks in the fall of 2019.

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Quack
5 years ago

A bit surprised to not see James Guy on that list.. has he never been faster than 48.6??

Quack
Reply to  Retta Race
5 years ago

Ah, gotcha. I suppose in my brain I had assumed he’d gone somewhere in the 48 low range since he’s been 47 with a flying start

Quack
5 years ago

A bit surprised to not see James Guy on that list…has he never been better than 48.6??

Jeff
5 years ago

I have to say USA look strong for gold in the men’s 400 freestyle relay but I think Great Britain are going to be really strong contenders for silver next year. We have Duncan Scott who has proven to be a decent relay swimmer. Then we have Guy, McLay and Proud who had respectable splits at worlds and probably could improve. Also, we have David Cumberlidge, Matt Richards and now Lewis Burras breaking 49 for the first time this year and Jacob Whittle and Ed Mildred looking good for the future (but not for Tokyo)

Swimmer
Reply to  Jeff
5 years ago

Nothing to base this on, but I’m guessing Proud would prefer not to swim that relay and just focus on his 50.

Jeff
Reply to  Swimmer
5 years ago

Yeah. He might be on the relay but he’s the one I hope is there the least because he just doesn’t seem to want to be a part of the relay.

sleevetat
Reply to  Jeff
5 years ago

Yea Duncan Scott is ok…
Still can’t believe that split, his tempo was so much faster that last 50 than anyone else.

Philip Johnson
5 years ago

Dang, I did not know a British man has never broken 48 seconds in the 100 free until this year.

We (Americans) are kind of spoiled with the achievement, but it’s still a big deal to break 48 seconds.

Jeff
Reply to  Philip Johnson
5 years ago

No Duncan Scott has been 47.9 at 2017 trials. He only improved 3 hundredths on that earlier this year.

Mike
5 years ago

OH YEAH!!!

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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