Commonwealth Champion Wilby Double Downs BUCS Records On Day 2

2019 BUCS LONG COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• British Universities & Colleges Sport Championships (LCM)
• Friday, February 15th – Sunday, February 17th
• Ponds Forge, Sheffield
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview
• Entries
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results

Multiple meet records fell on day 2 of the British Universities & Colleges Championships (BUCS) in Sheffield, led by Commonwealth Games champion James Wilby.

Representing Loughborough University, 25-year-old Wilby fired off a 50m breaststroke winning time of 27.45 to shave .10 off of his meet record from last year. His outing tonight now checks-in among the top 10 marks in the world.

Next in line behind Wilby was University of Stirling two-time Olympian Craig Benson, who touched in 27.75 for the only other time under 28 seconds. Rounding out the top 3 was Benson’s teammate Zak Aitchison who finished in 28.08.

As a reminder Olympic and World champion Adam Peaty was in the water in this 50m breast event this morning, but since he does not attend university, he was unable to compete in the finals. Peaty’s mark of 26.74 now sits atop the world rankings throne nonetheless.

Wilby also did meet record damage in the 200m breast, where he raced his way to a solid 2:09.71. That crushed Wilby’s time at this same meet of last year, which was a 2:12.24. It was Benson once again in the runner-up spot, with the Stirling stud clocking 2:12.09, while Irish swimmer Nicholas Quinn, representing Edinburgh, took bronze in 2:18.23.

The women’s 50m breast was a duel between titans of the stroke as well, with European Championships silver medalist Imogen Clark topping the field in a quick 31.06. That lays waste to her 2018 time at this meet of 31.44 and helped keep the gap ahead of Commonwealth Games gold medalist Sarah Vasey.

22-year-old Vasey touched in 31.06 for silver tonight, while Manchester Met’s Katie Matts was swift enough for bronze in 32.14.

Matts was back in the women’s 200m breaststroke field with the only sub-2:30 outing of the pack. The 20-year-old punched an effort of 2:28.87 to add hardware to her haul so far at BUCS.

Relay-wise, the Loughborough women charged to the wall first in the 4x100m freestyle final. Marie Wattel (54.95), Emily Crane (55.60), Barclay (57.29) and Amy Grant (56.41) collectively clocked a winning time of 3:44.25 to keep a very close Edinburgh squad at bay.

For Edinburgh, the combination of Bruce (56.26), Kathryn Greenslade (56.21), Rachel Masson (56.24) and Lucy Hope (55.92) earned a runner-up time of 3:44.63. Stirling took bronze in 3:55.40.

For the men, Olympian Duncan Scott broke through with a 3rd leg of 48.25 to help give the University of Stirling the 4x100m freestyle victory. Craig McLean led-off in 50.84, while McLay kept it going with 51.01, and Martyn Walton anchored in 50.77. Together the four men touched in 3:20.87 for the gold.

Additional Winners:

• French swimmer Marie Wattel, who represents Loughborough here, took the women’s 200m freestyle in a new BUCS Record time of 1:58.81. She was the only swimmer to delve under the 2-minute barrier this evening.
• Bath’s Thomas Dean got the job done in the men’s 200m free, as the Bath athlete rocked a nice 1:47.38 for the gold. That now checks-in as a new personal best for the quickly-improving 18-year-old overtaking his previous career-fastest of 1:47.64.
• Stirling’s Cassie Wild earned gold in the women’s 50m back in 28.68, while Liam White of Swansea snagged the same result for the men in 25.89.
• London’s Anna Ntountounaki was the women’s 100m fly winner in a time of 58.53, the only sub-59 second time of the field. She managed to hold off both Charlotte Atkinson and Tain Bruce, who settled for silver and bronze with respective efforts of 59.18 and 59.38.
• Stirling’s Scott McLay took the men’s 100m fly in 53.89.
• The women’s 200m backstroke saw Chloe Golding improve upon her 3rd place finish from last year with a 2019 gold in 2:13.77. Luke Greenbank was the winner for the men, breaking the BUCS Record with his mark of 1:58.44.
• The men’s and women’s 50m freestyle saw Emily Barclay and Jack Thorpe get their hands on the wall first. Barclay from Loughborough notched a winning time of 25.76, while Edinburgh’s Thorpe wrangled up gold in 22.66.