Duncan Scott Becomes First British Man Ever Under 1:45 in 2Free

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Amidst the 3 World Records that bit the dust in Gwangju, Korea on night 6 of the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships, a monumental British National Record went down as well.

Leading off the men’s 4x200m free relay for Great Britain, 22-year-old Duncan Scott powered his way to a huge new personal best time of 1:44.91, becoming the first British man ever to dip under the 1:45 threshold.

His swim tonight overtook the previous British National Record of 1:45.14 that relay teammate James Guy produced for the World Championships title back in 2015.

Tonight, Guy raced as the anchor, turning in a time of 1:45.45, while the foursome of Scott, Guy, Tom Dean and Calum Jarvis finished uncharacteristically off the podium, finishing in 5th with a collective time of 7:02.04.

Britain took the men’s 4x200m free gold at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, as well as at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest.

Going back to Scott’s huge swim, however, the man led-off in a 51.16 and closed in 53.75 to clock a new record, beating what he produced for bronze in the individual race here in Gwangju.

Behind winner Sun Yang of China who touched in 1:44.93 for gold and Katsuhiro Matsumoto who finished in 1:45.22 for silver, Scott tied Russia’s Martin Malyutin for bronze in 1:45.63.

Before tonight’s 1:44.91 from Scott, only 2 men have been sub-1:45 since 2015, including Sun and then Australian Clyde Lewis, who punched a 1:44.90 in the semi-finals before finishing in 1:45.78 for 6th.

Scott’s time overtakes his previous PB of 1:45.16 that stood as the Scottish National Record, so he killed 2 birds with 1 swim with his lead-off. He also checks-in as the 9th fastest performer ever in the men’s 200m free.

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dsp_man
4 years ago

SORE LOSER !

Duncan4gold
4 years ago

proud

Dee
4 years ago

Brilliant swim. He took it out harder than usual and it clearly worked for him.

stirlo
Reply to  Dee
4 years ago

Hi Dee, I think Duncan has a real shot to win gold next year in Tokyo, do you still see room for improvement?
Also did you notice that 16-year old Ed Mildred clocked 1:49.2 to win the Euro Youth Olympics. Exciting times!

Dee
Reply to  stirlo
4 years ago

I think he has as much chance as anybody else. Did spot Mildred, yep – Demolished a 1 year old national age group mark, set by Matt Richards last year, by a second and a half. GBR boys & girls born 2002-2004 look extremely good – The London 2012 generation who benefitted from the funding boom. Expect to see a few of them shock us and make the Olympic team next year. The next Olympic cycle could be very exciting.

stirlo
Reply to  Dee
4 years ago

You might be right about the Tokyo team – big drops still needed, but not uncommon that those ages. And I see Whitte popped a 23.11 in the 50 semis.I think Shanahan might make the team next year.

Dee
Reply to  stirlo
4 years ago

Very much agree on Shanahan. Richards & Van Der Merwe must be fancied to make it now too.

Iain
Reply to  Dee
4 years ago

Does anyone know how many men have been beneath1’45 + 48?

Dee
Reply to  Iain
4 years ago

Agnel, Hoogie, Phelps & Scott the only ones I can think of…

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Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just 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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