Eva Okaro Makes Presence Known In 50 Free On Day Two Of 2024 English Nats

2024 SWIM ENGLAND NATIONAL WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 5th – December 8th
• Ponds Forge International Swimming Centre, Sheffield, England
• SCM (25m)
• Meet Central
• Draft Entries
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results
• Livestream

Day two of the 2024 Swim England National Winter Championships unfolded tonight from Ponds Forge with multiple high-profile athletes diving in once again for titles and hardware.

National record holder Imogen Clark followed up last night’s silver in the 100m breast with a gold this evening in the 50m sprint.

Clark stopped the clock at 29.68 to get to the wall first, producing the sole sub-30-second time of the field.

Jasmine Carter, just 15 years of age, snagged silver in 30.90 while Lily Booker bagged bronze in 31.08.

Clark set the current British standard of 29.17 at last year’s edition of these championships.

As for Basildon’s Carter, she established a new British Junior Record with tonight’s performance, erasing Clark’s previous benchmark of 31.27 put on the books a decade ago.

Another British Junior Record bit the dust during the session, courtesy of 16-year-old Max Morgan in the men’s 200m breast.

Although it was Loughborough’s Greg Butler who touched first in 2:05.25, Morgan’s runner-up result of 2:06.56 checked in as a monster lifetime bet, obliterating the 2:09.04 he logged just last month at the SE South Eash Region SC Championships.

His time represents a new British Junior Record as 17-year-old Filip Nowacki of Millfield was also impressive in 2:08.30 for bronze.

The women’s 50m free saw 18-year-old Eva Okaro clock a time of 24.05 to reap gold in a new lifetime best.

Entering these championships, Repton’s Okaro held a PB of 24.61 from last month’s Midlands championships, a mark which she already lowered down to 24.46 in this morning’s heats.

Tonight, Okaro ripped 24.05 to become the #4 British performer in history.

Top 5 British Women’s SCM 50 Free Performers All-Time

1. Francesca Halsall – 23.44, 2009
2. Anna Hopkin – 23.68, 2022
3. Freya Anderson – 23.86, 2023
4. Eva Okaro – 24.05, 2024
5. Alison Sheppard – 24.06, 2003

Behind her was Skye Carter who slashed her own British Junior Record en route to silver.

Basildon’s Carter registered 24.61 to dip under the 25-second barrier for the 7th time in her young career. She’s now GBR’s 11th-swiftest performer in history.

Izabella Okaro checked in with 24.67 for bronze in the fast and furious battle to the wall.

Manchester’s Edward Mildred scored the top time in the men’s 200m free, putting up a solid 1:44.47.

That eked out the gold ahead of Loughborough’s Charlie Hutchison who followed up on his 400m free gold with silver in this shorter distance in 1:44.49.

Repton’s 17-year-old Jacob Mills produced 1:44.65 for a super close bronze.

Additional Winners

• Medi Harris of Loughborough was too quick to catch in the women’s 100m back, logging 57.45 for the decisive victory. Teamate Lauren Cox touched over second later in 58.76 and 17-year-old Blythe Kinsman rounded out the podium in 28.35.
• Olympian Laura Stephens got it done for gold in the women’s 200m fly, posting 2:06.31 to beat the field by well over a second. Of note, last night’s 200m IM winner Freya Colbert placed 4th in 2:08.19.
• The men’s 50m back saw Joe Litchfield turn in a time of 23.79 as the sole sub-24-second swimmer of the pack.
• Tyler Melbourne-Smith was the top men’s 1500m free performer, hitting 14:42.57 for the gold. That represented a new lifetime best and inserted Melbourne-Smith into slot #10 among the top British all-time performers.
• 15-year-old Amalie Smith became the English Winter champion in the women’s 400m IM, courtesy of the 4:37.79 she put on the books during tonight’s session. The young swimmer ranks just inside the top 20 British performers of all time. Her time this evening fell just a hair outside Emily Large‘s British Junior Record of 4:37.65 established in 2016.