Hansson Hits 57.59 100 Fly Prelim In Manchester

2021 MANCHESTER INT’L SWIM MEE

• Friday, February 12th – Sunday, February 14th
• Manchester, England, UK
• LCM (50m)
• Live Results
• Live Stream

The final day of action in Manchester saw Olympic champion Adam Peaty back in the water again, although the 26-year-old dad of one drew a DQ. Peaty knowingly went for just the 100m split during this morning’s 200m breaststroke heats, with the Loughborough man stopping his clock around the 59 second mark.

Landing lane 4 in the 2breast was James Wilby who touched in 2:14.59 to set himself up for a potential gold this evening. Wilby was the 100m breast silver medalist at the 2019 FINA World Championships and finished runner-up in that sprint last night to Peaty.

Imogen Clark and Sarah Vasey contested the women’s 50m breaststroke this morning, with the former snagging a time of 31.24 to the latter’s 31.27. With just a sliver of daylight between them, this evening should bring a nice heated battle between the pair.

The men’s 200m free was led by Tom Dean of Bath, with the 20-year-old putting up a time of 1:48.00 to hold about a second advantage over Austria’s Felix Auboeck. Auboeck, who trains at Loughborough, touched in 1:49.02.

Dean had earlier gone head-to-head with Jacob Peters in the 50m fly, with the two men representing the only swimmers of the field. Peters got his hand on the wall first in 23.90 to Dean’s 24.93. We’ll see if Dean drops the event to focus solely on the 200m free during the final session tonight.

The women’s 100m free saw just one swimmer dip under the 55-second threshold in the form of Anna Hopkin. The former Arkansas Razorback punched a time of 54.90 but is being chased by a trio of formidable competitors.

Marie Wattel of France sits just .22 behind with a morning outing of 55.12 while Louise Hansson of Sweden was right there in 55.31. Abbie Wood, who already hit some stellar personal bests here in Manchester, produced a time of 55.77 this morning.

Hopkin is the 2nd fastest British woman ever in this 100m free event, having logged a lifetime best of 53.21, a time she produced in the prelims. The Loughborough swimmer ultimately finished 12th there in Gwangju in 53.65.

Hansson and Wattel were also strong competitors in the 100m fly here in Manchester. Hansson scored the top time of 57.59, which ranks among the Swede’s best efforts. Hansson’s quickest time of her career is represented by the 57.10 logged at the 2019 FINA World Championships, but her 57.59 here is her 6th fastest.

Wood was back at it in the 200m IM, producing a mark of 2:12.57 to lead the field. That’s a mark within a second of her lifetime best.

Additional Notes:

• Both Litchfield brothers dove in this morning, with elder Max Litchfield taking the top seed in the 400m IM in 4:23.45. Younger brother Joe Litchfield raced the men’s 100m back, snagging a runner-up slot in a time of 55.67.
• Luke Greenbank, the man who produced one of the top times of his career in the 200m back last night, hit 54.98 this morning to take the top 100m backstroke seed.