2025 CITY OF SHEFFIELD WINTER MEET
- January 18th & January 19th
- Ponds Forge International Swimming Centre
- LCM (50m)
- Results
Olympic champions James Guy and Matt Richards were both in action this week, racing at the 2025 City of Sheffield Winter Meet at Ponds Forge International Swimming Centre.
Training under lead coach Ryan Livingstone at Aquatics GB Manchester Performance Centre, Guy and Richards turned in some solid performances as they begin the new Olympic quad.
As for Guy, the 29-year-old dove in for the men’s 400m free, dominating the field in a time of 3:48.91.
That beat the pack by over 17 seconds and marked his first swim at this distance since the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Guy earned bronze there in Glasgow in a time of 3:45.32 while his lifetime best remains at the British national record of 3:43.75 he established en route to snagging silver at the 2015 World Championships behind champion Sun Yang of China (3:42.58).
We’ve reached out to Guy to see if this 4free was just a one-off tune-up or if he’s returning back to the event which he’s earned multiple elite international medals.
23-year-old Richards was the top men’s 50m freestyler, logging a gold medal-worthy outing of 22.42. That was the sole sub-23 second performance of the field, as Lewis Burras was next to the wall in 23.02.
Richards also turned in an impressive in-season effort of 48.58 to take the men’s 100m freestyle, splitting 23.39/25.19 to get the job done. Burras was runner-up once again, securing silver in 51.22.
In the 200m free, the individual event in which he earned silver in Paris, Richards struck gold in 1:48.07.
Finally, the 2-time Olympian hit a time of 24.87 to top the men’s 50m fly podium and also produced 53.72 to take silver in the 100m fly. The latter event saw Ed Mildred collect the victory in 52.68 although Richards’ 100m fly performance checked in as a lifetime best, overtaking his previous PB of 53.82 from last year.
Richards’ 100m free outing now renders the Brit the #3 swimmer in the world for the 2024-25 long course season.
2024-2025 LCM Men 100 Free
Jack
48.27
| 2 | X KATSUHIRO MATSUMOTO KATSUHIRO | JPN | 48.46 | 11/30 |
| 3 | Kai TAYLOR | AUS | 48.96 | 12/16 |
| 4 | Gabriel Shepherd | GBR | 49.29 | 11/30 |
| 5 | TOMONOBU GOMI | JPN | 49.48 | 11/30 |
Of note, all events were timed finals.
James Guy confirmed he was planning on swimming the 400fr at 2025 British trials last summer – He was asked about retirement after Paris and was irked by it, said he still loves swimming and retirement isn’t even in his head, then mentioned a serious return to the 400 in 2025.
Excellent work Guy
I Love The 400 also.
Keep training.