2016 ASA WINTER NATIONALS
- Ponds Forge, Sheffield (25m)
- December 15th – 18th
- Meet Central
- Event Schedule
- Live Stream
- Start Lists/Results
The ASA Winter Nationals meet in Sheffield is only halfway through, but we’ve already seen some impressive swims by the British swimming contingency. We reported how two young athletes at Newcastle Swim Team threw down a couple of British Junior Records, while Senior swimmer Molly Renshaw established a new short course British National Record in the women’s 200m breaststroke. Additional World Championship swimmers and Olympians were on full display at Ponds Forge, with results further supporting the idea that Britain is not a swimming force to be taken lightly.
Sheffield’s Max Litchfield lit up the pool with a magical 200m IM on night 1, winning the race in a time of 1:54.42. That performance hacked 3 seconds off of the 2016 Olympian’s personal best, setting the stage for the 400m IM on night 2. After qualifying in prelims with the swiftest time by 5 seconds, Litchfield scored his 2nd title of the meet, winning the longer IM in a time of 4:01.28. That’s a tremendous follow-up to his 4:00.28 silver medal-clinching time in Windsor just last weekend.
As for his performance, Litchfield said, “I’m very pleased with that, I’ve come in here today and given it my all. I probably should have broken my record this week or last week, but I just couldn’t quite put that swim together. Hopefully I’ll get it next year.”
British National Record holder Ben Proud was on the quiet end of the racing spectrum in his first event of the meet, although he still pulled through for gold in the men’s splash n’ dash. The 2016 Olympic finalist touched in a time of 21.23, well off his own record of 20.74. Said Proud of his effort, “I think 2016 was the perfect season. I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to getting back into this one and see where things go. Hopefully 2017 will see me in the World Championships, but really I’m just continuously trying to improve.
Bath’s Calum Jarvis earned two wins thus far at the meet to set the bar high. He first took the men’s 100m butterfly in a new personal best of 51.34 to represent the only swimmer of the field to notch a time beneath the 52-second threshold. The next win came in the 100m freestyle, where Jarvis touched just off his personal best. He finished almost a full second ahead of the field in Sheffield, earning a time of 47.91 for the win.
“100m Free is always a tough race, it’s so competitive. I was really close to my PB, but it was just good to be at the front of the field,” said Jarvis of the race.
Additional Hightlights:
- Bath’s Charlie Attwood earned the fastest 100m breaststroke time of his career, notching his first sub-59-second outing in 58.95 for the win.
- Craig McNally of City of Glasgow followed up his trio of Scottish National titles with a 200m backstroke here in Sheffield, topping the podium in a near-personal best of 1:52.29.
- Swansea’s Alys Thomas clinched gold in the women’s 200m butterfly in a time of 2:06.90.
- Hatfield’s ASA Aquatics Award Winner Tim Shuttleworth was the men’s 400m freestyle winner, touching in 3:40.37 for a new personal best.
