Theodora Taylor Becomes Fastest 15-Year-Old British Girl Ever in 100 Breast at Euro Juniors

2024 EUROPEAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

British 15-year-old Theodora Taylor tallied a record-breaking swim in the girls 100 breaststroke on her way to the bronze medal at the European Junior Championships on Sunday.

Taylor stopped the clock at 1:08.59, sneaking under the British age record for 15-year-old girls (1:08.60) that Rebecca Ajulu-Bushell established way back in 2009. She dropped more than half second off her previous-best 1:09.19 from March.

Taylor is within a couple seconds of the overall Welsh record of 1:06.88 that Chloe Tutton set at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

It’s the second medal of the week for Taylor, who clocked a personal-best 2:28.71 for silver in the 200 breast on Friday. She’s still a couple seconds off the British age record of 2:26.55 that Lara Bate posted in 2015

GIRLS 100 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

  • World junior record: 1:04.35 – Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 2013
  • European junior record: 1:04.35 – Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 2013
  • Meet record: 1:05.48 – Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 2013
  • 2022 European junior champion: Eneli Jevimova (EST) – 1:06.81

PODIUM:

European champion Eneli Jefimova captured her third consecutive 100 breast crown in 1:06.12, just a blink off her Estonian record (1:06.08) from Saturday’s semifinals. The 17-year-old was a few tenths quicker tonight than she was en route to the European title last month (1:06.41).

Jefimova reached the wall almost two seconds ahead of Lithuania’s Smilte Plytnykaite (1:07.91), who had never been under 1:10 before clocking 1:09.79/1:08.31 in Saturday’s prelims and semifinals, respectively.

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Dee
3 months ago

Fantastic swim. Theodora also broke the Welsh record (all ages) in the 50 freestyle (25.33) this week. British Swimming incorrectly lists Sian Harkin (25.07) as the record, but she represented Scotland when she set that time.

About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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