William Ellard Ties His 100 Freestyle S14 World Record During Prelims With A 51.07

2025 AQUATICS GB SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 15th – Sunday, April 20th
• Prelims at 9:30am local (4:30am ET)/Finals at 7pm local (2pm ET)
• London Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Aquatics GB World Championships Selection Criteria
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• Draft Entries
• Live Results
• Livestream
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  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Paralympic champion William Ellard tied his 100 freestyle S14 world record at the 2025 Aquatics GB Championships. He swam 51.07 in prelims this morning, matching the mark he posted at the 2024 Para Swim Series stop in Berlin last May as he prepared for the Paris Paralympics.

The 19-year-old was out under his world record pace this morning. He made the turn at 24.26, a tenth ahead of his Berlin effort. After he broke the S14 world record the first time, Ellard told Swim England the plan had been to “go out quite easy and build into the turn, push off and work the last fifty and hope for the best.”

The effectiveness of that strategy was underlined in London this morning, as the world record line crept up on Ellard during the back half of the race. He split 26.81 on the second 50, which gave his Berlin pace the room it needed to make up the gap. Ellard hit the wall in 51.07 at the London Aquatic Centre, tying his world record.

Split Comparison:

The swim further cements Ellard as one of the quickly rising young stars in the para swimming world. He had his major breakout two years ago at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester, winning three medals. His ascension continued last year—after breaking the 100 freestyle S14 world record in Berlin, Ellard won Paralympic gold in the 200 freestyle S14 in world record time (1:51.30). He added another gold as part of Great Britain’s mixed 4×100 freestyle S14 relay and a silver in the 100 butterfly S14.

Tying his world record is a strong start to the season for Ellard, who had another close call during the finals session. He opted to skip the multi-class para final of the 100 freestyle, instead focusing on the 100 backstroke. There, he went head-to-head with his Paralympic teammate Mark Tompsett, who set an S14 European record in prelims.

Tompsett broke his hours-old record in the final (58.28) for gold. More than a second behind him, Ellard squeaked under the British consideration time for the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships by a hundredth, posting 59.48. He was just off his lifetime best of 59.37 as well.

These championships are the only qualifying opportunity for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, but Ellard and the other British para swimmers have another opportunity to qualify for this year’s Para World Swimming Championships, which also take place in Singapore. The July Aquatics GB British Summer Championships are the second appointment phase for the para team and are the national meet that some para swimmers are targeting, rather than these championships.