It was business as usual on day two of the 2019 British Swimming Championships as the big names all advanced to tonight’s finals.
The Men’s 200m Butterfly was perhaps the pick of the bunch, as it featured the likes of Duncan Scott and James Guy, whilst world medallist Georgia Davies made light work of qualification in the Women’s 100m Backstroke.
Jacob Peters produced an impressive swim in heat six of the eight 200m butterfly races to qualify faster than his more fancied rivals, however both Scott and Guy did what they needed to do, winning their heats with consummate ease, setting up an exciting final tonight.
After his first race of a busy schedule this week, Scott commented:
“It’ll be a good fight tonight – Jimmy is out in front PB wise but there are quite a few good boys in there that it’ll be a good race. I’m swimming the same programme I did in 2017 so I think two years down the line I should be able to manage it a bit better. It was good to get the first swim out of the way but it’ll be good to see what I’m like tonight.”
When asked about chasing PBs, Scott reinforced:
“Everyone wants to swim as fast as possible, but more crucially it’s about doing it when it matters, in a final of a World Championships or an Olympic Games, rather than at trials or in heat or semi-final.”
National Centre Bath swimmer Jessica Fullalove finished top of the pile after nine heats of the Women’s 100m Backstroke; she looked comfortable and controlled as she booked herself into lane four for this evening’s title decider. Georgia Davies was hot on her heels though, as she touched 0.27 off the leading time to win her heat, with Cassie Wild of the University of Stirling rounding out the leading trio of qualifiers.
Next it was the turn of the boys over the 100m Backstroke, with Luke Greenbank, who trains under the guidance of National Centre Loughborough lead coach Mel Marshall, signalling his intent with the quickest swim of the morning session as he looks to improve on 2018 British silver. He won’t have things all his own way though, as Brodie Williams of Millfield School will be hoping he can replicate his 2018 result and defend his title; he ranked second whilst Joe Litchfield will also be hoping to finish among the medals after a solid morning outing.
Following on from a world class Men’s 100m Backstroke final last night, the main pretenders all returned to the water this morning to do duel over 50m, with James Wilby and Ross Murdoch drawn in the penultimate heat, Adam Peaty and Craig Benson going in the final race. In the former, home favourite Murdoch got the better start, but Wilby finished strongest to touch first, whilst Peaty led home Benson in the latter. That event will naturally be one to watch this evening.
A talented field of athletes lined up to take to the water in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke heats, with National Centre Loughborough’s Molly Renshaw the one to watch as she touched over a second clear of her nearest rival. Renshaw will be looking to take the British gold once again this evening but will face a challenge from a multitude of swimmers, including training partner Abbie Wood, Stockport Metro’s Katie Matts and 2017 champion Jocelyn Ulyett from the Loughborough University programme.
Day two’s heats were rounded off with the Women’s 800m Freestyle and Millfield’s Rachel Anderson laid down the marker with a four second lifetime best of 8:50.26, but the fastest heat will kick off this evening’s finals session under the spotlights of the Tollcross international Swimming Centre and the medals and title are all still to play for.
The other one length event of the morning was the Women’s 50m Butterfly, where three women progressed with times inside 27 seconds; Anna Hopkin led the way, closely followed by Harriet Jones and Charlotte Atkinson.
The live stream resumes at 6pm this evening in the Deep End Live studio, with the finals kicking off at 6.30pm. Head to the British Swimming Facebook and YouTube channels to ensure you don’t miss out.
If you’re up in Glasgow, a limited number of tickets are still available on the door at the venue.
For full results from this morning’s session please click here
https://www.britishswimming.org/events-and-tickets/british-swimming-championships-2019/bsc19-start-lists-and-results/