British swimmers continued to impress during the day three heats of the British Summer Championships with Josef Craig setting a new British Record and eight gold medallists looking to add to their medal haul.
Josef Craig broke the S8 British Record in the Men’s MC 100m Freestyle touching the wall in 60.17 and heads into the final tonight in lane four ahead of his City of Sunderland teammate Matthew Wylie.
Woking swimmer Hannah Russell (S12), who impressed crowds last night in the MC 100m Backstroke, is the first qualifier into the Women’s MC 100m Freestyle.
Cockermouth’s Luke Greenbank looked fresh after winning gold in last night’s 200m Backstroke to qualify fastest for tonight’s 17/18yrs Men’s 200m IM. Second fastest qualifier, Joe Litchifeld (Doncaster Dartes) will be looking to double up after winning gold in the 400m Individual Medely on day one. Bo Kirklees swimmer James Reidy progresses through third fastest.
FIRST’s Ryan Retson dominated the final leg of his heat to touch the wall first ahead of Myles Stirk. Reston will now occupy lane four in tonight’s 15yrs 200m IM final ahead of second fastest Lewis Fraser (City of Leeds) while Swansea Aquatics swimmer Stirk qualifies third.
Bath University’s Lewis Coleman heads into tonight’s 19yrs+ 200m IM fastest qualifier after a strong breaststroke leg saw him pull away from the rest of the field in heat nine. Loughborough University teammates Fraser Minnican and Joseph Poynter head into the final second and third fastest respectively.
Double gold medallist on day one of the Championships, Georgia Coates, reserves lane four in the 16yrs 100m Freestyle just ahead of City of Sheffield’s Darcy Deakin and Sedgefield’s Hannah Featherstone. With the three separated by less than half a second the race is on for gold in the final tonight.
After winning gold in last night’s 100m Backstroke, City of Derby’s Harriet Cooper narrowly edged Chelsea and Westminster SC’s Georgina Boyle into second place in heat nine. Heading into the 17/18yrs 100m Freestyle final tonight, Cooper and Boyle will be separated by second fastest qualifier Hannah Burvill (Woking).
In the penultimate Women’s 100m Freestyle heat, there was a tight race between Loughborough University’s Emma Wilkinsand Plymouth Leander’s Shauna Lee with the pair progressing through second and third fastest respectively. While City of Manchester’s Rebecca Guy looked comfortable as she won the final heat and booked lane four for the 19yrs+ final.
City of Leeds swimmer Coates went on to qualify for her second final of the night in the Women’s 16yrs 200m Breaststroke behind Millfield’s Emma Cain and Derventio’s Abbie Wood.
Katie Matts clinched victory in the penultimate heat of the 200m Breaststroke to secure lane four in tonight’s 17/18yrs final ahead of Highland’s Kara Hanlon and Guilford City’s Lucy Bean. While Georgina Evans (City of Liverpool) heads into the 19yrs+ final fastest, while Jocelyn Ulyett (Loughborough University) progresses through second and University of Edinburgh’s Olivia White is third.
In other events, silver medallists from the IPC World Championships, Scott Quin (SB14) and Charlotte Henshaw (SB6) secured their spots in lane four in their respective MC 100m Breaststroke events.
Jay Lelliot, who won gold in last night’s 200m Freestyle, pulled away from the rest of the field in the final 100m of his heat, extending his lead to over two seconds by the final touch and booking lane four. Lelliot’s Bath University teammate, Matthew Johnson, and University of Stirling’s Lewis Smith were also in winning form this morning, touching first in their respective heats and progressing through second and third fastest.
After a strong final 50m in heat five of the Men’s 200m Fly, Sam Dailley, double gold medallist already at these Championships in the 100m Fly and 200m Freestyle, booked lane four for the 13/14yrs final ahead of Charlie Hutchison (Ellesmere College) and Boldmere’s Leo Karski. He then continued to demonstrate the breadth of his swimming talent by also qualifying for the 13/14yrs 50m Backstroke and 200m IM finals.
Kyle Chisholm (Bo Kirlees) leads the way in the Men’s 17/18yrs 200m Butterfly ahead of Dumfries swimmer Fraser Lowther and Mt Kelly’s Julian Chan Quee Lin. But with the top six swimmers separated by less than a second, gold could come from anywhere tonight.