Matt Richards took men’s 200m honours in a breathtaking finale to the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships at the London Aquatic Centre this evening.
Richards stormed back over the final 50 metres to overhaul both Duncan Scott (bronze), who had the lead at the final turn, and James Guy (silver), to win in 1:44.77.
Afterwards, Richards said:
“You definitely feel the pressure and feel the anticipation – there’s a certain buzz around the building on the night of the 200m free. There’s a little bit of electricity and I love that atmosphere and that environment.
“I try not to take myself or the race too seriously, and try to get in there and have some fun. I’ve always found that I race my best when I race like I did when I was a little kid, and that’s to get out there, give it everything I’ve got, and try to get my hand on the wall first. That attitude has led to every success I’ve had so far.”
Jack McMillan took fourth, and completed the European Championships relay team, meaning that the quartet will again have a representative from every home nation.
Earlier in the evening, Angharad Evans continued her exceptional championships by demolishing her own national record in the women’s 100m breaststroke. She clocked 1:04.96 to become the tenth fastest woman in the event’s history.
She said:
“To swim a 64 has been my mission, and I’ve just got it, so I’m super happy with that. The best thing for a swimmer is seeing that time at the end of the race and knowing that all the hard work has been worth it. Seeing that is such a big confidence boost for what is a really exciting summer ahead.”
Gabrielle Idle-Beavers took second, with Anna Morgan claiming bronze.
Elsewhere, Josh Gammon edged out Jacob Peters by 00.01 to win the men’s 50m butterfly, with both dipping underneath the European Championships qualifying time, swimming 23.11 and 23.10 respectively.
Gammon said:
“Words can’t even describe how that felt. None of the events went my way this week, so I felt like I had nothing to lose. It feels like it’s all been a bit up and down recently, so to get that result was a shock, but I’m so proud.”
Eva Okaro and Oliver Morgan each won their third title of the Championships: Okaro was victorious in the women’s 500m freestyle, with silver medallist Theodora Taylor joining her in swimming the Paris qualification time. Morgan held off the challenge of Luke Greenbank to complete another backstroke treble with a win over 200m, with both securing their European Championships qualification.
Amelie Blocksidge claimed her third consecutive women’s 800m freestyle crown, while Bruce Dee (men’s 50m butterfly), Brock Whiston (women’s 100m breaststroke), Will Ellard (men’s 200m freestyle) and Callie-Ann Warrington (women’s 50m freestyle) won the mixed classification events.
Warrington’s day was particularly memorable, as she broke her own national record in both the heat (swimming 27.88) and the final (27.63) on her way to gold.
She said:
“It’s just amazing. We completely removed butterfly from my programme so I can focus on the freestyle, and whatever I’m doing is clearly working! It’s paying off so I’m so happy.”
The day’s morning session saw a world record was broken, as Mark Tompsett took almost two seconds off the S14 200m backstroke world record, swimming 2:08.21 in the heats.
Tonight’s action wrapped-up the six-day Championships, which have also seen multiple title wins for the likes of Adam Ramsay-Peaty, Scott, Keanna Macinnes and Poppy Maskill. Reports from the previous five days of racing are available here.
Full results are available on the Swimming Results website.
Limited tickets are still available across the 2026 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships through SEE Tickets