Longhorne and Humphrey break records in final heats session

19 Mar 2023

Lyndon Longhorne and Scarlett Humphrey added to their British record tally in a fast moving Sunday morning session for Great Britain's para-swimmers, as the World Series prepares to host a show-stopping finals session later today.

The Women’s MC 50m Freestyle got the action off to a rapid start at Ponds Forge, and it was Humphrey who took the first British record of the day – storming ahead of the field in her heat to take nearly two seconds off the old record which had stood since 1994, as her time of 31.80 scored her 774 points.

Humphrey has now broken the British record in five events at this competition, as she looks to build on her performances this summer following her maiden World Championships outing in Madeira last year.

The Northampton athlete will line up for the final this evening, alongside fellow Brits Callie-Ann Warrington, Tully Kearney, Faye Rogers, Amber Haycock and Rebecca Redfern who all put in strong performances amongst a packed field in the penultimate women’s event of the competition.

Callie-Ann Warrington MH 2023
Callie-Ann Warrington was the top British qualifier in the Women’s MC 50m Freestyle

Lyndon Longhorne was another record breaker on day four, with his Men’s MC 50m Freestyle time of 42.75 scoring him lowering his own record set in Aberdeen in last year’s British round of the World Series by over a second.

Paralympic medallist Stephen Clegg booked a spot in the splash'n'dash World Series finals on 762 points, with Matthew Redfern and Tomas Navarro-Barber set to join him in the next round after the latter earnt his chance to race again in a successful swim off at the close of the session.

It was the Women’s MC 100m Butterfly which provided the most British success ahead of the finals session, though, as Faye Rogers topped the scoresheets by a margin of 100 points over second place Poppy Maskill, with the swimmers scoring 973 and 873 points respectively.

Faye Rogers BPSM 2023 [MH]
Faye Rogers

The pair looked in good form throughout, and they will look to move it on in the final, with the chasing pack not far behind. Bethany Firth will be one of those looking to use the guise of midfield to get onto the podium, as she qualifies in fifth place.

Louise Fiddes, Brock Whiston, Jessica-Jane Applegate and Georgia Sheffield complete the British line-up ahead of the final, which will see the last women’s champions of the competition being crowned.

Clegg returned for the Men’s MC 100m Butterfly heats to round off the final morning session, and managed to clock yet another 900+ score, as he set himself up for a shot at the medals with a performance worthy of fifth place.

The Edinburgh University athlete put in a comfortable swim, with it looking like he has much more to give when the lights come on later today, and a shot at the final medals of the competition are up for grabs.

Among the British swimmers joining Clegg in the World Series final is William Ellard, who has already secured two gold medals so far in the 100m & 200m Freestyle events, as well as his brother James Clegg, and Cameron Vearncombe.

For full results, ticket info and links to the British Swimming livestream, head over to our What's On? page.