Longhorne lays down fast heats swims in Aberdeen

18 Feb 2022

Lyndon Longhorne will have another crack at his own SB3 50m Breaststroke British record after qualifying fastest for the final in an all-SB3 heat on the second morning of action at the Para Swimming World Series inc. British Para-Swimming Meet 2022.

The Derwentside ASC man was only 0.3 seconds off his mark of 57.94 as he powered clear of Louth Dolphins' Harvey Phillips and Spain's Javier Torres at Aberdeen Sports Village.  

In the women's event, Ellie Challis laid down another strong heats swim, the SB2 competitor earning 806 points as she chases her own world record time. 

Hannah Russell is the top British qualifier into the Women's 100m Backstroke final, as she looks for more success in the event that has brought her back-to-back Paralympic titles in Rio and Tokyo. 

The National Performance Centre athlete won World Series silver in the 100m Freestyle on Thursday - and she will look to build on her morning swim when she lines up as the third-best qualifier in the finals, behind Canada's Danielle Dorris and Roisin Ni Riain of Republic of Ireland. Russell 

Friday's finals are set to serve up another close race between Stephen Clegg, Jordan Catchpole and Louis Lawlor in the Men's 100m Backstroke. 

The trio pushed each other in a brilliant 100m Freestyle finale on Thursday, with Catchpole coming out on top. In the 100m Backstroke heats, it was Edinburgh University man Clegg - who earned an S12 bronze medal in this event in Tokyo - who was the top qualifier, with 878 points.

Hannah Russell 100m Free heats BPSM 2022 Aberdeen
Hannah Russell

Catchpole was second into the World Series finals on 766, with Lawlor just behind on 750.

Fresh from a brilliant 200m Individual Medley title on Thursday night, Northampton Swimming Club's Maisie Summers-Newton was back in form on Friday morning, qualifying top of the standings in the Women's 100m Breaststroke heats. 

This is the second of Summers-Newton's two Paralympic title events - and a heats points tally of 834 suggests she will be difficult to beat in the final. Closest to her was SB5 racer Grace Harvey, the Hoddesdon and National Performance Centre athlete swimming well for a time worth 705 points. Rebecca Redfern - who won SB13 silver in this event at the Paralympics last summer - was just behind her on 703. 

Scott Quin will be the man to beat in the Men's 100m Breaststroke final, the two-time Paralympian top of the qualifying pile after two strong laps of breaststroke earned him 871 points. The Edinburgh University swimmer was ahead of University of Aberdeen's Conner Morrison, who will target a World Series medal in the venue at which he trains. 

The second session of heats was rounded out with the 50m Backstroke contests - and Challis and Germany's Gina Boettcher look set for a close contest in the women's final. Challis qualified second with 604 points to her name, the S3 athlete just behind Boettcher (an S4 competitor), whose time was worth 647 points.

The men's heat brought the curtain down on the morning's racing, with hints of another tight finale later on. Longhorne was back in the pool, qualifying behind Spain's Torres, 487 points to 561. 

Head over to our #Aberdeen2022 page to access full results, the session livestream and more.