The closing night of action from Aberdeen witnessed gold for both Faye Rogers and William Ellard in the MC 100m Butterfly, while Scarlett Humphrey finished the meet at pace with another British Record.
Faye Rogers stormed to gold on the final night in the Women’s MC 100m Butterfly, with the S10 European record holder already edging towards her best early in the season.
Competing in her home pool, the Patrick Miley-coached swimmer executed her strategy of pushing the front end of her race and turned first, with only the Hong Kong S14 athlete, Yui Lam Chan coming back past her on the return length – though she was unable to surpass Rogers 985 gold medal points score.
“I'm so excited with that. I did not expect to be under 1:06 this early on which is just amazing for this time of the season and just fills me with confidence going into trials. There were a few girls in that final that touched the wall and were in disbelief about how fast it was so that’s really nice to see as well.” said Rogers,
“My front end focus has come a lot easier in the 400 free than it has in the 100 fly. It is something I struggle with, I’m never out fast enough. That’s what I was focusing on there and I think I managed it better. My dive was also better than it has been in a long time, so everything came together really nicely and it was just great.
There was additional support in the crowd, with Rogers adding on the boost it gave her:
“My flatmate and all my friends from uni were all in the crowd and they didn’t tell me that they were coming until I walked out, so that was really lovely as well.
“It’s a strange one racing at your home pool like you definitely have that home advantage, getting to stay at home and it feels weird because I’m back here for training tomorrow morning! But it’s just really nice to have performed so well here and I’m just very happy.”
Elsewhere in the race Callie-Ann Warrington (S10) came close to a podium place in fourth, just four points off bronze after dropping good time from heats to final.
In the respective men’s event Will Ellard (S14) capped a strong few days of racing with another gold in the concluding individual World Series A Final of the meet.
The win was well challenged by compatriot Cameron Vearncombe (S14) as the pair went stroke for stroke across the distance, only for Ellard to time his finish and his hands onto the touchpad a couple of tenths ahead, as the pair went 1-2 for gold and silver.
Reflecting positively on the meet and the support he’s received, Ellard commented:
“It’s good racing practice at this stage of the season and my coach has come along, I’d like to thank him for travelling to Aberdeen and providing that support around my races and making me feel connected to home.
“It helps massively with race strategy and especially being the Paralympic year getting those details is really important to race well in the long course season and hopefully a good year ahead.”
The MC 50m Freestyle event opened the session with Matthew Redfern (S13) pushing close to the men’s podium in fourth, while Scarlett Humphrey lowered her S11 mark in the women’s contest for sixth overall and a new British record of 31.37.
“I was bang on PB to the point this morning so I was a bit frustrated I wasn’t under it – I’m really pleased to go under it, and it was quite a nice chunk out of it too so I’m happy.” Said Humphrey of her evening swim.
Speaking on the friendly atmosphere at the championships and the ambitions as the seasons progresses, she added:
“I’ve grown up alongside a lot of these people [I’m racing] and been on like training camps with them and you get to know each other very well. It’s nice to chat with my fellow athletes and spend time with them because you’re with them so often it’s like a family.
“Heading towards April I just to see how quickly I can swim, I’ve dropped more time than I expected here so it just proves that I can move things on quite quickly so early in the long course season, so I just want to keep moving the times on and see where I can get to.”
Bringing the curtain down on proceedings was the Mixed 20pts 4x50m Medley relay as Ellie Challis (S3), Grace Harvey (SB5), Bruce Dee (S6) and Harvey Phillips (S4) combined to practice the format in a stand up swim against the clock.
Full results from Aberdeen can be found online at results.swimming.org. Live streaming of the event is available to watch back here.