Max Litchfield (City of Sheffield) dominated heat 9 of the 400m Individual Medley on the opening day of the British Summer Championships at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre (28 July – 2 August).
Litchfield, a finalist in this event at last year’s European Swimming Championships, leads the way into the 19yrs + final after a strong last 100m to win the heat and head into tonight's final in lane four.
University of Stirling’s Lewis Smith, bronze medallist at the British Swimming Championships earlier this year, also showed his 400m IM prowess winning heat 10 comfortably and qualifying second fastest for tonight’s final.
Doncaster Dartes’ Joe Litchfield, who represented Team GB at the European Games in Baku earlier this year, also showed his strength in this event qualifying fastest for tonight’s 17/18yrs final.
After an incredibly close race in the penultimate Womens 200m Freestyle heat, only 0.17 seconds separated fastest qualifier Anne Bochmann (Bath University) and Guilford City’s Ellen Thomas, heading into tonight’s 19yrs final.
Georgina Boyle, who will represent England at next month’s Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa, dominated heat nine. The 17 year-old Chelsea and Westminster SC swimmer touched the wall over a body length ahead of the rest of the field and will progress fastest through to the 17/18yrs final.
There was another strong performance in heat 3 from 15 year-old Amber Mason. The City of Leeds swimmer controlled the race from the start, setting a new lifetime best and booking lane four in her Age Group final tonight.
It was back to business for Thomas Hamer (City of Manchester Aquatics) and Andrew Mullen (Ren 96) in the heats of the Men’s MC 200m Freestyle. The pair, who won S14 bronze and S5 silver respectively at the recent IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, showed no signs of tiredness as they both qualified for tonight’s final.
In the Women’s MC 200m Freestyle final Jessica-Jane Applegate will be climbing onto the blocks in lane four after posting a new personal best time in this morning’s heat.
In other events, Emily Jones (University of Edinburgh) reserved lane four in tonight’s 19yrs + 200m IM final after posting a time just outside her lifetime best in this morning’s heats. The race will be on between Stephanie Blakeburn (Billingham) and Alexandra Kaye (Bath University) in the final as only a tenth of a second separates the second and third placed qualifiers.
In heat 10 of the 100m Fly, Anthony James (Plymouth Leander) showed he is in good form, winning by over three seconds and progressing fastest through to tonight’s 19yrs + final. Adam Fawl (Loughborough University) clinched victory in heat 11 ahead of Braxton Timm (City of Sheffield) and the pair now head into the final second and third fastest respectively.
Sam Dailley, one of James’ younger Plymouth Leander teammates, showed his potential after finishing 6th in a stacked heat eight. The 14 year-old swimmer tackled the race head on and booked his spot in lane four for the 13/14yrs 100m Fly, setting a new personal best in the process. Leighton Mayers (Ellesmere College), second fastest for tonight’s final, was the only other 13/14yrs swimmer to go under the elusive minute.