Tully Kearney and Filip Nowacki both set new records as the day culminated with an unbelievable relay finish.
It was yet another European Record for City of Manchester Aquatics' Tully Kearney as she set a personal best in the Women’s MC 50m Freestyle to headline what was an action-packed day 5 at the Speedo British Summer Championships. Breaking her own record in the heats after a breath-taking performance, the 25 year-old Paralympic and World Champion was still in fine form for the final, as she took the gold in a time of 34.40. Swindon’s Suzanna Hext claimed the silver after points were applied, with City of Cambridge’s Claire Connon taking bronze.
The trend of record-breaking performances followed as Tigers Jersey’s Filip Nowacki set a new 14 year-old British Record in the Men’s 15 year-old 200m Breaststroke final. He put in a controlled performance to add to the gold he won in the 100 metre final, as a three-way battle for the subsequent medals saw Newcastle’s Oliver Dodsworth win silver, and City of Manchester Aquatics’ Xuanming Guo the bronze.
Beginning the finals session was the Women’s 100m Freestyle, as the 13/14 year-old final saw City of Leeds’ Hollie Wilson take the win ahead of a handful of swimmers, who were all within a shout of the gold right until the final touch. The silver and bronze also went to regulars for this meet, with Theodora Taylor of Torfaen Dolphins claiming silver, and Anabelle Compton of Wycombe District securing bronze.
Another close finish took place in the 15 year-old final; Sophie Davis of Millfield leading the whole way before late challenges from City of Norwich’s Grace Greenhalf and Taunton Deane’s Izzy Blackhurst threw the result up in the air. It was Davis who did enough to secure the victory though, as Greenhalf and Blackhurst won silver and bronze respectively.
The 50 & 100m Freestyle double was won by Sevenoaks’ Eva Okaro in the 16 year-old final, before the 17 year-old final saw an arrowhead of swimmers all ready to pounce on the wall. Erin Little of Mount Kelly had the strength to get to the wall first; putting in the fastest time across any age group in the process, with Guildford’s Darcy Revitt securing the bronze and Royal Wolverhampton’s Aimee Monks the silver amongst a whole host of solid swims.
The 18 year-old final followed, as a good start from City of Sheffield’s Charlotte Berry delighted the home crowd. Northumberland and Durham’s Harriet Rogers clawed back the deficit to take the gold, ahead of Berry, with Stockport Metro’s Amy West finishing best of the rest behind the pair to take bronze.
The last bit of drama in the event came in the 19 & over final, as Katie Latham of Bromley led at the halfway point from lane 0, before a number of competitors made a charge down the last 25 metres. Mount Kelly’s Megan Barnes earned the victory by a tenth of a second, with a tense finish against Sutton & Cheam’s Amy Davies, with top seed Megan Allison of Swansea University claiming the bronze.
The Men’s 200m Breaststroke finals were next on the agenda, as Warrington Warriors’ Joseph Ashley put in a dominant performance to take victory by several metres in the 13/14 year-old final. He never looked back from the start to claim the gold medal, as a fierce battle down the back length amongst the majority of the field managed to see Wandsworth’s Max Morgan take silver, as City of Sheffield’s Ethan Potter took bronze.
Callum Melville of Nova Centurion also added another gold medal to his tally as he stormed to victory in the 16 year-old final. In what has come to be typical from the athlete, he took the win in fine style, ahead of fellow regular medallist Edward Marcal Whittles of Chelsea & West and Abingdon Vale’s Kayden Sillah; who took silver and bronze respectively in what was a tight finish.
The fastest time of the event came in the 17 year-old final, with City of Norwich’s Olivier Vedrenne winning in style. The intensity didn’t end there though, with the 19 & over final seeing Pravin Mahendrakumar of Bromley lead for 175 metres until his fellow club mate Matthew Rogers and University of Stirling’s William Ellington joined the party’ the trio all coming to the finish in a line as Mahendrakumar did enough to seal the win. It was Rogers who won the silver for a Bromley 1-2, and Ellington taking the bronze medal.
Next came the Men’s MC 200m Individual Medley final, as Plymouth Leander’s Cameron Vearncombe returned to the pool once again to engage in a fierce battle with City of Glasgow’s Louis Lawlor. The former managed to pull away on the breaststroke before ultimately taking the victory, with Lawlor the silver and Dundee City Aquatics’ Jack Milne earning a clear bronze.
As has come to be expected, the Women’s MC 200m Individual Medley followed, with a whole host of classifications in the mix. The fastest seed on time was Bolton Metro’s Georgia Sheffield, as the swimmer led from the start of the race before an unbelievable breaststroke leg from Barking & Dagenham’s Brock Whiston saw her in the lead ahead of the final leg. The latter then managed to anchor her lead on the freestyle to take the win on time and points for gold, with Northampton’s Scarlett Humphrey winning the silver and Sheffield the bronze.
As the night began to mature, the Women’s 200m Backstroke finals came to the fore. It was a tight finish in the 13/14 year-old race, with five swimmers all in with a chance of victory for the majority of the race. A great final turn from Martyna Karabacz of Greenwich Royals put her right into the mix, before she was eventually touched out into silver by Guildford’s Tegan Matthews, who took gold, with City of Sheffield’s Ava Cook fending off the other challengers to receive the bronze medal.
A similar finish was had in the 15 year-old final; Jessica Gable of RTW Monson and Millie Wels of City of Leicester both sticking to each other through the duration of the race, before Wells got her hand to the wall first by the tightest of margins. Gable claimed the silver, with Basildon Phoenix’s Evangeline Pierce also touching first in her scuffle for the bronze.
Northumberland and Durham’s Evie Dilley continued her brilliant competition with gold in the 16 year-old final. She powered ahead of Warrington’s Sophie Weston after they were level at halfway, as she came home for silver. Nova Centurion’s Rose Gubbins was also a clear bronze finisher as the clear quality of the field was on show.
The 17 year-old final saw City of Sheffield’s Annabelle Wilkinson touch first at the halfway and 150 metre mark despite starting in lane 1, with the majority of competitors all keeping the pace. Iona Colbert of Nova Centurion then put in a charge to take the lead from the adjacent lane before taking gold, as Repton’s Lucy Hitchin kept the rhythm for silver, and Cosacss’ top seed Jessica Mellor touching for bronze.
The 19 & over final delivered with an intense battle for the win between the Loughborough University duo of Honey Osrin and Rachel Anderson. There was nothing to separate the two at 175 metres as they went stroke for stroke, until top seed Osrin touched out her club mate for the fastest time of the event, with Mid Sussex’s Sophie Shaw taking bronze.
The Men’s 100m Butterfly finals continued the night as Abduljabar Adama put in a gutsy swim to ultimately take the silver medal in the 13/14 year race. Aberdeen Dolphins’ Dean Fearn set the pace, before Adama had the stamina to leave it down to the touch, as Fearn’s body length lead after the first length was enough to keep first place and the gold medal. Camden Swiss’ Llewellyn Porter was also back in the medals, as he took bronze.
The 15 year-old final saw every lane keep up with the pace, as it once again came down to the touch. City of Sheffield’s Miles Kinlen won the race from lane 4, with Camden Swiss’ Leonardo Brero winning silver by touching out Millfield’s Lauchlan Parrott into bronze by two hundredths of a second.
The Chelsea & West pair of Nicholas Finch and Edward Marcal Whittles both took out the 16 year-old final, before Finch upped the pace to win by a body length down the last 50 metres. It was his club mate Whittles who took silver, with Bridgend City’s Tristyn James earning the bronze.
The 17 year-old final also didn’t disappoint, as a three-way finish went the way of top seed Reuben Rowbotham-Keating from City of Manchester Aquatics following a spirited charge from Millfield’s Solomon Williams, who started from lane 2. The bronze medal went to Mount Kelly’s Riccardo Lucarelli, with the Devon-based athlete getting his hand to the wall in third position following an intense battle with the rest of the field.
Poole’s Robbie Hemmings produced one of the comebacks of the competition as he took seemingly certain victory from the hands of Camden Swiss’ Michael Klimaszewski. The former seemed out of contention before Klimaszewski tightened up, allowing Hemming in to get the gold on the touch. The bronze medal went to Swansea University’s Antonio Rodriguez, who was also undone following the unbelievable comeback.
The fastest time of the event went the way of City of Sheffield’s George Barber, as he took gold in the 19 & over final. Winning out of the seemingly unlikely lane 8, the athlete held his nerve to get to the wall first ahead of University of Stirling’s Jamie Robertson and his club mate Aaron Fox, who earned silver and bronze respectively.
The Men’s MC 50m Freestyle yet again showed the depth that British para-swimming has, as Portsmouth’s North Sea’s Tomas Navarro-Barber touched second in the race but picked up the gold medal on points, after a blistering display from Kieran Williams of Newquay, which earned him silver. Bronze went to Devenport’s S6 athlete Xander Harris after a spirited performance form lane 0.
The Women’s 50m Butterfly finals were the last individual races of the evening, as third seed Seren Tallantyre of Northumberland and Durham took the win in an insanely close 13/14 year-old final. The silver medal was shared between Modernian’s Eloise Cole and City of Leeds’ Emma Wood, as the pair couldn’t be split after finishing just a tenth of a second behind the winner.
Norwich Swan’s Charlotte Smith dug deep following a slower start as she took gold from lane 4 in the 15 year-old final. Millfield’s Annabel Chan lost out as a result and had to settle for silver, as South Ayrshire’s Eilidh Robertson was also involved in a tight finish to take the bronze medal.
The lead in the 17 year-old final changed hands multiple times, before City of Bristol’s Leah Evans put her head down in the last few metres to touch half a second ahead of the joint silver medallists of Mount Kelly’s Erin Little and Plymouth Leander’s Alma Dahl, who both went stroke for stroke and couldn’t be separated.
South Ayrshire’s Lucy Grieve took the gold in what was audibly a surprising result in the 18 year-old final. The high stroke rate of Northumberland and Durham’s Harriet Rogers was thought to be enough for the win before the touch, as Grieve won the gold from her by 0.02 seconds. The bronze medal went to Basildon Phoenix’s May Bradburn, who kept her composure amongst the chasing pack.
City of Manchester Aquatics’ Jessica Calderbank set the fastest time of the event as she stole the show with a stunning time in the 19 & over final. The athlete finished visibly ahead of Derventio’s Georgina Pryor who took silver, as Aberdeen’s Yasmin Perry won the bronze by just one hundredth of a second.
The racing drew to a close with the penultimate event of the evening; the Men’s 14/16 year-old 400m Medley Team. A blistering start from Fergus Thomson of Mount Kelly saw them get to the first takeover in first position, before Bromley and City of Cardiff fought back with Joshua Inglis and Carwyn Jones respectively. At the halfway mark there was little in it between the leaders as Nova Centurion joined in on the action. In-form Abduljabar Adama got to the final handover with Mount Kelly having a body length lead from second placed Chelsea & West who had a good butterfly leg, with a two-way shootout between the two for gold. It was Mount Kelly who managed to get the gold though, as Oliver Rowe got the better of Josef Adams who touched Chelsea & West into silver, with Nova taking bronze.
The final event left the spectators with something to talk about, as the showpiece delivered with more action. It was Birmingham University who touched first at the changeover, as individual medallist Oliver Morgan helped them to an early lead. It was all change on the breaststroke leg though, as top seeds Mount Kelly made a move with Sam Van Der Stroom to take the lead at the 150 metre mark. There were five in contention at the halfway changeover, with nothing to split the teams. The butterfly leg whittled the number of victory contenders down to four, as Loughborough University’s Jakob Goodman touched first. It was then individual 100m freestyle gold medallist Alex Cohoon who anchored the team home to take the victory, as the second placed finisher in that event Thomas Watkin also did a great job to hand City of Sheffield the silver medal, finishing just behind. The dramatic finish was supplemented by Millfield, who did enough to secure the bronze medal and close out an evening of high quality racing.
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Live results and start lists for the event can be accessed here
Full list of winners
Women's 100m Freestyle
13/14 Yrs - Hollie Wilson, City of Leeds
15 Yrs - Sophie Davies, Millfield
16 Yrs - Eva Okaro, Sevenoaks
17 Yrs - Erin Little, Mount Kelly
18 Yrs - Harriet Rogers, Northumberland & Durham
19 yrs & over - Megan Barnes, Mount Kelly
Men's 200m Breaststroke
13/14 Yrs - Joseph Ashley, Warrington Warriors
15 Yrs - Filip Nowacki, Tigers Jersey (14 year-old British Record)
16 Yrs - Callum Melville, Nova Centurion
17 Yrs - Olivier Vedrenne, City of Norwich
18 Yrs - Aneurin Davies, Swansea University
19 Yrs & over - Pravin Mahendrakumar, Bromley
Men's 200m Individual Medley
MC - Cameron Vearncombe, Plymouth Leander
Women's 200m Individual Medley
MC - Brock Whiston, Barking & Dagenham
Women's 200m Backstroke
13/14 yrs - Tegan Matthews, Guildford City
15 Yrs - Millie Wells, City of Leicester
16 Yrs - Evie Dilley, Northumberland & Durham
17 Yrs - Iona Colbert, Nova Centurion
18 Yrs - Niamh Ward, Team Bath
19 Yrs & over - Honey Osrin, Loughborough University
Men's 100m Butterfly
13/14 Yrs - Dean Fearn, Aberdeen Dolphins
15 Yrs - Miles Kinlen, City of Sheffield
16 Yrs - Nicholas Finch, Chelsea & West
17 Yrs - Reuben Rowbotham-Keating, City of Manchester Aquatics
18 Yrs - Robbie Hemmings, Poole
19 Yrs & over - George Barber, City of Sheffield
Men's 50m Freestyle
MC - Tomas Navarro-Barber, Portsmouth North Sea
Women's 50m Freestyle
MC - Tully Kearney, City of Manchester Aquatics
Women's 50m Butterfly
13/14 Yrs - Seren Tallantyre, Northumberland & Durham
15 Yrs - Charlotte Smith, Norwich Swan
16 Yrs - Hollie Widdows, Mount Kelly
17 Yrs - Leah Evans, City of Bristol
18 Yrs - Lucy Grieve, South Ayrshire
19 Yrs & over - Jessica Calderbank, City of Manchester Aquatics
Men's 4x100m Medley Team
14/16 Yrs - Mount Kelly
17 Yrs & over - Loughborough University