Max Nugent claims gold in maiden English nationals

Southampton Dolphins swimmer Max Nugent put in a great performance to win gold in his first Swim England National Summer Meet.

He shaved almost two seconds from his PB to claim his first medal of the competition in the 16 Yrs 100m Butterfly.

Nugent touched in 58.11 in his final, one of only two swimmers to go sub 59 in his age group.

Nugent said: “I’m feeling pretty good about that. I took a lot of time from my PB and I wasn’t expecting that. I was here last weekend for British nationals, and this is my first English nationals. It’s a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, so I’ve been a bit nervous, but it’s turned out all right.”

Second place went to Thomas Clare of Team Ipswich with a PB of 58.35. Taylor Bowen of West Suffolk, who was the fastest qualifier coming into the final, touched the wall third in a time of 59.28. This was also a personal best time.

Colbert takes shock win in 12/13yrs 100m fly

Grantham SC received their first gold medal of the competition at the hands of Freya Colbert. In the final 50m, it looked like Chiara Tommasello was a sure thing as she was miles ahead of the field.

Tommasello was disqualified however, and Colbert took the title in a new personal best time of 1:05.91.

Colbert commented: “I feel a bit bad for the other person (Tommasello), but obviously I’m very happy that I got the gold. I’ve worked hard all year for this and the British championships, so I guess it paid off.

“I felt relaxed and confident, and I think that helped in my strokes to pull through and get the PB. I’ve got the 200m Breaststroke later tonight, so I’m going to eat, drink, chill and then start warming up and stretching.”

Silver went to Ella Bainbridge of Cleethorpes for her time of 1:05.95. This was Bainbridge’s second silver of the meet, having come second in the 400m IM yesterday. Borough of Kirklees swimmer Milly Boulding took the final place on the podium, claiming the bronze medal in 1:06.02.

• Click here to see full results from the Swim England National Summer Meet 2017.

Other 100m Butterfly gold medallists:

• Lewis Maxwell (Derwentside) men’s 13/14yrs – 1:00.97
• Elliott Day (Team Ipswich) men’s 15yrs – 59.75
• Henry Offin (Guildford City) men’s 17yrs – 56.93
• Luke Howdle (City of Sheffield Sheffield) men’s 18yrs/Over – 54.68
• Lily Merrett (Hoddesden) women’s 14yrs – 1:05.85
• Amy Corcoran (Kingston-upon-Hull) women’s 15yrs – 1:03.77
• Zara Leleux (Wrekin College) women’s 16yrs – 1:03.85
• Abigail Burr (Lincoln Vulcans) women’s 17yrs/Over – 1:02.48