O’Connor sets British breaststroke record at Scottish Nationals

July 4, 2016

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor set a British 100m Breaststroke record on the way to double gold at the Scottish National Championships 2016 in Glasgow.

At the same venue where she became Commonwealth 200m Individual Medley champion for England in 2014, the University of Bath swimmer ducked 0.01 seconds under Sophie Taylor’s two-year old marker to take the 100m Breast title in 1:06.34.

Training hard doesn't stop @SiobhanMOConnor from breaking records! #SNSC2016 https://t.co/GyZc75rTuR
— Scottish Swimming (@ScottishSwim) July 1, 2016

The 20-year old’s record-breaking swim came shortly after a commanding performance in the 200m IM final, clocking the sixth fastest time of her career with a 2:09.36 effort.

“I am over the moon with that” said O’Connor. “I’m in a really good block of training, probably the most consistent block of training I’ve had for a really long time. I’m tired and really surprised by that.

“I’ve worked really hard and I thought this week I’d be a bit flat, a bit sluggish but I felt really good there.

“My breaststroke has come on a lot and I’ve done a lot of work on technique and that really shows. I’m surprised and really happy and with this my last competition before Rio it’s a good place to be.”

Rio-bound Renshaw grabs 200m Breast gold

Four more of England’s Rio-bound swimmers won medals in Glasgow, including Loughborough University’s Molly Renshaw, who won the 200m Breaststroke title in 2:23.96 – the fourth fastest time of her career.

Renshaw’s training partner Tim Shuttleworth also won gold with a 7:58..86 effort in the 800m Freestyle while City of Leeds’ Georgia Coates stopped the clock on 2:30.81 for 200m Breaststroke silver and 4:15.71 for the same result in the 400m Free.

City of Sheffield’s Max Litchfield also scooped three medals to continue his preparation for his Olympic debut, with victory in the 400m Individual Medley, silver in the 400m Freestyle and bronze in the 200m IM.

Among the other top English performers was Litchfield’s Sheffield teammate Nick Grainger, who scooped a double gold over 200m and 400m Freestyle.

There were also gold medals for Sheffield’s Isobel Grant in the 200m Fly, University of Bath swimmer Joe Hulme in the men’s 200m Back, and City of Manchester’s Jess Fullalove in the women’s 200m Back.

The Loughborough pair of Emma Day and Charlotte Evans were both in personal best form in Scotland, with Day setting a PB 2:13.13 for silver in the 200m IM and Evans claiming 200m Back bronze in a PB 2:11.87.

University of Bath swimmer Charlie Attwood set a PB 28.03 for silver in the 50m Breast while University of Stirling’s Charlie Boldison also set a PB, clocking 25.43 for silver in the 50m Back.

Nottingham Leander swimmer Georgia-Mae Hohmann grabbed a pair of medals, winning 200m Backstroke silver then adding 200m Fly bronze in a PB 2:15.83 while City of Manchester’s Emma Smithurst finished a place ahead of Hohmann with a 2:15.64 effort in the 200m Fly.