Adam Peaty gets first win of 2020 at McCullagh International

Adam Peaty claimed his first win of 2020, cruising to the gold medal in the 100m Breaststroke at the McCullagh International Open Meet in Northern Ireland.

The Olympic and world champion was the only swimmer to go under a minute in the heats and he improved on that time in the final, touching the wall in 58.78s.

Peaty was pushed by British teammates Ross Murdoch and James Wilby over the first 50m, but surged clear to secure the title.

Wilby won the silver medal in 59.91, while Murdoch claimed the bronze in 1:00.54.

The finals in Bangor are being raced in the morning, helping swimmers to adjust ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games.

Peaty told BBC Northern Ireland: “It was very good. It’s always harder coming in and racing in the morning, especially when you’re not used to it.

“This is the start of my prep now in a racing sense to try and nail everything – my procedure, my warm-up, how I wake up for that final in Tokyo.

“It’s only a few months now until the Olympics, so we’re looking at how we can get those extra gains.

“With two 58s… I haven’t raced long course since last year, so it’s looking good.”

Siobhan-Marie and Sarah share spoils

Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and Sarah Vasey shared the gold medal in a thrilling Women’s 100m Breaststroke final.

The Loughborough team-mates both touched the wall in 1:08.15.

Fellow Loughborough and Great Britain swimmer Molly Renshaw was fourth, just 0.05s behind bronze medallist Mona McSharry.

Willmott’s aim on target

Aimee Willmott continued her strong preparations for Tokyo, winning the Women’s 400m Individual Medley title by almost five seconds.

The two-time Olympian looked composed as she sealed the gold medal in 4:39.63 – her fastest swim since the Mar Norstrum 2019 meet in June.

Lightning Litchfield

Joe Litchfield 🔥 25.62 🥇 Men’s 50 Back 💪 It’s the women up next 🏊🏻‍♀️ #McCullagh20pic.twitter.com/CPsrsDKVnM

— Swim Ireland (@swimireland) February 21, 2020

Joe Litchfield won gold in the 50m Backstroke, clocking an impressive 25.62s.

University of Stirling’s Nick Pyle was second, while Loughborough’s Luke Greenbank was third in 26.14s.

World Championships medallist Greenbank will return to the pool for his more favoured 100m and 200m Backstroke events.

Ed pushes Litchfield to the Max

Joe’s brother Max Litchfield also topped the podium, winning gold in the Men’s 200m Butterfly.

Loughborough’s Olympian held off a fast-finishing Ed Mildred, of Northampton SC, clocking 1:59.53.

Mildred was the only other swimmer to go below two minutes, claiming the silver medal in 1:59.97, shortly after racing in the 100m Freestyle final.