Nation's finest shine at Aquatics GB Swimming Championships

Records and World Championship places were up for grabs as Great Britain’s finest served up six days of sensational racing at the London Aquatics Centre for the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.

The biggest domestic meet of the year welcomed around 1000 swimmers and para swimmers to the nation’s capital as athletes such as James Guy, Poppy Maskill and Ben Proud all took gold as the latest Olympic and Paralympic cycle kicked in to gear.

One of those that was back on top form was University of Birmingham’s Ollie Morgan, who tripled up on the men’s backstroke titles for the third year running.

He did it with his best performances yet, breaking his own British record in the 100m final and hitting new personal bests in both the 50m and 200m events.

It started with the 100m record breaking effort where he knocked more than half-a-second off his previous best. Leading from the off, Morgan went and asserted his dominance in the final 25m’s, surging home to touch in a time of 52.12 and 0.58 faster than the time he set last year.

That result assured him of his place at the World Championships in Singapore even before he sprinted to the 50m crown just 24 hours later. A new personal best of 24.43 got the job done for him in ‘splash and dash’ event with Jonathon Marshall following him into the wall for second in both distances.

Morgan rounded off his week with the 200m gold on the final night, going almost two seconds below the requirement mark for the World Championships with a lifetime best of 1:55.55. Tokyo Olympic medallist Luke Greenbank was also under that mark for Singapore to take silver giving him a good chance of getting a place on the plane later this summer.

Speaking on his successful week, Morgan told Aquatics GB: “The head was a bit sore after that!

“The TV producer just said I’m the only person he’s ever seen sit down in a medal ceremony, the legs were pretty sore!

“The way everyone else is going in Britain in backstroke, it’s really special. It was the fastest 100m field we’ve ever had in Britain on Thursday, so again, it’s pushing the limit and it’s really nice to see everyone putting in a big shift, especially when it comes to relays when you get to a Worlds and Olympics. It’s good to see, and I’m super happy with it all.”

Evans hits British best and Guy at the double

Also celebrating a British record was Angharad Evans as she continued her impressive rise in the sport.

The 21-year-old broke the British best in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke to qualify for her first Olympics last year and she lowered it again this time around.

The result rounded off her week on the final night of action as she put together a really strong back end to touch the wall in 1:05.37, two tenths inside her previous best.

It gave the University of Stirling swimmer her second gold of the meet after doubling up with the 200m Breaststroke title earlier in the week.

“This seems to be a very special pool for me, either very lucky or something is working in Stirling! Either way, it’s such an honour to be crowned British champion two years in a row,” Evans said.

“I have the 200m to add to the collection as well this time, and to break a British record in April is just such a good start to the season and we’re barely halfway through to Singapore,”

The highlight of the final night however had to be the thrilling Men’s 200m Freestyle clash where James Guy tied with Duncan Scott for gold in the final race of the Championships.

After four lengths there was nothing to separate two of the biggest names in British swimming as they overcame fellow Olympic champion Matt Richards’ early advantage to share the gold.

The two teammates, who have both been a part of Team GB’s back-to-back 4x200m Freestyle Olympic golds reflected with a smile afterwards as the two friends shared the podium together.

“I’ve never, ever tied for a win before!” Guy said.

“To go like that with Duncan, we were in the call room before showing each other what songs we were listening to – it’s that kind of relationship where we walk to the pool together, we compete against each other, have dinner together, have breakfast together.

“We’ve been chatting all week like it’s a little holiday, it’s been quite nice, so to do that at the end of the week and go head-to-head like that is great. It’s always good fun. For that minute and a half of hell, we want to win, and that’s the beauty of it.

“The relay looks good. For April, that final, that’s pretty good, so it’s looking good for the summer. I’m off next week, going to Mallorca with my fiancée, checking out the wedding venue – I think she wants some wedding time now. It’s been swimming all week, now it’s that time!”

Guy’s 200m gold was his third medal of the week after a bronze in the 200m butterfly and a gold on his return to the 400m freestyle event.

It was the Millfield swimmers first British title in the 400m since 2017 as it made a triumphant return to his programme in 2025. He took the race out hard and managed to hold on in the back end ahead of Tyler Melbourne-Smith and Jack McMillan.

Para swimmers continue fine form

Great Britain’s para swimmers continued their fine form at the meet with the nation’s Paralympic heroes from Paris impressing in London.

That included ParalympicsGB’s most decorated athlete from the Games in Poppy Maskill who added another host of medals to her name in the capital.

Starting with the Women’s MC 200m Freestyle, Maskill surged down the final 50m’s to edge out Louise Fiddes by just 0.05s as the pair dipped inside the 2:08.55 World Championship qualifying time.

Maskill added another gold in the MC 100m Backstroke where she lined up alongside her friend and rival Georgia Sheffield in the centre lanes.

Sheffield took the early lead and was nearly half-a-second up at the turn, only for the five-time Paralympic medallist to overcome the defect over the final lap and take the British crown in 1:05.67.

Will Ellard equalled his world record in the S14 100m Freestyle with a time of 51.07. That effort matched the mark he posted at the 2024 World Para Swimming Series stop in Berlin last May as he prepared for the Paris Paralympics.

That added the icing on the cake to a week where he earnt two golds and a silver across the six days. The Norwich Swan athlete took both the MC 100m Butterfly and 200m Freestyle titles as well as a silver medal in the 100m Backstroke.

He was runner-up behind a European record setting Mark Tompsett with a huge time of 58.28.

That effort dropped half-a-second from his morning swim – also a European record and inside his classification’s requirement for the Para Swimming World Championships, also in Singapore. Ellard was just behind for silver, with Louis Lawlor rounding out the top three.

“Oh I feel amazing – I did it in the morning which was a big shock as I didn’t think I could do it, but coming into the final I knew I already had the time to be in for selection on the team but to to go out and smash it again was amazing really,” said Mark.

“My coach just said to go out with the same speed as this morning, and then to just focus the last few meters keeping the head back and stroke rate high – which I tried to do and it kind of worked so very happy. I’ll keep trying to work on that time even more and giving my competition in Singapore something to think about.”

Proud’s sprint masterclass

Ben Proud provided another sprint masterclass to defend his Men’s 50m Freestyle crown.

In the fastest race of the meet, Proud made the rare walk to lane five for the 50m Freestyle final after a brilliant heats effort by 17-year-old Jacob Mills. But in the finals environment, Proud showed his class, coming up first after a strong start and never relinquishing his lead, going two tenths inside the 21.88 World Championship requirement to take the gold.

“I wanted to come into this week and race, and that was exactly it. I had to go up against a new one next to me who was excited, but I know this event very well, I know myself and I knew I just needed to squeeze just a little bit more out considering the time of the year,” he said.

Proud also came away with the 50m butterfly title to make it two from two after his time in London.

Greg Butler and Ed Mildred secured their tickets to Singapore in the Men’s Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay.

The duo impressed securing the 100m breaststroke and butterfly titles respectively to join Morgan and Richards as part of the team later this summer.

For Butler, it was his first gold in the event as he held off teenage duo Max Morgan and Filip Nowacki by breaking the minute mark for the first time.

He stopped the clock in 59.93 and was embraced by his old training partner and 2024 champion Adam Peaty who is currently taking a break from competition.

Mildred meanwhile upgraded 200m butterfly silver to 100m gold in a time of 51.80. He clocked a new personal best in the heats and held firm as the field closed in over the final 10m to take the win, ahead of Jack Brown in silver and bronze medallist Jacob Peters.

Abbie Wood set an eye-catching personal best in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley. Wood’s time of 2:08.85 secured her place in that event for July’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, having already done so over twice the distance earlier in the meet.

“I think I’m at that point in my career where I’m just really enjoying swimming again and it’s really reflecting in the pool. It’s not a chore going to training everyday, I’m really enjoying it and I think it shows when I race. I’m relaxed, there’s no pressure on myself anymore because anything I do now is a bonus, so I can’t complain with a few PBs!” said Wood.

Elsewhere, Freya Colbert booked her spot on the team in July with a perfectly timed swim in the Women’s 200m Freestyle.

She clocked a new personal best of 1:55.76 – just outside Joanne Jackson’s 16-year-old British record to move steadily clear of the field to claim the title.

And Reece Grady took his first-ever British title with an impressive swim in the Men’s 1500m Freestyle where he led from the front.

Keep an eye on channels later this week for a closer look at how some of the junior athletes got on in London.

You can watch back the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships action online throughout on YouTubeor via BBC iPlayer. Full results are also available here.