British records fall on final day of Manchester Invitation Meet

British records fell on the final day of action at the British Swimming Invitation Meet with Ellie Challis, Scott Quin, and Louis Lawlor all creating new entries for the record books.

After missing out on her 50m backstroke British record earlier in the meet, Ellie Challis was back on record-breaking form as she took down her own mark in the Women’s Multi Class 100m Freestyle.

The S3 swimmer set a new time of 1:53.01 in the event after already lowering her previous record mark of 1:55.30 in this morning’s heats (1:54.29). That mark gained her 506 multi-classification points.

On her feat, Challis said: “I went in this morning and was feeling a bit heavy in the water but I put out a great time and I knew I could go out tonight feeling a lot better, so I just put everything into play and had a good competition.

“I was really happy with my swims; my heats were a bit meh and then I went into the final and improved it – I did that all the way through the competition, improving heat to final, which was my goal.”

Glaswegian Louis Lawlor set a new S14 British record of 1:01.61 in the Men’s MC 100m Backstroke, shaving 0.10 off Jordan Catchpole’s previous mark of 1:01.71.

The final British record of the day came in the form of 2:27.83 for Paralympic silver medallist S14 swimmer Scott Quin in the Men’s Multi Class 200m Breaststroke.

That time gained him 982 multi-classification points and goes into the record books as an official S14 record mark, bettering his own previous record of 2:30.45 from 2015.

Willmott, Litchfield, Jones on form

University of Stirling swimmer Aimee Willmott opened up the final session with a definite win in the Women’s 800m Freestyle, touching in a time of 8:42.88.

Second-place Leah Crisp of Leeds touched in 8:49.66 after maintaining the pace with Willmott until the 500-metre mark. Michaella Glenister took third in 8:56.35.

A winning display from Max Litchfield saw him take the Men’s 400m Individual Medley in 4:16.74, while Brodie Williams finished behind him in 4:21.52.

National Centre Bath swimmer Jacob Greenow held off the competition to finish in third place with a time of 4:23.50.

The Women’s 100m Butterfly delivered some close races with the top three finishers breaking the one minute mark. Cardiff-born and Loughborough-based swimmer Harriet Jones won the event in 59.03 – just 0.3 ahead of Keanna Macinnes (59.33).

National Centre Bath’s Emily Large finished behind that duo to take third-place in 59.65.

The Women’s Multi Class 100m Butterfly saw Aberdeen’s Toni Shaw (S9) winning in a time of 1:10.20 and gaining 705 points in the process, while second place went to Katie Crownhurst in 1:16.21 (544 points).

Paralympian and World record-holder Stephen Clegg racked up 903 multi-classification points with his win in the Men’s 50m Butterfly. His time of 26.11 was almost a second ahead of second-place finisher and British record-holder Jordan Catchpole (27.04).

Scotland’s Jack Milne (S14) touched in third with a time of 27.71.

A stellar start and single breath in the Men’s 50m Butterfly saw Jacob Peters taking the win in that event with a time of 23.90, just under 0.20 of a second off his personal best of 23.74.

Second place went to Lewis Fraser (24.50) with third going to Evan Jones in 25.17.

Hattrick for Dawson

Scottish record holder Kathleen Dawson has put on some impressive displays so far this weekend, yesterday becoming the second Briton ever to swim under the 59-second mark in the 100m Backstroke (58.65).

The University of Stirling swimmer was on form again this evening as she took the win in the Women’s 200m Backstroke in another personal best time of 2:09.44 – completing the hattrick in the women’s backstroke events this weekend.

Splitting 1:02.65 at the 100-metre mark, the Scot lead the race from the beginning. Fellow Stirling athlete Cassie Wild came in second in a massive personal best of 2:10.93, while third went to Honey Osrin in 2:13.25.

Second place in that event went to Rhys Davies who was just off his personal best in 1:02.50.

Greenbank’s winning ways

Tokyo-bound Luke Greenbank put up another winning performance, this time in the Men’s 100m Backstroke (54.56). The National Centre Loughborough swimmer broke James Goddard’s 10-year old record in the 200m Backstroke yesterday and did the double in Manchester once again.

Joe Litchfield touched just behind him in a time of 54.88, while third went to Brodie William’s in 55.39.

A tight race in the Women’s 50m Breaststroke saw National Centre Loughborough’s Sarah Vasey coming out on top with a mark of 30.66, while Imogen Clark was behind her 30.97. An official British record was set by Paralympic silver medallist Scott Quin in the Men’s Multi-Class 200m Breaststroke, who touched in 2:27.83.

That time gained him 982 multi-classification points and goes into the record books as an official S14 record mark, bettering his own previous record of 2:30.45 from 2015.

The Men’s 200m Breaststroke saw National Centre Loughborough’s James Wilby winning the event in 2:11.24. Wilby is set to make his Olympic debut alongside teammate Luke Greenbank at this summer’s Games.

Stirling’s Ross Murdoch touched in 2:12.88 to take second place, while youngster Gregory Butler finished in this with 2:13.88.

Hopkin wins freestyle battle

Anna Hopkin got the win over Freya Anderson in the Women’s 100m Freestyle, who touched in 54.44 and 54.51, respectively. Third place finisher and Edinburgh swimmer Lucy Hope was still under the 55-second mark with her time of 54.94.

The Women’s MC 100m Freestyle was won by Northampton’s Zara Mullooly by the smallest of margins – just 0.01 of a second. 1:01.41 was just enough for Mullooly to hold off Louise Fiddes, who touched in 1:01.42. Third in this event went to Hannah Russell in a time of 1:02.29.

Plymouth Leander swimmer and multi World record holder Reece Dunn posted a time of 1:59.56 in the Men’s Multi-Class 200m Freestyle, taking the win ahead of Scotland’s Oliver Carter (2:02.89).

Dylan Broom touched in a time of 2:04.17 to become the third athlete home.

Scott on top

Duncan Scott certainly made his mark in what was a stacked field in the Men’s 200m Freestyle. He took the win in a time of 1:46.70, which is the third-fastest time in the world so far this year.

Speaking on his win in the event, Scott said: “200 Free in Britain is always good fun! I’ve been doing some race simulations at home, but to come here and race some other guys has been really good. It was just so tight and that’s what’s so good about it – head to head racing gets a bit more out of you – it’s really good looking ahead to trials and the 4×200 relay.

He added: “There’s still plenty to do and plenty to learn. Some of the times were good but I think some of the execution of skills, there’s a lot of room to improve. I’m quite happy with where I am and I’ve got a final phase now and then into taper, so I’m quite excited for the next block.”

Second place went to Tom Dean who was just 0.05 behind the Scotsman (1:46.75) and just 0.7 off his personal best in that event. Dean told British Swimming after the event: “I just wanted to come here and move it on from the Manchester International – that was the main aim. I had a bit of a shaky start to the three days in that 400, feeling a bit tired from training, but to finish off with that is good.

“GB 200 free is just a stacked event and it’s always going to be an exciting race when you’ve got eight top guys going head to head – that only bodes well for trials in a months’ time.”

Third-place finisher in that event was Olympic silver medallist James Guy (1:47.47), who gave an impressive fight from the outside of the pool.

The penultimate event of the session saw Scotland’s Abby Kane taking the win in the Women’s Multi-Class 200m Individual Medley (2:45.36, 630 points).

British and World record holder Maisie Summers-Newton was next to the wall in a time of 3:00.09 (953), while Paralympic hopeful Grace Harvey followed just behind in 3:02.46 (916 points).

The competition was rounded off with the Women’s 200m Individual Medley, which saw a tight battle between winner Candice Hall (2:15.12) and second place Lily Booker (2:15.41).

The Loughborough and Milfield swimmers were followed closely by Scottish youngster Katie Shanahan, who touched in 2:16.40.