Freya Anderson celebrates birthday with British title

Freya Anderson celebrated her 17th birthday in style with 100m Freestyle gold at the British Swimming Championships in Edinburgh.

Anderson, who is part of Team England’s Commonwealth Games squad, defended her title and also qualified for the European Junior Championships in Finland later this this year.

Her time of 55.91 was 0.18 seconds inside the qualification time for the event, which takes place in Helsinki in July.

The teenager was pushed close by a couple of Scottish rivals. Lucy Hope was 0.04 seconds behind Anderson as she took silver in 55.95, with Katie Stark third in 56.12.

“It was very close,” said the Ellesmere College Titans swimmer, who is World Junior champion over 100m Free.

“I know I have to come back quite strong because I do not go out too fast so I had to put everything into the last 25m really. All the juniors winning here has inspired me.”

While Anderson won gold, the fastest time of the event was recorded by City of Sheffield’s Eleanor Faulkner.

Faulkner, who will be one of Anderson’s England teammates in Australia, won the B final in 55.82.

Having won the 400m and 800m Free titles earlier in the meet, Jay Lelliott narrowly missed out on a hat-trick of gold medals as he settled for bronze in the 200m Freestyle.

Scotland’s Stephen Milne won the British title in 1:14.73, with Bath University’s Cameron Kurle taking silver in 1:49.97. Lelliott was the third Brit home in 1:50.27.

Jacob Peters crowned British champion in 100m Fly

Poole’s Jacob Peters, also a member of Team England’s Commonwealth Games squad, was crowned British champion in the 100m Butterfly.

His time of 53.78 wasn’t quite enough to book him a qualification spot at the European Junior Championships – he was 0.12 seconds outside the required time.

But with his Commonwealth debut little over a month away, Peters admitted he was delighted with his form this close to the Games.

“I’m really happy with that – it’s quite good,” said Peters. “I’m trying to stay positive and actions speak louder than words. I’ve really enjoyed it – its been a great experience.”

Meanwhile, City of Leeds teenager Leah Crisp won her first British senior title in the 1500m Freestyle.

The 16-year-old was six seconds outside the qualification time for the European Junior Championships but clocked a personal best of 17:03.47 to take the gold medal.

Stockport’s Alisha Hawkins took silver in 17:15.20 with City of Leicester’s Michella Glenister third in 17:20.27.

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