Hannah Russell breaks British record at Summer Champs in Sheffield

Hannah Russell underlined her form in the run-up to Rio 2016 with a British record at the 2016 British Summer Championships in Sheffield.

The S12 visually impaired swimmer snapped a 100m Freestyle PB on day three of the Champs, winning MC gold in 58.94.

It was the first time the 19-year old had ducked under the 59 second mark. Her previous best was a 59.26 effort, swimming up in class for S13 silver at last year’s IPC World Championships in Glasgow.

The City of Manchester Aquatics swimmer has gone from strength to strength since landing silver and bronze on her Paralympic debut at London 2012.

She won world gold for 100m Backstroke in 2013, European gold in the same event in 2014, and world gold for 50m Freestyle in Glasgow last year. She also defended her European S12 100m Back crown in Portugal earlier this season.

While Russell’s time puts her just 0.01 seconds behind Russia’s Darya Stukalova in this year’s S12 world rankings, a lack of depth in the S12 class means both will have to take on less visually impaired S13 swimmers in Rio.

Ukraine’s Anna Stetsenko will be the one to beat in Rio, having won gold at last year’s Worlds and this year’s European Championships.

Jon Fox continues form into 100m Free

While Russell won the women’s MC title in Sheffield, the men’s crown went to a resurgent Jonathan Fox.

Having broken his own three-year old S7 100m Backstroke world record the previous night, the City of Manchester Aquatics swimmer is riding high on confidence.

And he clocked his fastest 100m Free time for two years to claim his second MC title, touching in 1:03.49.

• Click here to view results from the 2016 British Summer Championships in Sheffield.