More than 30 national titles awarded as Summer Meet ends in style

It was a thrilling finale to the Swim England National Summer Meet 2023 as 31 new national champions were crowned on a exciting evening at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.

The action got underway with the Men’s 200m Backstroke where the City of Birmingham won two gold medal to kick off the evening.

First to top the podium for the club was 15 year old Joseph Box who won with a time 2:12.02. Commemorative Silver was awarded to Kanish Chakraborty of the United Arab Emirates with a time of 2:14:47.

Close behind was Zak Sherrif winning himself the national silver after a swim of 2:12:74. Oliver Davis-Tootill picks himself up a national bronze after recording a time of 2:13.64.

Birmingham’s next gold came in the 17 years age group as Cameron Wrapson recorded the first sub two minute ten seconds time. He swam an incredible 2:09.14.

Winning a commemorative silver Will Sellers of the Cayman Islands. His 2:11.82 was enough to see him beat Jago Derrington representing Bishop Stortford. He also swam an impressive 2:13.30 to claim national silver.

Picking up the national bronze though was Ben Farquahr-Smith, finishing just two seconds behind Derrington with a 2:15:46.

Starting off the finals with a win was Stockport’s Khodaverdi in the 13/14 year olds swim. His 2:11:89 was fast enough for him to take the win. This was also a massive improvement for Khodaverdi’s personal best.

The silver in this age group was won by 13 year old Austyn Manley. Manley also broke his personal best with a time of 2:13:75. But he wasn’t the only one, Wilfred Leigh also recorded a new time of 2:13:79.

The 16 year old boys also produced an impressive array of time. Laurel Roberts-Burrel snatched the gold with a time of 2:11:65. Not too far behind in second was Benjamin Guthrie who was so close to breaking the 2:12:00 barrier. His time of 2:12:01 guaranteed his silver medal.

Third place was Lachlan Beazley with a personal best of 2:12:14.

Leading the charge of the 18 years and over final was Australian Matthew Magnussen who came up just short of the two minute mark with a time of 2:00:60.

With Magnussen taking commemorative gold, National gold was won by Charlie Broom of Leeds. His time of 2:05:72 meant he put quite the gap between him and second place Fabian Brudnicki.

Brudnicki swam a 2:10:63 whereas national bronze winner Joseph Martin 2:10:98.

Lovell and Horton take gold from lane two

An impressive swim from 200m Breaststroke champion Clementine Lovell saw the Team Ipswich athlete win the Women’s 14 Years 400m Individual Medley Final.

Swimming from lane two she used her preferred stroke to her advantage to take a six second lead as she entered the final 100m’s.

Evelyn Hallissey and Lilli-Rose Carr battled back to put the pressure on Lovell in the closing stages but she held on to win by 0.75.

It knocked ten seconds off Lovell’s previous best time with Newcastle’s Hallissey (5:12.80) and City of Lincoln’s Carr (5:14.09) completing the podium.

Another win from lane two followed as Lilly Horton won gold for Wirral Metro in the 16 Years race.

Horton set a new personal best time by six seconds as she completed the swim in a time of 5:12.35.

She finished almost two seconds ahead of the rest of the field with two stunning comeback swims from Lilia Fornasier and Annie McLeod saw them round out the top three.

The pair came from fifth and sixth place with just 75m’s to swim as RTW Monson’s Fornasier took silver in a time of 5:14.11.

Putteridge’s McLeod was just 0.23 behind to win bronze.

Jasmine Hall set a new personal best time by almost six seconds to become the Women’s 12-13 Years 400m Individual Medley champion.

The win made it Hall’s second gold and third medal of the week as she ended her time at Ponds Forge on a high.

She was part of a group of four swimmers that pulled away from the rest of the field during the first half of the race.

Hall, Mei Yuassa, Chloe Grosvenor and Iris Hurst started strongly and never looked back as they led the pack from the off.

It was Hall and Yuassa who kicked on and away from the group in the closing stages but the Basildon Phoenix swimmer had enough in the tank to hold off her challengers and secure the title.

Hall’s time was a 5:13.50 with City of Leeds’ Yuassa close behind with a 5:14.05.

Grosvenor impressed throughout the race to claim her first medal of the competition with bronze. The City of Birmingham swimmer finished in a time of 5:17.12.

A lifetime best by 12 seconds saw Isabella Hoare lift the Women’s 16 Years 400m Individual Medley crown.

Her time of a 5:09.55 saw the Wyre Forest swimmer finish almost two seconds ahead of her closest rival.

In second place, Chloe Ridge set an impressive new best of her own as she took five seconds off her old record.

She completed the feat in 5:11.27 with Corby’s Lilly Tappern winning bronze as we saw three brand new Summer Meet medallists from the event.

Jodie Dilks put in a dominant display, as she became the 17 Years and over champion.

She took the title by knocking five seconds off her personal best to win her second national title in as many days.

Her time was nearly two seconds quicker than national silver medallist Madison Johnson of Rotherham Metro.

Johnson swam well to set a 5:05.00 just ahead of City of Bristol’s Lara Turner who won bronze (5:05.34).

Queensland’s Lucy Dring put clear water behind her to win Commemorative gold in a stunning time of 4:49.41.

Hardy-Bishop wins her fourth medal

Our final para-swimming event of this years’ Championships was the Women’s Multi Classification 100m Backstroke where Jersey’s Rebecca Hardy-Bishop came out on top.

The S13 swimmer took two seconds off her previous best time clocking in at 1:23.41 to earn 465 points.

Isabella Haynes was fastest across the water for second with a time of 1:21.72 giving her 456 points.

Stockport Metro’s Tylia Glynn was just 10 points further back to win bronze after she set a 1:26.24.

Adrian Ting shatters personal best to win gold

Getting the 50m Butterfly finals off to a bang was  Ethan Soppett-Moss who went head-to-head with the UAE’s Zain Salah. The pair were just shy of the 26 second mark as they set the same time of a 26.07.

Both swimmer will take home gold however with Salah winning commemorative gold and national gold going to Soppett-Moss.

Following in after for national silver was Jenson Owen who swam an incredible 26.48. And the national bronze went to Monty Smith for his time of 26.64.

The heat after was won by Henry Dean who swam a 26.06, with Ewan Cox just on his tail after recording a 26.25

Bronze was won by Matthew Clark of Eastbourne who also swam an impressive 26.36.

Following in the footsteps of the first final, the 16 year old age group also had a joint time. Ben Gooch was allowed to enjoy his Gold Medal with a time of 25.98. However, Sean Smith and Thomas Parrot were forced to share a silver after touching the board at the same time.

Both boys were able to swim an incredible 26.42.

Maximus Leigh was the winner of the 17 year old boys final, swimming a personal best of 25.44.

Picking up second place was Maddox Roberts finishing just two tenths of a second after Leigh. Just missing out the 26 second mark was Lewis Hawden. His time of 26.04 secured him the well deserved bronze.

The 18 years and over heat the national medals were won by Adrian Ting, Charlie Broome and Alec White.

Ting was the first one to go below 25 seconds with a time of 24.17. Followed by Broome who just managed a 24.98. Finally Alec White of Exeter took the national Bronze with an excellent time of 25.29.

Australians Jack Carr and James Bayliss led the field however. Carr swam the exact same time as his heat qualifying which was an incredible 23.97. Bayliss was also not far off his time with a 24.41. They won commemorative gold and silver.

Deane wins race to the wall

Liberty Jones of Taunton Deane beat out Alexander Nuney in the race to the wall to start the Women’s 50m Butterfly Finals.

Jones broke her personal best by a quarter of a second to defeat the Hatfield swimmer by just 0.06.

City of Leeds’ Elizabeth Warner won her third medal of the week with bronze. She set a time of 29.78.

An incredible swim from Delilah Martin gave her a third medal of the week and a second gold in the 14 Years final.

She clocked in a time of 28.66, which was more than a second faster than the rest of the field.

Just a quarter of a second separated second to fourth as Harriet Stone narrowly missed out on a medal.

It was Ella Faulkner and Victoria Hudson who got to step on to the podium after the pair swam strongly for silver and bronze respectively.

They both made it under the 30-second mark with Faulkner finishing in 29.73 and Hudson in 29.78.

Millie Harris knocked three quarters of a second of her best time to win gold in the ‘splash and dash’ race.

She was the only swimmer to clock in under 29 seconds in the 15 Years final with a time of 28.74.

Ilana Nightingale-Ellis won the first medal from the outside lanes of the evening as she claimed her third medal of the week.

It was her second silver to add to the gold that she had already won throughout the five days in Sheffield.

Finishing third was Northumberland and Durham’s Katie Blunt (29.29).

A season’s best performance from Halle Harris took Poole to the top step of the podium in the 16 Years Women’s 50m Butterfly.

Harris’ time was a 28.16 which was almost a second quicker than her nearest rival.

Evie O’Halleron-Hutchinson from Northumberland and Durham just won out the race for silver by 0.05.

She finished just ahead of Crawley’s Reza Westerduin who set a fantastic time of 29.08 for bronze.

Beth Hall became national champion in the 17 Years and over event.

Hall of Mount Kelly narrowly missed out on the 27 second mark after setting a scintillating time of 28.09.

Amy West of Stockport Metro won national silver in a time of 28.21 as Mae Singer took the bronze back to Gloucester thanks to a time of 28.52.

A lifetime best by half a second for Queensland swimmer Pheobe Bentley saw her win commemorative gold.

400m Freestyle brings an end to the Men’s finals

The last Men’s final of this National Summer Meet was the 400m Freestyle. The 13-14 year old age group started it all off with Monty Smith winning the gold medal. Smith, who already won his bronze medal in the 50m fly, now had a gold thanks to a time of 4:16:65.

Second place was won with a time of 4:17:26 by Dylan Madican, followed closely by Lucas Bryant with 4:17:34.

Up next was Max El-Mokadem who swam a comfortable 2:13:00, leaving a five second gap between himself and second place Marcus Haigh.

Silver Medalist Haigh contributed a 4:18:68 time. He was just ahead of bronze medal winner Matthew Lother’s time of 4:19:06.

Portsmouth’s Adam McCaughley-Wright was the next gold medal winner. His effort of 4:13:06 secured him top spot in the 16 year old age group. Silver was awarded to Damien Batchelor finishing just a second after McCaughley-Wright in 4:14:04.

Luke Moore was the next to finish with an impressive personal best, 4:14:99, securing his bronze medal.

The penultimate race of the last men’s final, was won by Reece Blackett of Newcastle. His impressive swim of 4:05:14 was more than enough to take home his gold medal. George Pearsen finished just behind Blackett, with the time 4:06:11.

George Moore was there to take the bronze though after he swam an equally impressive 4:12:10.

Finally the men’s 18 year and over age had the most impressive swim of the night. James Koch of Australia, put in a terrific effort to beat an already impressive personal best. His time was 3:52:24 giving him the commemorative gold medal.

Winning the National gold though was Ethan Rayment, just one second off breaking the sub 4 minute mark, 4:01:01. Winning the national silver and representing Edinburgh university was Jude Liddiard, his time of 4:06:30 was just 2 tenths of second faster than the 4:06:56 time of Donatas Dragasius.

Heyden ends the week on top

Charlotte Heyden ended the week on top in the 14 Years Women’s 100m Backstroke Final with a lifetime best effort of 1:07.54.

She finished two tenths faster than her previous record and was the only swimmer in the race to complete the two lengths in under 1:08.00.

Lucia Lesti who won gold in the 100m event took silver for the City of Salford as Brighton’s Hannah Capron set a time of 1:08.92 for bronze.

York City Baths ended the Championships with gold medal thanks to Raya Harrand’s stunning swim.

There was no stopping Harrand who stretched away from her rivals to win gold in a time of 1:06.66.

She was more than a second ahead of Worcester’s Asha Mahanta who set a 1:07.92 for silver.

Alice Volkovaya completed the podium for the City of Salford.

Chiu Man Rachel Ho managed to touch the wall first, in what was anyone’s race in the Women’s 12-13 Years 100m Backstroke final.

She broke her personal best time by more than a second to claim her second medal of the week with a time of 1:07.77.

Lois Smith of Basildon Phoenix won silver by setting a 1:08.39 with Kate Schillinger of Winsford following closely behind clocking in at 1:08.83.

Emily Maxwell made her move in the closing stages to take gold in the 16 Years race.

She was cheered home from the stands as the Northumberland and Durham swimmer finished 1.01 faster than silver medallist Kathleen Arundell.

Arundell impressed for second with Eloise Ashman taking home the bronze. The winning time was a 1:06.89.

Amber Ranson won the final national gold of the competition. The Atlantis swimmer will have a happy trip back to Sussex thanks to her time of 1:03.86 that earnt her the title.

She finished ahead of Loughborough University’s Charley Jones who set a 1:04.84 with Ella Turner of Plymouth Leander setting a 1:05.27 for bronze.

Layla Day of Queensland won Commemorative gold, finishing just outside of a minute with a 1:00.38.

Image: Morgan Harlow