Butterfly triple crown for Gammon and Clark lowers British record

Joshua Gammon secured the triple crown of butterfly titles and Imogen Clark broke her own British record on day three of the National Winter Championships.

The journey to the triple crown began on the opening day for Gammon, as he beat the defending champion of the Open 100m Butterfly, Jamie Ingram.

It was Ingram who was again denied a win by the 20-year-old’s butterfly brilliance which saw him add the 50m gold to his 200m and 100m successes.

Setting the third fastest ever time in British history, the Bath University swimmer touched the wall in 22.55 in the final.

City of Manchester’s Ingram settled for silver with his time of 23.00 and there was a bronze medal for Chelsea and Westminster’s Bryan Leong (23.70), which meant the standings were identical to the 100m event.

The senior final saw City of Sheffield’s Aaron Fox take three one hundredths of a second off his personal best to win.

The fight for second and third could not have been closer. Harry Robinson was 0.01 faster, meaning he was the next to finish.

Chelsea and Westminster made another podium appearance courtesy of Jason Mahmutoglu (24.20) in third.

The theme of close finishes began in the junior final, as Maddox Roberts got the better of Abduljabar Adama at the finish.

Witham Dolphins swimmer, Roberts, finished in 24.25 – which was 0.04 ahead.

Cameron Jamieson, who had to earn his place in the junior final via a swim off, swam a wonderful race to secure a place in the top three. He came third in 24.67.

Record-breaking swim from Clark

Imogen Clark pointed to the crowd after realising she had lowered her own British record in the Female Open 50m Breaststroke.

Her previous best stood at 29.30 and was set at last year’s World Short Course Championships in Melbourne.

The Derby Excel swimmer went 29.17 in Sheffield – an improvement of 0.13 on the British record. She was awarded the gold medal and the Edna May trophy.

Loughborough University 18-year-old talent, Sienna Robinson, swam a strong race of her own to earn the silver medal in 30.61.

She finished ahead of Birmingham University’s Lucy Cannavan (31.09) who took home the bronze.

Jana Spinner added to her Female Senior 100m Freestyle final win by finishing on top yet again.

A time of 31.60 was enough to seal the victory ahead of Surrey University’s Alicia Pollard (31.92) in second and Romford Town’s Jessica Ayling (32.06) in third.

In the junior final, Jasmine Carter of Basildon Phoenix put on an impressive performance to take the win.

The 14-year-old went under 32 seconds for the first time ever, sneaking in at 31.99. Woking’s Sophie King was the next to finish, followed by Team Ipswich swimmer, Beth Young, in third.

Ellard in form of his life

St Felix School swimmer William Ellard continued the form of his life as he broke his fourth British record of the National Winter Championships.

After setting two new British bests on day two, the 17-year-old replicated that on day three.

His first gold of the day came in the Open Multi-Classification (MC) 200m Freestyle, which was a heat declared winner event.

Ellard beat his own record, which stood at 1:54.11, to set the new best S14 time at 1:52.27.

Similarly to day two, his St Felix School teammate Jordan Catchpole again joined him on the podium in the silver medal position. In bronze was Norwich Swan swimmer, Timon Chapman.

Ellard’s second gold medal feat came in the Open MC 100m Butterfly, with the previous record again being held by himself.

Having set a time of 57.24 at the Swim England National County Team Championships earlier in the year, the S14 athlete went nearly one second faster this time around to clock in at 56.32.

Chapman (58.81) improved on his bronze to take silver in the butterfly event and the bronze went to Owen Garsides (1:02.26).

Whiston gets her gold

After winning both a silver and a bronze so far at the championships, Barking and Dagenham’s Brock Whiston completed her collection on day three.

The S9 swimmer took 14 seconds off her entry time as she collected 859 points to secure top spot in the Female MC 200m Individual Medley.

S14 swimmer Grace Robinson, representing City of Manchester, almost exceeded the 800 points total with 813 to secure silver. Cockermouth’s Brooklyn Hale was third with 682 points.

Earlier in the proceedings, there was also a heat declared winner event in the female races.

Winning gold for the fifth time in this competition was City of Norwich’s Jessica-Jane Applegate.

Her time of 2:07.64 resulted in a points total of 910 in the Female MC 200m Freestyle, leading to a comfortable victory.

Robinson was also amongst the medal that time around – winning silver with 719 points. The bronze medallist, with 600 points, was City of Salford’s Chiara Fellone.

Smith steals the show

Young Amalie Smith of RTW Monson stole the show in the Female Open 100m Individual Medley final.

At just 14-years-old and from out in lane seven, she powered to the wall in a time of 1:02.01.

It was the youngster who finished on top, but taking the silver medal was Bath University’s Jana Spinner (1:02.32). The bronze medal went to Guildford’s Jessica Harmer (1:02.84).

Repton’s Holly Robinson and Bath University’s Emily Morgan-Hughes went head-to-head in the senior final.

Robinson went sub 1:04 for the first time in her career as the 18-year-old topped the pile in 1:03.54.

Morgan-Hughes clocked in just 0.30 later to finish second and in third was Birmingham University’s Kirsten Powell.

In the junior final, Cockermouth’s Amber Rigg produced an astonishing swim to set a new personal best.

The 15-year-old recorded a time of 1:02.41 – which would have seen her take a centre lane in the senior final had she managed that time in the heats.

Anna Farr of Leicester Sharks and Hatfield’s Charlotte Williams finished in second and third respectively.

Breath-taking end to 1500m race

Tyler Melbourne-Smith knocked a huge nine seconds off his personal best in the Open 1500m Freestyle to win gold and take home the Horace Davenport Cup.

It was an incredible race between the 18-year-old and his Loughborough University teammate, Toby Robinson.

It looked as though Robinson was going to take the win, but Melbourne-Smith kept some in the tank to set up a breath-taking finish and touch home in a time of 14:43.77.

After 1500m, only 0.03 separated the pair, with Robinson recording a time of 14:43.80 for silver.

Stockport’s Reece Grady (14:58.95) was the bronze medallist, which made it the same top three as the 800m Freestyle event on the opening day of the competition.

Winning ways for Winchester’s Mahendrakumar

The winner of the Fred Collier Memorial trophy was Winchester’s Pravin Mahendrakumar after his gold medal-winning display in the Open 100m Breaststroke final.

The 20-year-old managed a time of 59.33, with City of Norwich swimmer Olivier Vedrenne (59.56) the only other athlete to go under the one minute mark.

With silver going to Vedrenne, it was between Samuel Neeld and Max Morgan for the final medal place.

Birmingham University’s Neeld (1:00.13) narrowly beat Morgan to the touch to be awarded the bronze.

Despite just missing out on a medal, it was a performance that Morgan won’t forget. The 15-year-old set a new British junior record after his time of 1:00.19.

In the senior final, just 0.16 was the difference between first and third as the top three battled it out.

Chesterfield’s Jack Blair took the spoils in a time of 1:00.76 to claim gold. He was followed by Poole’s Oliver Jones (1:00.81) for silver and City of Sheffield’s Ryan Griffiths (1:00.92) in third.

The junior final was just as close to call, with six hundredths of a second between the top two at the finish.

Bracknell’s Oliver Munn got the win inside 1:01.36 and Mount Kelly’s Joshua Inglis was the closest challenger.

The two 16-year-old’s took their places on the podium and joining them was 15-year-old City of Liverpool swimmer, Joseph Ashley, who finished in 1:02.79.

Wood wins 200m Freestyle

Abbie Wood made it two golds in two days after clinching her first in the Female Open 200m Individual Medley final.

This time around it was a dominant display in the Female Open 200m Freestyle event.

Wood achieved a time of 1:54.71 and was awarded the Pragnell Memorial trophy alongside her gold medal.

Derby Excel’s Georgina Pryor did her best to stick with Wood, but the Loughborough PC swimmer finished strongly.

Pryor took silver in a time of 1:56.66 and completing the podium was Bath University’s Jemima Hall (1:56.75).

Mount Kelly’s Erin Little was a few lengths clear of the remainder of the field in the senior final as she clocked another massive personal best.

Her time of 1:58.26 was more than two seconds clear of her nearest rival, Maisie Gilford (2:00.34) of Bath University. City of Manchester’s Henrietta D’Ammassa was the third placed finisher.

Repton’s Jessica Smelt swam a new personal best of 1:59.76 in the junior final.

The 16-year-old claimed the top spot, with Lillie Grover edging Annabelle Compton to second place.

Sensational swim from Litchfield

There was plenty of appreciation around Ponds Forge for Joe Litchfield’s sensational swim in the Open 200m Freestyle final.

The Loughborough PC swimmer led the race from start to finish and looked in control throughout.

His gold medal-winning time was 1:43.11 and he was also presented with the GH Rope trophy.

Loughborough University swimmers Calvin Fry and Reuben Rowbotham Keating ensured that all the medals were heading to the East Midlands as they claimed silver and bronze respectively.

Meanwhile, their teammates William Bell and Samuel Tucker faced off in the senior final.

Bell (1:47.84) touched the wall marginally ahead of Tucker (1:47.99) to claim the bragging rights as well as the win. In third was Chelsea and Westminster’s Aryaan Din.

Jonathan Turck of Mount Kelly was cheered on from the stands as he produced a brilliant final 25 metres to clinch the victory in the junior final.

He clocked in at exactly 1:48.00 and was followed firstly by Jake Hutchinson of Leicester Sharks and then Skipton’s Jack Jenkinson.

Despite finishing outside of the top three, Camden Swiss swimmer Llewellyn Porter recorded the fourth fastest time ever for a British 15-year-old.

Super Sam takes gold

Super Sam Greenbank charged out in front in the Open 200m Backstroke final.

The City of Sheffield swimmer won by almost four seconds and got his hands on the gold medal and the J T Hincks trophy.

He stopped the clock at 1:54.03, but the battle for the silver medal was a fierce one.

Mount Kelly’s Hubert Gdaniec (1:57.53) beat City of Manchester’s Toby Hill, who had to settle for bronze, by 0.05.

The senior final saw victory for West Norfolk’s Nathan Wells in 2:00.84.

Following on from a PB in the Open Senior 400m Individual Medley on day two, Loughborough University’s Moritz Baumgartner earned a second place finish on this occasion.

Behind him and rounding out the top three was Derby Excel’s Ethan Lawton in third.

In the junior final, Stockport’s Finlay Pope (1:58.07) was pushed all the way by Fergus Thomson (1:58.48).

However, Pope was able to gain a slight advantage which enabled him to reach out ahead of the Mount Kelly swimmer to seal the win.

A time of 2:01.37 saw Thurrock’s Nikita Charykin finish third.

Betsy beats butterfly rivals

The session ended on a high, as the Female 200m Butterfly finals closed out day three of the championships.

Northampton’s Betsy Wizard knocked 1.4 seconds off her personal best as she won the S R Drinkwater trophy and the gold medal.

She finished in a time of 2:07.20 and joining her, going under 2:10 for the first time in this event, was Freya Colbert (2:08.03) to take silver.

Bath University’s Ekaterina Price filled the final podium place.

City of Coventry’s Megan Davies recorded her fastest ever time of 2:16.00 on her way to winning the senior final.

Featuring alongside the 18-year-old in the top three was City of Milton Keynes swimmer Poppy Baybutt in second and Rotherham’s Madison Johnson in third.

The junior final went the way of Derby Excel’s Eja Coe. A solid swim saw her take the win in 2:14.50.

In second place was Wirral Metro’s Abbie Roscoe and in third was Repton’s Eleanor Broughton.

You can find all the results from day three of the GoCardless Swim England National Winter Championships 2023 here.

Images: Will Johnston Photography