Breaststroke veteran Renshaw storms to victory at National Winter Champs

Olympian and breaststroke veteran Molly Renshaw took the Women’s 100m Breaststroke by storm at the Swim England National Winter Championships, stopping the clock at 1:05.07 to take the gold medal.

That time is just 0.34 off her own British Record of 1:04.73 which she set in November 2020 while competing in Budapest, Hungary.

Speaking on her performance, Renshaw said: “I’m pretty happy [with the time]. I think this morning was a chance to get in and blow the cobwebs away and then tonight I wanted to come back in a little bit fresher and just execute my race plan.

“I swam it a bit different this morning, I went out a little bit faster but then I paid for it in the back 50 so tonight was just about balancing things.
“It was about a second and a half quicker than this morning so quite a big improvement. I’ve got the day off tomorrow and then I’ve got the 200 Breaststroke on Sunday.

“I’m looking forward to it, I think I’ve definitely been doing a little bit more sprint training since I’ve been back in the water but my back 50 on my 100 was really good then so that’s a bit of confidence going into Sunday. If I can win that then I’ll be really happy.”

Second to Renshaw was Hamilton Aquatics’ Molly Mayne who won a commemorative silver in the open race with her time of 1:06.91.

Two swimmers tied for the silver medal in a time of 1:07.33 – Sienna Robinson (Co Sheffield) and Hazal Ozkan (Mount Kelly).

In the Junior event, Sienna Robinson took gold with her time of 1:07.33 while Molly Mayne took the commemorative gold medal.

Sophie King won silver in a time of 1:09.35 and the Junior bronze medal went to Leah Schlosshan of County Leeds in 1:09.53.

Peters in a league of his own

Olympian and Bath National Centre swimmer Jacob Peters almost dipped under the 50-second mark in the Men’s 100m Butterfly with a time of 50.20.

The 21-year-old was 0.75 of a second ahead of his nearest competitor who came in the form of Jamie Ingram (Co Manchester Aquatics) in 51.05. Bath University swimmer Joshua Gammon came third with a time of 52.39.

In the Junior equivalent, Reuben Rowbotham-Keating touched in first with a time of 54.10, taking 0.5 off his time from the heats.

Silver went to Nicholas Finch of Chelsea & West (54.25) while Solomon Williams (Millfield) won bronze in 54.86.

Large flies to a win

Bath National Centre’s Emily Large came out victorious in the Women’s 200m Butterfly with a time of 2:07.88.

The 20-year-old took more than two seconds off her morning swim time of 2:10.03 and was seeded first heading in the final.

Betsy Wizard kept the pace with Large and finished less than a second behind her in 2:08.74, while the bronze medal went to Isabelle Goodwin in 2:09.69.

Wycombe District’s Lucy Fox made it a definitive win in the Junior event as she swam a superb race to stop the clock in 2:13.47.

Ashleigh Baillie was second in 2:15.27 and Bark & Dagen’s Erika Pasakinskaite won bronze with a time of 2:16.25.

To view the full results, click here.