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Enthralling final session as swimmers battled for remaining national titles

Enthralling final session as swimmers battled for remaining national titles

August 9, 2022

The final session of the Speedo National Summer Meet was an enthralling one as swimmers battled it out for the remaining national titles.

Throughout the course of the event, 287 clubs were in action as more than 1,000 swimmers hoped to achieve medal glory.

As for finals, there were 156 of those with 25 taking place in the last session of the competition.

Ellis makes it a trio of Backstroke medals

William Ellis got his third Backstroke medal at the Speedo Summer Meet with victory in the Men’s 18 Years and over 200m Backstroke final.

He did it in some style, setting a new lifetime best from lane one with a time of 2:07.71 to give him the title by 1.40 seconds.

The Northumberland and Durham swimmer led from the off and pulled clear in the end to take the gold medal ahead of City of Lincoln’s Ethan Riches.

Riches set a new personal best of his own in second with a 2:09.11 as the home club, City of Sheffield, won bronze through Adam Wilson (2:09.24).

Plymouth Leander took the first gold of the final session as Tain Phillips came from behind to beat Aquiles Bello in the race to the wall in the 13/14 Years final.

The pair were neck and neck throughout the race but it was Phillips who left just enough in the tank to edge ahead in the closing metres.

Phillips’ time was a 2:15.48 with Bello just 0.17 behind for Elmbridge. Nicholas Land was the best of the rest as he won the bronze medal for Newcastle, setting a time of 2:18.40.

A new personal best for City of Cambridge’s Ryan Wall earned him gold in the 15 Years event.

Wall was second fastest in the heats behind his club mate Edward Ormsby but was able to improve his time by more than two seconds to set a 2:14.46 to take the top spot.

Tadcaster’s Jacob Brown finished second after leading at the halfway stage to set an impressive time of 2:15.28, with Ornsby just behind to make it a double podium for Cambridge.

In the 16 Years final, it was Joshua Hansen of Gloucester who took home the title in a time of 2:12.26.

Hansen had a clear lead at the halfway stage and held on well to cope with the pressure from Newcastle’s Matthew Mahoney from behind.

The Gloucester swimmer ended up 1.33 ahead of the Newcastle swimmer in the end as Mahoney added to his 100m Backstroke gold with silver in this event.

Bromley’s Noah Oladele-Ajose won the bronze medal with an impressive time of 2:14.34.

It was an unpredictable 17 Years event as Luke Clegg powered through in the final 50m’s to claim the crown.

It was Beckenham’s James Cleaver who started off strongly, storming into an early lead before Chase’s Oliver Chaddick came to the front at the halfway stage.

Chaddick remained in the fight for gold but was overtaken by Epsom District’s Daniel Fallon with 50m’s to go before Clegg stormed through the pack to take the win.

Borough of Kirkless swimmer Clegg ended with a time of 2:11.51, with Chaddick adding to his 100m and 200m Breaststroke bronze with silver in a time of 2:12.33.

Fallon had to settle for bronze despite a strong showing, finishing in 2:12.48.

Sell seals golden hat-trick

City of Bristol’s Martha Sell stepped on the accelerator down the final 25m to clinch the Women’s 16 Years 200 Backstroke national title, and her fourth medal of the competition.

Sell recorded a time of 2:21.33 to secure a hat-trick of gold medals after collecting two earlier in the meet.

Kingston upon Hull’s Libby Munday followed closely to win the silver medal and Sell’s teammate, Anna Uren, joined her on the podium in third.

There was a dominant display from Wycombe District’s Charlotte Heyden in the Women’s 12/13 Years 200m Backstroke final.

She took the title by almost four seconds as she pulled away from Grantham’s Grace Macdonald in the closing stages.

It was Heyden’s first gold of the meeting after having to settle for silver in all three of her previous events.

Macdonald made it a trio of Backstroke medals as she added to her 50m and 100m gold with silver in a personal best time of 2:26.44.

Katherine Williams gave Didcot Barramundi their first medal of the day as she won bronze in a time of 2:28.09.

In the 14 Years final, Zara Shenton of Cosacss led at the final turn but it was Constance Logan of Mount Kelly who took the final 50m by storm to win gold.

Cockermouth’s Amber Rigg has had a brilliant championships. With five medals already before this final, she made it six as she got her hands on the bronze.

Epsom District’s Eloise Howarth hung on to win the 15 Years final, despite pressure from Nicole Quiller.

Howarth led from start to finish and clocked a new personal best of 2:26.43 to lower her time by around two seconds on her way to the top of the podium.

It was also a new PB for Mount Kelly’s Quiller (2:26.45) as she picked up the silver medal and Chelmsford’s Cait Cotter (2:27.40) lowered her best time by almost five seconds to earn the bronze.

Elise Collins just missed out on a personal best by one hundredth of a second in the 17 Years final, but did enough to take the gold medal.

The Chesterfield swimmer managed a time of 2:22.89 to touch ahead of Birmingham University’s Charlotte Harris (2:23.50). Northampton’s Chloe Goodridge (2:23.57) was the bronze medallist.

Personal bests tumble in Men’s 50m Butterfly

A number of swimmers set new personal bests in the Men’s 50m Butterfly finals after a number of impressive performances.

The event started with a tie for the bronze medal in the Men’s 13/14 Years final.

Both City of Peterborough’s Rufus Bennett and Cirencester’s Finley Mooney set identical times as the duo both earnt a bronze medal in a time of 27.60.

The pair were just behind Mount Kelly’s Ben Uff who finished just 0.03 ahead of them to take the silver medal.

None of them could catch Max Stafford-Davies from Plymouth Leander however, as his time of a 27.46 both gave him a new personal best and the gold medal in an impressive display.

The home side celebrated gold in the 15 Years final as City of Sheffield swimmer Miles Kinlen won gold by just 0.03 in a close battle with Ethan Richards-Knight of Chalfont.

Kinlen just edged out Richards-Knight who fell just short of his personal best that he set in the heats despite his strong time of a 26.36.

There was an impressive swim from Plymouth Leander’s Johari Masinde to take bronze as he came from lane two to set a time of 26.74.

Callum Cox and Henry Gray pulled clear in the 16 Years final as the pair battled it out for the gold medal.

Bishop Stortford’s Cox just came out on top, setting a half a second improvement on his personal best with a time of 25.47 to take gold.

Gray was just behind for Chelsea and Westminster with a time of 25.72 as the duo were the only two to swim under the 26 second mark.

In a close battle for bronze, David Annis’ new personal best of a 26.59 was enough to give him the edge over Guildford City’s Felix Brockdorff and Blandford’s Max Leigh.

Mount Kelly’s Dylan Reeve was the only swimmer to swim under 26 seconds as he set a time of 25.64 to take the 17 Years title.

Reeve was a clear winner in the end with Mid Sussex’ Ross Murray winning the silver medal with an impressive time of 26.14.

Matus Mydliar from the City of Milton Keynes swam well to win bronze, coming from lane three to edge out Daventry’s Ryan Coles by 0.01 to ensure he was on the final step of the podium.

Luca De Zilva added to his 100m Butterfly gold with the 50m 18 Years crown after a close battle with Lewis Maxwell.

Leicester Sharks’ De Zilva won the title by the narrowest of margins as he held off Maxwell by 0.01 as Maxwell had to settle for silver despite another strong swim.

Northumberland and Durham’s Maxwell set a new personal best of 25.02 to finish in second as he added to his 100m Freestyle gold with another medal worthy display.

The battle for bronze was just as close, with the next four swimmers separated by just 0.10.

It was Ben Rowett who came out on top as he finished third for Guildford City in a time of 25.56.

Ashcroft named national champion

City of Leeds swimmer Matilda Ashcroft was the gold medal winner and national champion in the Women’s 14 Years 50m Butterfly.

She set another personal best of 29.09 on her way to victory, beating RTW Monson’s Ilana Nightingale-Ellis and Warrington’s Gabriella Hunt to the wall.

The silver-medal winning time for Nightingale-Ellis was 29.36. Hunt clocked in at 29.49 for bronze.

Amy Jones of Severnside took the gold medal in the 12/13 Years final with a time of 29.62.

Malaika Onobrauche of Barnet Copthall Swimming Club finished in the silver medal position, followed by RTW Monson’s Madeeleine Hind in third.

Farnham swimmer Bronwen Price finished strongly to win the 15 Years final. Her time of 28.97 would have seen her win bronze in the 16 Years event.

Leamington’s Teia Hendley was next to the wall, just 0.14 behind the winner to pick up silver. Emily Maxwell (29.29) of Northumberland and Durham was the remaining podium finisher.

Two swimmers dropped under the 29-second mark in the 16 Years final to earn the top two medal spots.

Millfield’s Lucy Buckingham was crowned champion in what was an extremely close finish, stopping the clock in 28.74.

Julia Pawlik of Hillingdon was the only other swimmer to go sub-29 seconds as she finished 0.15 behind Buckingham to win the silver medal. Bronze went to Lola Burns of Beckenham.

Just 0.02 separated the gold and silver medallists in the 17 Years and over final as Anna Stansfield and Caitlin Cambrook battled it out.

It was Leatherhead’s Stansfield who came out on top in 28.77, touching ahead of City of Sunderland’s Cambrook. Doncaster Dartes swimmer Molly Chambers (28.84) completed the podium.

Bellinger gets his hat-trick

Oscar Bellinger made it a hat-trick of distance swimming medals as he took gold in the Men’s 13/14 Years 400m Freestyle.

Bellinger added to his 1500m and 800m gold with the 400m title as he pulled away in the closing stages with another incredible swim.

The Salisbury swimmer set a time of 4:19.91 as he came from behind to take the win by 1.53.

Stockport Metro’s Daniel Khodaverdi finished second in a time of 4:21.44 just ahead of a close battle for bronze between Thomas Belt and Thomas Jennings.

The difference between the pair was just 0.02 as they touched the wall with Belt coming out on top to win the bronze for Penzance.

Matthew Deffains pulled clear in the 15 Years final as he set his second personal best in day to take the title.

Deffains of TigersJersey set a new best of a 4:15.71 as he eased ahead of his rivals right from the off.

Josef Adams from Chelsea and Westminster improved on his bronze medal in the 200m Freestyle to win silver in the 400m event.

He finished in a time of 4:17.62 as Oliver Greaves picked up another medal for Wrekin Swimming Club as he won bronze.

It’s Greaves’ fourth medal of the meeting as he adds to the three silvers that he’s already picked up throughout the competition.

The front three were separated by less than a second in the 16 Years event. Sonny Thomas, Bryan Dinev and Lewis Turner all battled it out for the gold but it was Leander’s Thomas that came out on top.

Thomas added to his 800m Freestyle gold with another impressive display to add to his medal tally in the 400m’s.

He set a new personal best in doing so with a 4:14.24 as he held off the charging Dinev in the closing stages.

Dinev finished strongly as he closed the gap and overtook Turner but couldn’t quite reach Thomas as he finished in 4:14.59.

The front three were nearly two seconds ahead of the rest of the field with Turner winning bronze in 4:14.96.

City of Sheffield’s Finley Allman swam an exceptional second half of the race he won gold in the 17 Years final.

Allman was fifth at the halfway stage but then sprung to life as he moved all the way up to first with 100m’s to go. He then extended his gap as he took the title by 0.99 ahead of Thanet Swim’s Oliver Pope.

It was a personal best for Allman as he improved his best time by seven seconds to take victory.

Pope was an impressive second as he stayed close with Allman despite the latter charging through the field as Newcastle’s Josh Denholm won bronze, finishing just 1.47 off Pope’s time.

University of Stirling’s Regan Lloyd was dominant in the final race of the meet as he won gold in the 18 Years and over final.

Lloyd finished over three seconds clear of Lewis Maxwell as the 25-year old stormed to the title in a time of 4:03.36.

Maxwell won his second silver medal of the night after his performance in the 50m Butterfly, setting a time of 4:06.65.

It was a Northumberland and Durham double podium as Maxwell was joined by Jay Manners who won edged the race for the bronze medal in a time of 4:07.42 which was just 0.19 ahead of Stockport Metro’s Evagelos Xynarianos.

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