A tie for gold in exciting opening finals session of Speedo National Summer Meet

A total of 35 gold medals were awarded on the opening day of the Speedo National Summer Meet.

There was one heat declared winner from the first session of the day and a tie for gold in the Women’s MC 100m Freestyle final, followed by a further 32 golds presented in the finals session.

Williams wins first gold

Ella Williams of Swindon Dolphins took the first gold of the meet after winning the heat declared winner event – the Women’s MC 100m Breaststroke.

She finished with a points total of 432 after swimming a time of 1:31.96.

Wellingborough’s Imogen Dodds achieved the second highest points total with 384 to earn the silver medal and Rushden’s Amber Haydock was the bronze medal winner.

Dee delivers in Freestyle final

The first gold medal of the finals session went to Bruce Dee in the Men’s MC 100m Freestyle final.

The Northampton S6 swimmer achieved a points total of 551 after finishing in a time of 1:17.68.

Dee was more than 100 points ahead of his nearest rival in Crawley’s S13 athlete Alfie Penfold (450 points) who secured the silver medal. The bronze went to S10 swimmer Darren Paredes-Flores with 429 points.

Tie for the top spot

In the women’s event, there was a tie for the gold medal between Alsager’s Rachael Partington and Brooklyn Hale of Cockermouth.

Both swimmers racked up 473 points. S6 swimmer Partington finished in a time of 1:31.21, while S9 swimmer Hale stopped the clock in 1:16.72.

Taking silver was Wellingborough’s Imogen Dodds, making it her second medal of the day.

Close finish in Breaststroke final

There was an extremely close finish between the top four in the Men’s 16 Years 100m Breaststroke final.

Less than half a second separated them all going into the wall but it was Stockport’s Davey Unwin who took the gold medal in 1:08.46.

Finishing just 0.04 behind Unwin was Leon Taylor of Shiverers to earn silver and a further 0.25 behind him was Black Lion’s Callum Farrow in third.

City of Coventry’s Alex Block (1:08.92) was the other swimmer in close contention but was just touched out at the wall.

Lucas Carter of Swindon Dolphins was crowned national champion in the 13/14 Years age group.

He touched the wall in 1:10.54 to beat City of Birmingham’s Hugh Mason-Williams who took home silver in 1:11.62. Beckenham’s Jeremiah Carnegie finished in third.

A massive well done to Jeremiah Carnegie who won Bronze tonight in 100 BS final ⁦@Swim_England⁩ summer Nationals (a year out of age)
Well done !
⁦@arenaUK_⁩
⁦@solosportbrands⁩ pic.twitter.com/agrL8n2BMk

— Beckenham SC (@BeckenhamSC) August 5, 2022

The 15 Years final saw Charles Simpson of Exeter City take the victory.

Simpson touched the wall in 1:08.42, followed by Camden Swiss’ Lucas Bohm (1:09.61) in second and Archie Pigott (1:10.62) in third.

In the 17 Years final, Brighton’s Jake Acton came out on top in another closely fought contest.

He finished in 1:08.17, followed by the silver medallist from Derventio, Finley Bunhejee (1:08.32) and Oliver Caddick (1:08.37) in third.

St Albans swimmer William Loveman finished around half a second ahead in the 18 Years and over final to take gold.

The 22-year-old managed a time of 1:04.79 and Donald Bisset of Gloucester pipped Jay Manners to the finish as the pair clinched silver and bronze respectively.

City of Sheffield one-two

City of Sheffield secured a one-two finish in the Women’s 12/13 Years 100m Breaststroke final through Annabel Cooke and Honey Rose Grocock.

Cooke beat her teammate to the wall by just 0.12 to gain the bragging rights, but it was still a superb swim from Grocock who finished in 1:16.47 for silver. Brighton’s Hannah Capron secured bronze.

Cockermouth’s Amber Rigg was pushed all the way by Basildon’s Keisa Crees in the 14 Years final but was able to hold on and take the win.

Rigg set a time of 1:14.63, with Crees finishing in 1:15.13. In the bronze medal position was Ella Greatbatch in 1:16.49.

A brilliant finish down the last 15 metres saw Charlotte Cope of Guildford City take the 15 Years title.

Cope’s gold medal-winning time was 1:15.07 – a total of 0.36 ahead of Basildon’s Mia Lowe (1:15.43). City of Peterborough Lilly Davis wasn’t far behind and earned her palce on the podium in a time of 1:15.96.

The winner of the 16 Years final was Guildford’s Louise Bressler after a solid swim. Rugby’s Morgan Brand was next to the wall, followed by City of Lincoln’s Katie Founds.

Louise Edmunds opened up a small lead to touch first in the 17 Years and over final. The Royal Wolverhampton swimmer clocked a time of 1:13.84.

The 20-year-old was joined on the podium by 17-year-old’s Gemma Dilks and Ruby Varney.

Swales celebrates 50m Freestyle win

There was celebrations from Nova Centurion swimmer Thomas Swales as he stormed to victory in the first of the traditional ‘splash and dash’ races – the Men’s 13/14 Years 50m Freestyle final.

Just 0.01 separated the silver and bronze medallists as Jimmy McGuire clocked in at 25.86 and Newcastle’s Nicholas Land, 25.87.

Frederick Jones of RTW Monson was victorious in the 15 Years final with his time of 24.78.

Poole’s Luca Sartorius was the winner of the silver medal, followed by Worcester swimmer Ben Gooch in third.

Thomas Maskell of Northumberland and Durham went well in the 16 Years final – taking the win in 24.45.

Luka Page of West Suffolk was the closest to him with his time of 24.57 and Newcastle were amongst the medal again, this time through Angelo Giani Contini with a bronze.

The 17 Years final saw a win for Luke Tunstall of Mount Kelly with Trafford Metro’s Toby Andrews in second and Charlie Summer of Dereham in third.

Portsmouth Northsea topped the podium in the 18 Years and over final ahead a Plymouth Leander two-three.

Clive Marquis was the Portsmouth swimmer who topped the podium in a time of 23.67. The Plymouth pairing making up the remainder of the podium places were Leon Mowlem and Brandon Craig Rumball.

New personal best for Bowen

🥇 MEDAL ALERT 🥇

Rhiannon B is the English Summer Champion! Rhiannon takes gold in the 200m Freestyle final after a dominant swim!

🦌🦌🦌#UpTheStags#SpeedoSummerMeet@Swim_England@teamsurrey@guildfordcityscpic.twitter.com/FqnCNRGxIP

— University of Surrey Swim Team (@UoSSwimming) August 5, 2022

Rhiannon Bowen of Surrey University led at the halfway turn in the Women’s 17 Years and over 200m Freestyle final and held off the challenge from the remainder of the field to take gold.

She set a new personal best time of 2:05.98. Wreckin SC’s Eve Leleux finished in second place and Birmingham University’s Lucy Wheeler took home bronze.

It was a strong swim from City of Sheffield’s Willow Harrison who gained a body length’s lead to finish on top of the podium in the 12/13 Years final.

Taking the silver and bronze medals were City of Birmingham’s Elysia Stephens and Stockport’s Evie Clare respectively.

In the 14 Years final, Phoebe Chadkin timed her race well to hunt down Wigan Best’s Isobel Liptrot and finish in the gold medal position.

Liptrot was in the lead at the halfway mark but was overtaken with around 20 metres to go and touched the wall in 2:10.93. In third was Alice Volkovaya from City of Salford.

Northumberland and Durham’s Emily Maxwell won gold in the 15 Years final ahead of City of Sheffield’s Erin Tankard who earned silver. Jessica Smelt was the bronze medallist.

The 16 Years final saw Bracknell’s Jessica Humm clock a time of 2:06.66 for gold.

The nearest to Humm was Winchester swimmer Mia Goodale who finished in 2:08.13 for silver, followed by Newcastle’s Emily Hedley in third.

Joy for Jones

S8 swimmer Lewis Jones and S12 swimmer Luke Boyles battled it out in the middle lanes in the Men’s MC 100m Breaststroke final, but it was the points tally that made the difference.

Littlehampton’s Jones was the clear winner with 431 points, with Boyles taking silver by just one point.

He finished on 371 points and the bronze medal winner, Harry Arnold-Pepper of Royston (S8), was on 370 points.

Thomas Belt takes title

The three swimmers in the centre lanes opened up a gap between themselves and the rest of the field in the Men’s 13/14 Years 400m Individual Medley final.

The eventual winner came from lane four, Thomas Belt of Penzance, in 4:56.29. Thanet Swims’ Harry Cocks followed closely behind to take silver in 4:56.66 and Nova Centurion swimmer Harrison Clarke took bronze.

Samuel Sterry of TigersJersey won the 15 Years age group final and was crowned national champion after he recorded a time of 4:47.72.

Team Ipswich swimmer Patch Robinson was the silver medallist with Cheadle’s Ethan Walker in third.

In the 16 Years final, Guildford’s Felix Brockdorff took the win in dramatic style, finishing just 0.03 ahead after 400 metres.

He beat Leon Taylor of Shiverers, who made it a second silver of the night, and Gloucester’s Daniel Fielder managed a bronze medal-winning time of 4:50.75.

It was a fast finish from Plymouth Leander’s George Chapman in the 17 Years final to secure the win in 4:43.29.

City of Norwich’s Olivier Vedrenne was just under half a second behind the gold medallist and Cameron Carlos followed in third.

Harper Whitehead of Stockport smashed his personal best time in the 18 Years final.

His previous best was in the 4:41 bracket, but the 21-year-old touched 4:38.07 to swipe around three seconds off his PB.

Winsford’s Ethan Wright took silver ahead of Maidenhead’s George Booth Rudd.

Roscoe reaps rewards

The Women’s 12/13 Years 400m Individual Medley saw Wirral Metro’s Abbie Roscoe open up a comfortable lead in lane four to power home in a new personal best time of 5:07.24.

She took victory by more than six seconds, with Repton’s Lydia Cordie the next to finish in a time of 5:13.52. The bronze medallist was Amalie Smith.

An impressive swim from Ivy Haggerty of Thanet Swim saw her scoop the gold medal from lane two in the 14 Years final.

City of Leicester’s Darcie Platts finished strongly for second, followed by Guildford’s Holly Hopwood.

In the 15 Years final, City of Sheffield’s Molly Baker set a new personal best time in the heats and moved that on yet again to take gold in 5:09.92.

She was another who had surged ahead of the field, with Emily Maxwell then coming in to touch in 5:13.13 and ahead a silver medal to her gold she won earlier in the session.

Taking the final place on the podium was Charlotte Surrell of Chase.

Three swimmers seemed to touch the wall together in the 16 Years final but Mount Kelly’s Katie Sherlock had reached out to snatch the victory.

Just 0.12 separated first and third place with Sherlock’s time reading 5:11.68.

Leicester Sharks’ Abby Mitchell swam a time of 5:11.73 which was enough to seal silver ahead of Beatrice Finch (5:11.80).

It was a great time and a great victory for Millfield’s Isabella Woolard in the final race of the opening day.

She lowered her personal best by around five seconds and was crowned 17 Years and over national champion in a time of 5:06.65. Oriana Wheeler took silver and Jessica Arundale the bronze.