Mackay-Champion takes 18yrs 100m breaststroke title

Toby Mackay-Champion smashed his PB to win 100m Breaststroke gold on the opening night of the Swim England National Summer Meet 2017 in Sheffield.

The 19-year old won the first title of the competition in the men’s 18yrs+ age group, setting a PB in both heats and final.

The City of Oxford swimmer was behind at the turn in the final, going out slower than much of the field and turning ninth at the 50m stage. However, he came back strong down the final 50m to claim the title with a time of 1:03.55.

“I’m really pleased with that,” said Mackay-Champion. “I wasn’t particularly pleased with my swim in the heats, which is why I tweaked a few tactical things to get it right for tonight.

“You never know how well everyone else is going to do. But I just went in there with my race plan and executed that, and just hoped it would be good enough.”

Swim Bournemouth’s Drew McGregor also set a new personal best time, claiming gold in the 13/14yrs 100m Breaststroke.

McGregor made it to the wall in a time of 1:10.36, almost a second faster than the rest of the field.

“I feel really good getting that gold medal,” said McGregor. “I think I did everything right in that race, it just felt smooth and powerful.

“I was seeded eighth coming in to the competition, so I wasn’t necessarily expecting to medal. But I ended up first so that’s pretty good.”

It was a very close final 50m between Harvey Freeman of Northampton and Dominic Bools of Nova Centurion in the same final.

Bools was half a second slower at the turn, but he fought back over the final leg. Freeman held on to touch 1:11.25 for silver, and Bools took bronze with 1:11.32.

Harrison hammers 100m Breast for new PB

City of Peterborough swimmer Lauren Harrison completely blew her heat swim out of the water in the women’s 16yrs 100m Breaststroke final. She swam over two seconds faster than her qualifying time, shaving 0.15 from her PB. She took gold in a time of 1:15.19.

Harrison said: “I feel really great. I think it was a positive swim, it was just on my PB. I’ve been off my PB for a while so it’s nice to be back on it again. I’ve got the 400m IM coming up, so I’m feeling pretty confident for that now.”

There was almost nothing to separate second and third place, with Holly McGarva and Caitlin Lynam touching three hundredths of a second apart. It was Radford’s McGarva who touched first of the pair, claiming silver with 1:15.63. Lynam of Severnside touched 1:15.66 for bronze.

Imogen Lambert who took the women’s 12/13yrs title. The Flitwick Dolphins swimmer swam a new lifetime best in the 100m breast, claiming gold in a time of 1:15.97.

Lambert commented on her performance: “It feels great to get gold. I was hoping for gold because I was fastest into the final, but I wasn’t too confident as there were lots of areas where I could have been faster in the heats. I’ve got the 50m and 200m breaststroke coming up, so I’m feeling quite confident for those.”

Second place went to City of Bradford’s Hermione Roe (1:16.04) and third place to Emily Morgan-Hughes of Dinnaton (1:16.56).

Click here to see full results from the Swim England National Summer Meet 2017.

Other 100m Breaststroke gold medallists:

  • Ryan Wilcox (Nova Centurion) men’s 15yrs – 1:10.52
  • Joseph Moore (Harrogate) men’s 16yrs – 1:07.88
  • Jack O’Brien (City of Manchester) men’s 17yrs – 1:05.54
  • Lydia Mitchell (Beckenham) women’s 14yrs – 1:16.53
  • Katherine Russell (City of Leeds) women’s 15yrs – 1:14.63
  • Shannon Campbell (Warrington Warriors) women’s 17yrs+ – 1:13.71
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