It was a day characterised by dominant wins in London, as Amalie Blocksidge, Max Litchfield and Amalie Smith blew away their respective competition to book their places in this summer’s major meets. There was greater drama in the men’ s 200 fly race between Duncan Scott and Ed Mildred, while Adam Peaty continued his resurgence with a win over 50m breaststroke.
All that meant a lot of qualifiers for the European Championship and the home nation’s Commonwealth Games teams, with selection standings updated below.
Note this is only our interpretation of how the policies will be applied and final selections need to be confirmed by the selectors in due course.
Britain
Adam Peaty and Filip Nowacki were the first two home in the 50 breaststroke, just as they had been 24 hours earlier in the 100m event. Peaty’s 26.54 was easily enough to qualify for Paris, but he dragged Nowacki to a lifetime best of 27.10 which also got him through the qualification standard.
In a nip and tuck final, Duncan Scott just took the win in the 200 fly, getting the better of Ed Mildred 1:54.97 to 1:55.03, a huge PB for the Manchester swimmer. That battle saw both men get the Euros qualifying time. The women’s 100m backstroke was easier to call, with Lauren Cox using her speed to secure an early lead and then holding her position to the end. Her 59.66 was shy of the PB she set a few weeks ago but was under her Paris target.
There were also a pair of European 400IM qualifiers as Max Litchfield eased his way through in the men’s event and Amalie Smith demolished her competition to win by 12s in a lifetime best of 4:35.46.
England
Amelie Blocksidge took a comfortable win over 1500m freestyle for her 4th consecutive British title and also secured her spot in the England team for the Commonwealth Games. Greg Butler did likewise in the sprint breaststroke while Max Morgan added a second swim to his programme in the same event. With two days gone there are now 15 swimmers in contention for a possible 28 spots in Glasgow.
Scotland
Two new names on the Scotland roster tonight as Charlie Hutchison and George Smith both secured the nomination standards in the 400IM. Meanwhile Archie Goodburn added a second event to his Commonwealth schedule with a 27.22 50m breaststroke to go with his 100m qualification. Duncan Scott is preselected for Scotland but now might have to consider adding the 200 fly to his schedule in Glasgow; he was of course well inside the Scottish nomination standard.
Wales
Kylie Booth was the big Welsh story on Day 2. He swam for Wales in Birmingham four years ago and had essentially retired from swimming after that meet to join the RAF. He was back competing this week having raced just 3 times in the interim period, and his 27.66 in the 50 breaststroke heats was inside the Welsh nomination standard. It seems very likely he’ll be in Glasgow as a consequence.
A full Wales selection update to follow.
Banner Image – Morgan Harlow for Aquatics GB