British swimmers set up a second night of exciting racing on day two of the British Summer Championships at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield.
After their golden performances last night, Ellesmere College’s Tamzin Pugh and City of Leeds’ Ciara Schlosshan continued to impress as they qualified fastest for their 100m Fly age-group finals.
Pugh, who won gold in last night’s 50m Fly, secured lane four in the 15yrs 100m Fly final after a determined swim in heat 11 to touch behind Swansea Aquatics swimmer Alys Thomas, who qualifies fastest for the 19yrs+ final. Schlosshan, gold medallist in the 13/14yrs 200m IM, posted a new lifetime best to qualify fastest for tonight’s 13/14 yrs 100m Fly final.
Luke Greenbank, World Junior Record holder and gold medallist at last month’s European Games in Baku, leads the way in the Men’s 17/18yrs 200m backstroke. The Cockermouth swimmer was able to hold off the charge from Martyn Walton (Hatfield) in the second half of heat 10 to touch the wall first and qualify fastest for tonight’s final. Daniel Cross (Bo Kirklees) is the second fastest through just ahead of Hatfield’s Walton.
After a strong performance in his heat, Bath University’s Jonathan Carlisle will occupy lane four in tonight’s 200m Backstroke 19yrs+ final. Carlisle took control of the race from the start and extended his lead to over a body length by the final touch.
Warrender Bath’s swimmer Craig McNally, the British Champion in this event, qualified second fastest after an impressive display of back-end speed to win in the final heat ahead of the third placed swimmer, Callum Barrett (Loughborough University).
After an excellent start in the Women’s 100m Backstroke heats, Kathleen Dawson (Warrington Warriors) found herself under pressure in the final 50m from City of Birmingham’s Brittany Horton. Dawson, who set the Scottish Record in this event at last year’s Commonwealth Games, dug deep in the final metres to narrowly edge out Horton and qualify fastest for tonight’s final.
City of Salford’s Jaeger Turner will stand on the block in lane four tonight as fastest qualifier for the Women’s 19yrs+ 100m backstroke. Loughborough University’s Charlotte McKenzie and Chelsea and Westminster SC’s Isabelle Hindley are well placed in second and third place respectively with only 0.3 seconds separating the trio.
No fewer than six medallists from the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships raced in the Men’s and Women’s MC 100m Back this morning but it was S12 bronze medallist Hannah Russell (Woking) and S9 silver medallist James Crisp (City of Sheffield) who secured lane four for their respective finals tonight.
In other events, Lawrence Palmer leads the way in the Men’s 19yrs+ 50m breaststroke, posting a new lifetime best as he booked his spot in lane four for tonight’s final. Edinburgh University’s Euan Inglis qualified second fastest, touching 0.02 ahead of Loughborough University’s Richard Spoor, but with the top six swimmers all within one second of each other, it will be a thrilling race for gold tonight.
An equally exciting final has been set up in the Men’s 13/14yrs Age Group. Mount Kelly’s Oliver Taverner leads a strong group of youngsters heading into tonight’s final with less than a second separating the top seven swimmers.