Ross Murdoch won the gold medal in the 200m Breaststroke after winning one of the most exciting finals of the evening on the fourth day of the British Championships.
Murdoch (University of Stirling) made the race his own though and swam to an excellent victory in a time that puts him in contention for the World Championships.
“It’s been a long road since the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and I’ve had a tough couple of seasons but I’m glad to come here this year and have a really good go at it,” Murdoch said.
“The time isn’t near my best but I’ve certainly got a decent background of work behind me and I’m looking forward to the next 14 weeks. We’ll get sharper on my skills and get an even bigger background of work in ahead of the summer."
- Ross Murdoch - Men's 200m Breaststroke British Champion
James Wilby (National Centre Loughborough) took the silver medal in Sheffield with a strong final 50m that saw him also score a time that puts him in consideration for Budapest. Willis (National Centre Bath) won the bronze.
Double Olympic silver medallist James Guy won his third medal of the competition after reaching the wall first in the 100m Butterfly.
Guy took the race out hard from the start and turned first and although he was chased down by Loughborough University’s Adam Barrett, Guy swam under the consideration time for the World Championships.
After finishing in a new personal best time of 51.52 Guy said: “I was feeling good tonight. It just felt so strong towards the back end. I knew if I got out hard and was with the guys at half way I had a chance to win it.
“It was a good field. I’m good friends with Adam [Barrett] and Duncan [Scott] and it was a good race. I’ve got the 200m Free on Sunday so hopefully that’ll be a good one.”
- James Guy - Men's 100m Butterfly British Champion
Barrett won the silver medal and Olympic medallist Duncan Scott (University of Stirling) won the bronze.
The women’s 100m Freestyle was the closest race of the night as 16-year old Freya Anderson pulled the race back from Siobhan-Marie O’Connor in the final 25m.
Anderson (Ellesmere College) swam to a new personal best time of 54.35 as she took her first British Championship title.
“I didn’t expect to be British Champion especially next to everyone in the field like Siobhan-Marie [O’Connor],” Anderson said. “It’s just crazy. I just kept my head down, so I didn’t really know who was around me, and just wanted to get to the wall first.
“It’s good to go so fast at this point in the season. I had a tough start to the year with an injury so that’s really good for me. I’m excited to see what I can do when I’m back in full training.”
O’Connor (National Centre Bath) won the silver medal with Eleanor Faulkner (City of Sheffield) taking the bronze.
Rosie Rudin (City of Sheffield) fought back through the final 50m of the 200m Backstroke to take the gold medal with a new personal best time.
Rudin swam a perfectly timed race to take the win in front of her home crowd in a time of 2:09.55.
“I’m so shocked right now because I wasn’t expecting that at all,” Rudin said. “This morning I went out a bit fast in the heat so I tried to relax a bit more in the first 100 and come back in the second because I really felt I could back end it.
“It’s always been in the back of my mind to dip under the 2:10 but to drop that much is just amazing.”
Jessica Fullalove (National Centre Bath) won the silver swimmer Charlotte Evans (National Centre Loughborough) taking the bronze.
City of Milton Keynes swimmer Isobel Jones took the victory in the Target Tokyo final of the 200m Backstroke after she beat of a challenge from Anna Newlands (Edinburgh University) and Eleanor Baldwin (City of Derby).
Alexandra Waller (Heart of Midlothian) won the first final of the evening as she touched first in the Junior 200m Backstroke. She beat Lily Boseley (City of Sheffield) and Anna Maine (Woking) to the win.
The Target Tokyo of the 100m Butterfly saw the win claimed by Adam Taylor (City of Sunderland) while Michael Domville (Warrington Warriors) finished second and Thomas Sinclair (Bath University) finished third.
Cameron Brooks-Clarke (City of Sheffield) reached for the wall first in the Junior final of the 100m Butterfly after battling against Mason Wilby (Loughborough University) and Sam Dalley (Plymouth Leander).
West Lothian’s Gulsum Onal swam to a strong win the in the Target Tokyo final of the 100m Freestyle. National Centre Loughborough’s Harriet Cooper finished second and Katherine Stark (Aberdeen Performance) touched in third place.
Woking’s Maine upgraded her third place in the 200m Backstroke with first place in the Junior final of the 100m Freestyle. She beat Stockport Metro’s Elizabeth Harris and Alicia Wilson (City of Glasgow) to the win.
Toby Mackay-Champion (City of Oxford) took the win in the Target Tokyo 200m Breaststroke as he reached the wall before Joel O’Halleron (Derwentside) and David Murphy (City of Oxford).
The Junior final of the 200m Breaststroke saw George Clough (Warrender Baths) swim to victory ahead of Callum Smart (City of Oxford) and Thomas Dean (Maidenhead).