Katie Shanahan stormed to a World Championship spot and Faye Rogers added to her ever-growing list of records for the week on a busy Friday night that saw Duncan Scott star again at these Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.
A packed evening at the London Aquatics Centre also saw Rhys Darbey secure a Para Swimming World Championship consideration time in the multi-classification (MC) Men's 200m Individual Medley, while Ed Mildred's victory in the 100m Butterfly was enough to book his place at a debut World Aquatics Championships.
Shanahan's well-paced swim in the Women's 200m Backstroke was part of a nip-and-tuck final that was taken out early by Honey Osrin in lane six. Katie stuck to her race, as she and University of Stirling teammate Holly McGill moved into the leading positions towards the final turn, at which the former was inside British record pace.
Ultimately, Katie's well-timed finish saw her touch in 2:07.91 and go inside the World Aquatics Championship selection time, securing her Singapore ticket with the victory, with McGill also dipping inside that 2:08.60 mark.
"I knew coming into tonight it was going to be a really tough race with the girls, there’s a lot of depth in that race so to get my hand on the wall first was really nice and to get the qualifying time is a relief as well," said Shanahan.
"I think after doing that event at almost every international meet it does help with racing the likes of the Australian girls, it’s good to have that experience under my belt and know how to race it."
The new honours board that has been installed at the London Aquatics Centre will need updating with Faye Rogers' name once again, after the University of Aberdeen competitor (top picture) clocked a new British best for the S10 classification in a tight Women's MC 400m Freestyle, clinching another British gold and a World Championship selection mark.
Her time of 4:34.24 came after a strong heat swim, which Faye says helped her get perfectly into the zone as she prepared for the final - before going on to earn 892 points for the victory, ahead of Brock Whiston (828) in silver and young S9 athlete Brooklyn Hale (751) in bronze.
"I was super happy after the heat because to be honest it didn't feel great, but the time was right on my PB so that gave me a lot of confidence going in tonight. In the call room there I was really hyped up, and all the girls in there were like 'wow you're really in the zone' so I was really ready for it which gave me a lot of confidence because that's not something you can kind of force but I felt really up for it," she said.
"Then I just went in and swam it, and I knew I wasn't really going to be able to see anyone so it gave me the opportunity to execute my own race plan which obviously paid off and I'm super happy to get that consideration time - my first ever outside of the 100m Butterfly, which is cool - and it takes the pressure off my upcoming swims which I'm so excited for."
In the open final, a thrilling race unfolded that saw Holly Hibbott lead early, before Amelie Blocksidge tried to chase down eventual winner Megan Barnes, the Mount Kelly swimmer in lane two timing her late surge well and then holding off Amelie's reply by a mere 0.12s.
The Men's 200m Individual Medley events served up world-class racing from the respective winners, with eight-time Olympic medallist Scott doubling his British title tally for the meet in emphatic style.
He was already pre-selected in this event for the World Championships after a sensational silver in Paris last summer, but he still went and cracked the Singapore target mark here, locking into a butterfly battle with the lanes either side down the first 50m but moving clear on the backstroke and inevitably finishing with the fastest freestyle leg.
Behind him, Matthew Ward overhauled eventual bronze medallist Evan Jones and Charlie Hutchison in the closing stages of a thrilling freestyle 50m to take the silver.
Reflecting on his race, Duncan said: "It was really tough and I felt it quite a bit, credit to those boys they really take it out. In the IM, you really have to utilise your strengths as much as you can and get the most out of your weaknesses as well. They send it out the way they do and it puts me under a lot of pressure through the first part of the race and then I just really need to get to work."
Just before that contest, Paralympic silver medallist Rhys Darbey showed why he is a podium regular in this event, going inside the SM14 Singapore selection mark in a 2:08.49 and securing an emphatic 942 points, aided in part by a brilliant breaststroke leg. Fellow SM14 man Cameron Vearncombe took the silver on 881, with Bruce Dee (SM6) just behind on 878 points.
"I'm really happy with that to be honest, I'm just so glad that I've got that time for the Worlds. The atmosphere in here is great and it's a fast pool so I enjoyed that," he said.
In the Men's 100m Butterfly, another tight final went the way of Ed Mildred, who has rubber-stamped his place at a first World Championships by virtue of the Men's 4x100m Medley Relay selection time.
The contest looked set to go in any number of directions, with Mildred - who clocked a new PB in the morning - holding firm as the field closed in over the final 10m to take the win, ahead of Jack Brown in silver and bronze medallist Jacob Peters.
Mildred's time, added to Oliver Morgan's new 100m Backstroke British record, Greg Butler's winning time in the 100m Breaststroke and the time that took Matt Richards to the 100m Freestyle gold on Thursday, means that both Mildred and Butler are now on the team to Singapore, with the other two already qualified.
"It's my first long-course World Championships, so of course I'm very happy. I was a successful junior swimmer and won a lot at British age-group championships, European Juniors, but breaking into that senior field is quite tough and is something that I have struggled with. I'm not going to lie, it's taken a lot of mental resilience and swings of emotions to get there, but I'm happy to perform when it counts," he said.
The multi-classification gold went to Will Ellard, in an event that brought him Paralympic silver nine months ago. His tally of 910 points was well clear of fellow S14 swimmers Mark Tompsett and Jude Gunner, who won silver and bronze respectively.
The night began with Oliver Morgan securing a second British title in the space of 24 hours as he surged to the Men's 50m Backstroke crown, clocking a new personal best of 24.43 in the time to follow on from that sensational 100m Backstroke British record the night before. Just as then, Jonathon Marshall followed him into the wall for silver, with Cameron Brooker edging into third.
The sprinting continued in the Women's 50m Butterfly events, as young Paralympic medallist Iona Winnifrith took gold in the multi-classification race, before Eva Okaro doubled up on her 50m Freestyle triumph from Thursday with another dynamic lap of swimming, taking British 50m Butterfly gold for the first time in her career.
Full results from day four of the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships are here.