Oliver Morgan places himself at the heart of an exciting Men’s 100m Backstroke final as Wednesday's morning heats threw up some exciting swimming on day two of the British Swimming Championships at Ponds Forge.
Birmingham University’s Morgan – Tuesday evening’s 50m Backstroke British champion – put in a statement swim, turning halfway at under 26 point in the Men’s 100m Backstroke and finishing strongly to position himself in the search for a second podium moment of the meet. Performance Centre Bath duo Brodie Williams and Jonathon Adam will go in the lanes either side in an A final containing a depth of talent across the field fighting for the British title.
The respective Women’s 100m Backstroke heats served up an exciting appetiser for the forthcoming medal contest, as less than one tenth separated the top three qualifiers. Lauren Cox of Loughborough University spearheads the qualifiers and will have ambitions of upgrading her 2022 British silver, however firm challenge will come from European record holder Kathleen Dawson (University of Stirling) who is building back to her best, and European silver medallist Medi Harris (Swim Wales High Performance Centre).
In the Women’s 200m Breaststroke a closing burst of pace from Lily Booker (Performance Centre Loughborough) saw her overcome Sienna Robinson (City of Sheffield) in the closing metres of their heats contest to progress first and third into the evening session. Gillian Davey of Loughborough University split the pair on times to make up the top three.
A pair of sprint events opened Wednesday’s heats session, with Archie Goodburn continuing to display the fine form that took him to a 100m Breaststroke bronze last night - the Edinburgh University swimmer setting a personal best to top the provisional Men’s 50m Breaststroke standings. Goodburn will be looking to progress his fastest time in the final, with James Wilby (Loughborough PC) and Greg Butler (Loughborough PC) set to provide a firm challenge for the gold.
Derventio Excel athlete Sophie Yendell, meanwhile, put in a powerful sprint effort to lay down a leading marker in the Women’s 50m Butterfly, securing a central lane alongside the 2022 champion, Harriet Jones (City of Cardiff), ahead of the single length podium shootout. Jessica Calderbank (City of Manchester Aquatics) rounded out the top three from this morning’s heats.
University of Aberdeen athlete Thomas Beeley looks set to take lane four for the Men's 200m Butterfly final after a solid morning swim in the heats. Beeley was nearly a second clear of next-best qualifier Andrew Bertoli (University of Stirling), ahead of the afternoon heats session, which gets underway at 1pm.
Lucy Fox from Wycombe District is top of the Women's 800m Freestyle standings ahead of the evening's fastest heat.
The afternoon heats session begins at 1pm, with the finals underway at 6pm. For the full results, as well as how to watch the rest of the action, check out our "What's On?" page.