Peters tops timesheets on British Champs return

With the British Swimming Championships entering into the second half of the meet, the Women’s 200m Backstroke heats kicked off the morning session by setting up yet another inviting showdown between Performance Centre Loughborough’s Freya Colbert and University of Stirling’s Katie Shanahan.

The pair were separated by just under three tenths of a second over the cumulative four lengths of the pool, as they both put themselves over two seconds clear of the rest of the field heading in to the final. Millfield’s Evie Dilley did enough to put herself ahead of the other competitors, and her performance will see her provisionally into lane three for the final – pending the results of the Block B heats session.

There were medallists from every level of competition in the Men’s 100m Butterfly, as Jacob Peters took the elusive lane four spot for what promises to be one of the eye-catching races of the competition.

All three seeded heats had a Performance Centre Bath representatives in lane four, and two of the three athletes took the win in their respective races. Peters put in the most dominant performance of those morning qualifiers in what turned out to be the fastest heat of the event, as he fended off a challenge from Swansea University’s Lewis Fraser to put himself on top overall, with Fraser taking lane five tonight.

James Guy, who swam the butterfly leg in the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay in the gold-medal winning swim in Tokyo two years ago, also won his heat to ensure he lines up in lane three alongside the pair – putting himself equally in with a great chance to be in the mix for the gold medal this evening.

The Women’s 100m Freestyle was the second of two women’s events this morning, and it was Anna Hopkin who put herself in pole position ahead of the showdown later – thanks to a comfortable performance in her heat.

The Performance Centre Loughborough athlete’s windmill stroke was held throughout the two lengths, which proved fruitful, as she took a comfortable overall first place ahead of Performance Centre Bath’s Freya Anderson and University of Stirling’s Lucy Hope, who qualified in second and third respectively.      

The Men’s 200m Breaststroke rounded off the morning, and it was James Wilby who put himself in the best position to retain his British title in the event, as his controlled performance saw off the rest of the competition in his heat to put Wilby, who is the current European champion in the event, top of the provisional standings.

University of Stirling’s George Smith provided the closest competition for Wilby – the European Junior bronze medallist also taking first place in his heat to put himself in one of the central lanes tonight. Closely behind Smith in the qualifier standings is Performance Centre Loughborough’s Greg Butler, who looked comfortable in taking his own respective heats victory. All three athletes looked like they had more to give heading into the finals session, so there promises to be a close competition once the lights go on at 6pm.

For the full results, as well as information about the coming days, check out our “What’s On?” page.