Emma Wilkins and Aaron Rickhuss led the way as British Swimmers set up a final night of thrilling racing at the British Summer Championships in Sheffield.
Rickhuss posted a new lifetime best as he booked his spot in lane four for tonight’s Men’s 19yrs+ 50m Freestyle final. University of Edinburgh’s Jack Thorpe progresses through second fastest, only 0.08 seconds behind, while Loughborough University’s Andrew Weatheritt qualifies third.
Rickhuss’ Plymouth Leander teammate Thomas Fannon heads into the 17/18yrs final as fastest qualifier ahead of Millfield’s Daniel Speers and City of Salford’s Lewis Clough.
Emma Wilkins, who took gold in the 50m Butterfly earlier this week, heads in to the Women’s 19yrs+ final fingertips ahead of Chelsea and Westminsters SC’s Isabelle Hindley. Wilkins’ Loughborough University teammate Victoria Cunningham rounds out the top three.
After touching the wall in a deadheat with Hindley, Katie Latham (Thanet Swim) will be tonight’s fastest qualifier for the 17/18yrs 50m Freestyle final. Harriet Cooper (City of Derby) and Hazel Ferguson (Woking) qualify second and third fastest respectively.
There will be some exciting racing in all the Men’s and Women’s 50m Freestlye finals tonight as the top ten swimmers in every age-group are within one second of each other.
Bournemouth College’s Alice Tai (S10), who touched the wall only a second outside her own European Record, and Loughborough University’s James Hollis (S10), qualified first for their respective MC 100m Butterfly finals.
Katie Matts looked to put pressure on Corrie Scott in the closing stages of their 100m Breaststroke heat but the University of Edinburgh swimmer, who took bronze in the 50m Breaststroke at last year’s Commonwealth Games, maintained her strong form to touch the wall first ahead of the Stockport Metro swimmer.
Rachael Wilson (Derwentside) and Sarah Vasey (Derventio) will join Scott as second and third fastest respectively in the 19yrs+ final while Kara Hanlon (Highland) and Bournemouth College’s Beth Aitchison head into the 17/18yrs final in touching distance of Matts.
Imogen Clark showed she has the strength in the second half of her heat to qualify for the 16yrs 100m Breaststroke final in pole position. Millfield’s Emma Cain, gold medallist in the 200m Breaststroke, progresses through second fastest and City of Peterborough’s Leah Roughan third.
In other events, Jay Lelliot and Cameron Kurle will be looking to add to their 200m Freestyle gold medals after strong swims in the penultimate Men’s 400m Freestyle heat this morning.
Lelliot took control of the race early and had over a body length’s advantage at the half-way mark but a strong final 50m from Kurle saw him touch the wall within a second off the Bath University swimmer. The pair now head into the finals tonight fastest qualifiers for their respective 19+yrs and 17/18yrs 400m Freestyle finals tonight.
In the 19yrs+ final, Caleb Hughes, back in the pool after racing in the 5km Open Water at the FINA World Championships last week, progresses second fastest just ahead of Loughborough University teammate, Tobias Robinson, while Royal Wolverhampton’s Tom Derbyshire and Thanet Swim’s will race either side of Millfield’s Kurle in tonight’s 17/18yrs final.
In the final heat of the Women’s 400m Free, Libby Mitchell and Chloe Finch were shoulder to shoulder for the majority of the race but it was Finch who found an extra burst of energy over the final 100 metres to pull ahead an touch the wall first.
The City of Birmingham swimmer now leads the way in the 17/18yrs final tonight with Alice Dearing (Royal Wolverhampton) and Ellena Jones (Swansea Aquatics) second and third fastest respectively, while Swansea Aquatics’ Mitchell will occupy lane four in the 19yrs+ final ahead of Aisha Thornton (Loughborough University) and Abbie Houston (City of Sheffield)
Holly Hibbot touched the wall first in the penultimate Women’s 400m Freestyle heat to qualify first for tonight’s final over four seconds ahead of next placed swimmers Georgia Coates (City of Leeds) and Hannah Featherstone (Sedgefield).
In contrast, only 0.2 seconds separates Hibbot’s Stockport Metro teammate Harrison Coulter and Nova Centurion’s Charlie Humphries heading into the Men’s 16yrs final tonight but with third place Millfield’s Max McCusker inside a second of the pair the race is on for gold tonight.