By Seren Jones, Swimming World College Intern
SHEFFIELD – After the excitement of the opening day at the British Summer Nationals, day two proved to maintain the momentum of yesterday’s fast swims.
The evening was opened by the final heat of the women’s 800 freestyle. The event was claimed by Swansea Aquatics representative, Ellena Jones, one of Wales’ young talents. Jones grabbed gold in a time of 8:43.23, a second ahead of Tamzin Pugh of Ellesmere (8:44.30,) and three seconds ahead of Loughborogh University’s Aisha Thornton (4:26.72.)
The men’s 200 backstroke was next and proved to be a comfortable win for Warrender’s Craig McNally who was the only swimmer to go sub two minutes. McNally touched the wall in a time of 1:58.21, while Jonathon Carlisle of Sunderland came second in 2:00.13, and Callum Barrett of Loughborough Univ. earned bronze in 2:01.03.
In the women’s multi-disability event Hannah Russell from Woking grabbed gold in the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:06.75. Yesterday’s champion, Jessica–Jane Applegate of UEA Norwich settled for silver in 1:07.07, and Chloe Davies of Swansea Aquatics took bronze in a time of 1:08.31. Applegate and Davies belong to category 14 while Russell is in category 12.
On the men’s side James Crisp from Sheffield took first place with 1:04.05. In second place was Aaron Moores of Trowbridge in a time of 1:03.88, and Ryan Nicholls in 1:04.28. While Crisp belongs to category 9, Moores and Nicholls are in category 14.
In the women’s 100 backstroke, the fastest times of the event came from the 17/18 age group and was certainly a nail-biter. Two gold medals were distributed as Harriett Cooper from Derby and Brittany Horton from Birmingham both touched in first place in 1:01.33. Kathleen Dawson of Warrington touched just 0.1 behind in 1:01.43.
Lawrence Palmer of Putteridge touched out Loughborough’s Andrew Weatherrit by 0.1 in the 50 breaststroke as he took the event in 27.87, only 0.2 behind world-record-holder Adam Peaty‘s age-group record. Euan Inglis of Edinburgh University touched the wall 0.03 seconds behind Weatherrit in exactly 28 seconds.
Eleanor Robinson of Northampton was victorious in the 50 butterfly in the multi-disciplinary event while E Martin–De-La-Torre of Team Ipswich touched in second place. Robinson hit the wall in 38.68 and Martin-De-La-Torre followed in 40.90. Both athletes compete in category six. Andrew Mullen of Ren 96 took the men’s title in 36.56. Mullen belongs to category five.
In the women’s 100 butterfly, Alys Thomas of Swansea Aquatics was the only female to touch the wall in less than a minute. Thomas earned the title in 59.87, followed by Guildford’s Ellen Thomas (1:00.03,) and Bath University’s Tilly Gray (1:00.47) respectively.
Bath’s Jay Lelliott took the final event of the evening and finished the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:49.32. Newport’s Cameron Brown touched in less than half a second behind claiming the silver medal in 1:49.77, while Sheffield’s Thomas Sunter took the bronze medal in 1:50.23.
2015 British Summer Nationals, Day 2 – Results
