Adam Peaty went 26.75 in the 50br for victory by more than a second and Abbie Wood demonstrated how her star continues to rise with a win in the 200 free in 1:57.96 on the second day of the Manchester International Swim Meet.
James Guy led from start to finish for a dominant victory in the 200 fly in 1:56.34, within half a second of his four-year PB and almost three seconds ahead of six-time 2019 European Youth Olympic medallist Ed Mildred to end the session in some style.
Molly Renshaw added the 100 breaststroke title to the 200 she won on Friday when she tied the British record and Marie Wattel underlined her sprint prowess with a 25.51 effort in the 50 fly which will resonate on poolsides across the world.
There were promises of fine times ahead for British freestyle sprinting with Tom Dean leading home teenage pair Matt Richards and Jacob Whittle in the 100 free.
Jordan Catchpole had a busy night in the pool, winning three titles in the multi-classification para-swimming programme.
Peaty Dominates, Wood Shines Once More And Guy Flies
Peaty dominated over one length of the pool ahead of James Wilby (27.79) and David Murphy (28.18).
Such is Peaty’s consistency, his time was quicker than the fifth-placed man, Ilya Shymanovich, at the 2019 World Championships in which the Briton took gold.
It came a day after the Olympic champion won the 100br in 58.82 – the only man inside 59 so far this year – although the bigger battles lie ahead with Tokyo 2020 and the defence of his crown less than 160 days away.
Abbie Wood: Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL
Wood set a two-second PB to win the 200 free ahead of Freya Anderson, a day after the National Centre Loughborough swimmer entered 2:22 territory in the 200 breaststroke, another best by some margin.
Wood, who is coached by Dave Hemmings, and Anderson had both gone 1:59 in qualifying and the pair were alongside each other in lanes four and five respectively.
Wood led from start to finish and appeared to have a clear margin of victory until the final 25 when Anderson started to claw back the deficit.
Wood, however, got her hand to the wall first in 1:57.96, second in the fledgling rankings behind Chihiro Igarashi of Japan, with Anderson touching in 1:58.00.
Splits:
Wood: 27.43/57.34/1:27.57/1:57.96
Anderson: 27.99/57.87/1:28.26/1:58.00
Holly Hibbott was third in 2:00.15 and it poses an intriguing question as to whether Great Britain can qualify a women’s 4×2 relay for Tokyo 2020.
Guy went sixth in the world rankings with his dominant 200 fly – an event that is not a main focus.
The two-time Olympic relay medallist split 25.05/53.89/1:24.34 with a final 50 of 32secs to add the four-length title to the 100 he won on Friday.
Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL
Mildred, 17, was second in 1:59.33 with Max Litchfield third in 1:59.62.
Guy, who is coached by Dave McNulty at the National Centre Bath, said:
“It was a great swim and I’m really happy with the time. It just shows that what we’ve been doing in Bath over the past 10 weeks has been working.
“I’ve been doing a massive, consistent block of work, and that’s starting to come together now, grinding, day in and day out, it’s just nice to see that everything is coming together.
“We’re a few weeks out from Olympic trials, I’m really happy with things and it’s a positive sign.
“It’s just nice to be back racing again and in an Olympic-sized pool. Wearing masks on poolside, following the strict COVID procedures and warming up in different slots, it’s the same for everyone but trying to adjust to it can be quite tricky, and I think that’s where I went wrong on day one – but you have to live and learn. It’s a privilege for us to be back in the water and racing again.”
Renshaw, who tied the British record of 2:22.08 in the 200br on Friday, came from second at halfway to claim the two-length crown.
Commonwealth 50br champion Sarah Vasey reached halfway in 31.50, 0.36 ahead of Renshaw who then ate into the deficit to touch in 1:07.38.
Vasey was second in 1:07.76 with Imogen Clark third in 1:07.83.
Wattel And Dean Sprint To Victory
Wattel underlined her sprinting expertise and consistency by adding the 50 fly to the 50 free title she claimed on the opening night.
The Frenchwoman stopped the clock at 25.51 – just 0.01 outside her PB that guided her to fifth at the 2019 worlds.
Louise Hansson of Sweden was second in 26.05 with Harriet Jones the first Briton home in a Welsh record of 26.34 to get third.
Marie Wattel: Photo Courtesy: Mike Lewis / ISL
Dean led all the way to take the 100 free in 49.65 leading home 18-year-old Richards (49.85) and Whittle, the 16-year-old who went sub-50 for the second time in a day in 49.97.
Lily Booker won the women’s 400IM in a PB of 4:44.73 – the only woman to break 4:50 in a final that featured four swimmers.
Andreas Vazaios held off a fast-finishing Joe Litchfield for victory in the 200IM in 2:01.54 to the Briton’s 2:01.63.
Luke Greenbank was third in 2:02.69.
Georgia Davies won the 100 back in 1:01.96 ahead of Honey Osrin, who turns 18 later this month and touched in 1:02.18.
Jonathon Adam headed a field of three to win the 50 back in 26.30
In the para-swimming programme, Catchpole won the multi-classification 50 back in 28.94, a day after lowering the British S14 50fr record.
Catchpole also won the 200IM in 2:19.24 and the 100 free in 54.78.
Hannah Russell, the S12 world record holder, won the MC 100 back in 1:10.49 and Ellie Robinson earned the 50 fly title in 37.06.
Louise Fiddes won the 100br in 1:17.06 with Lyndon Longhorne taking the 50br in 1:06.10.
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The time by Harriet Jones in the 50m fly is a new Welsh national record