National and world records tumbled in what was a fantastic night of competition on the third evening of the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships at the London Aquatics Centre.
Angharad Evans (women’s 200m breaststroke); Freya Colbert (women’s 200m freestyle); and Bruce Dee (men’s S6 100m freestyle) all set new national records before Will Ellard (men’s S14 100m freestyle) reclaimed his world record, and Matt Richards brought the curtain down on the evening by retaining his men’s 100m freestyle crown.
Evans produced a stunning swim to take over a second off the previous British record, clocking 2:19.70. Abbie Wood claimed silver and Anna Morgan bronze.
Evans said afterwards: “The time still has not settled in. I heard the crowd really loudly and I was hoping I was beating my PB. To not only get the British record but to be the first British woman sub-2.20 is absolutely phenomenal, and I don’t think it will sink in for some time.”
Colbert was next to set a new British best mark, as she swam 1:54.34 to lower the record she set in Edinburgh a matter of weeks ago. Freya Anderson took silver, Leah Schlosshan bronze, and Theodora Taylor was fourth to complete the relay quartet to represent Great Britain at the forthcoming European Championships.
After the race, Colbert said:
“If they (the British records) keep on coming, I’m not going to complain! I think I’ve done some really good work so far this season, particularly around some technical stuff, and it’s all really come together in a bit of a fairytale this past month, in Edinburgh and now here. Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling into the rest of my races this week, and into the summer.”
Dee’s national record was his second of the day and third of the championships, and was enough for silver behind Kieran Williams in the mixed classification 100m freestyle. Also victorious in the mixed classification events this evening were Mark Tompsett (men’s 100m backstroke) and Georgia Sheffield (women’s 200 freestyle).
In the penultimate race of the evening, Ellard clocked 50.41 to set a new world record. Rhys Darbey was second, and Dylan Broom completed the podium.
Ellard said:
“It seems like it (breaking the world record) gets harder every time. Last year in the world championships I was .14 off the world record in the 100m butterfly, so trying to get that one is probably my main aim for the rest of the week.”
Elsewhere, Lauren Cox and Oliver Morgan continued their dominance of their respective events. Cox claimed her second title of the championships with a win in the women’s 50m backstroke (Blythe Kinsman took silver and Medi Harris bronze), while Morgan retained his men’s 100m backstroke title ahead of Matthew Ward and Cameron Brooker.
Reece Grady was another to retain his national title, getting the evening session underway by winning the men’s 1500m freestyle.
In the final event of the night, Matt Richards thrilled the crowd with a storming final 50m to successfully defend his men’s 100m crown. After Alex Painter had turned first in lane 8, Richards showed his class to pull away from the field, and ensure that Jacob Mills had to settle for silver, with Jacob Whittle claiming bronze. Gabriel Shepherd was fourth and completes the relay team.
The racing resumes tomorrow, with ten more National Champions to be crowned. Every A finals session from this year’s Aquatics GB Swimming Championships will be broadcast live from 7.45pm across BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, as well as live coverage of heats (9.30am) and finals (6pm onwards) on the Aquatics GB YouTube channel.
The Aquatics GB social media channels will provide exclusive behind-the-scenes content throughout the meet - and you can still be in the London Aquatics Centre stands yourself, with limited tickets still available here.
Full results, start lists and schedules are available on the Swimming Results website.
Limited tickets are still available across the 2026 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships through SEE Tickets