Ben Proud provided another sprint masterclass to defend his Men's 50m Freestyle crown as Abbie Wood set an eye-catching personal best in the Women's 200m Individual Medley on Saturday night at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.
Wood's time of 2:08.85 secured her place in that event for July's World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, having already done so over twice the distance earlier in the meet, while Proud's dominant splash-and-dash victory saw him well inside the Worlds qualification mark, having already been inked in for that contest by virtue of his unforgettable Olympic silver nine months ago.
Around those results, Faye Rogers continued her record-breaking form by twice resetting the European record in the S10 100m Butterfly to win the multi-classification crown, while also taking silver in a thrilling MC 200m Individual Medley, Brock Whiston taking gold.
In the fastest race of the meet, Proud made the rare walk to lane five for the 50m Freestyle final afer a brilliant heats effort by 17-year-old Jacob Mills - but in the finals environment, Ben showed his class, coming up first after a strong start and never relinquishing his lead, going two tenths inside the 21.88 World Championship requirement to take the gold.
Behind him, Mills followed up his 100m Freestyle silver with the same colour here, while Alex Painter rounded out the podium, with the experienced Proud encouraged by his own swim and that of the swimmer next to him in lane four.
"I wanted to come into this week and race, and that was exactly it. I had to go up against a new one next to me who was excited, but I know this event very well, I know myself and I knew I just needed to squeeze just a little bit more out considering the time of the year," he said.
"I think it's just exciting having someone young coming on to the team, after the race I just told him [Jacob], 'these are the experiences that money can't buy, you can't practice this anywhere else other than the big events', so it seemed like he was a little bit disappointed with a 21.99 tonight - which was very exciting for a 17-year-old because I think he's an exciting one to watch and I hope he keeps hungry and aiming for a bit more, because there is a lot more to come."
The multi-classification Men's 50m Freestyle was won by Matthew Redfern on 742 points, just ahead of Tomas Navarro-Barber (730 points), who came close to his third gold of the week. Roan Brennan took bronze on 691.
The night's curtain call came in the Women's 200m Individual Medley, where Wood improved on a memorable, personal-best swim at this same event 12 months ago by producing a brilliantly-paced four laps of medley swimming to take the gold.
She was pushed all the way by Katie Shanahan in the lane next to her, but holding her own on the backstroke leg allowed her to build a lead over the breaststroke and hold on to the wall, the 2:08.85 adding to her programme for Singapore. Shanahan - the 100m and 200m Backstroke champion - also went inside the Worlds selection time in taking silver, with Leah Schlosshan making another podium for the bronze.
"I think I'm at that point in my career where I'm just really enjoying swimming again and it's really reflecting in the pool. It's not a chore going to training everyday, I'm really enjoying it and I think it shows when I race. I'm relaxed, there's no pressure on myself anymore because anything I do now is a bonus, so I can't complain with a few PBs!" said Abbie.
"I think Aquatics GB's investment into this event, it's such a good production, it does kind of mirror a World Championships, with cameras following you up and down, it's a kind of practice for that stage, and with the environment and this Olympic pool it's not hard to get excited for racing."
Just before that finale, the multi-classification Women's 200m Individual Medley served up a tight affair, with big points scores coming from all over the pool.
Faye Rogers - of which more on her butterfly heroics later - and Bethany Firth were engaged in an intriguing battle at the front of the field, S14 competitor Firth ultimately touching first on 889 points, thanks in the main to her characteristically outstanding backstroke leg. Rogers came in just behind in a new S10 British record of 2:28.97, but scoring more points on 919 to briefly sit in the gold-medal position - only for S8 athlete Brock Whiston in lane one to power home for an overall tally of 921 and take the title.
Afterwards, Paralympic champion Brock was quick to pay tribute to the importance of the team around her, just as she did in praising fellow medallists Faye and Bethany on the podium.
"Without a team, we're not athletes. People don't realise the amount of work that goes on behind us, and I always say for me if it wasn't for the team that worked with me, I wouldn't even be getting on that block to race," she said.
"I need a massive team even to get me on the block so I don't think people realise, it's an individual sport but it's not because everyone works so hard to get us here."
University of Aberdeen Performance Swim Team star Rogers had already been in finals action before that medley showpiece, as she ensured her name would get another addition on the new London Aquatics Centre honours board with a European record swim to take the multi-classification 100m Butterfly crown.
A Paralympic champion over this distance, Faye was in supreme form, her high stroke rate seeing her drop a 1:04.17 to reset her best from the morning's heats and record a points tally of 1062. Behind her, S14 duo Olivia Newman-Baronius and Poppy Maskill also swam great races to take silver and bronze on 966 and 952 points respectively, with Olivia's time getting her under the Singapore qualification standard, with Poppy hitting it exactly.
Reflecting on her day as a whole, Rogers said: "I'm absolutely exhausted but it’s been one of the best meets ever and I keep surprising myself, I’m not expecting the times I’m swimming! That race was a swim on adrenaline, in the call room I was bouncing around and didn’t sit down once because if I did I would crash. I’m loving racing at the moment, and I think it’s showing when I’m racing. To be on the podium with Bethany and Brock is incredible. I admire Bethany so much and I was really trying to catch her."
The Women's 100m Butterfly open final was won by Keanna MacInnes to double her fly titles tally for these Championships, with University of Stirling teammate a mere 0.06s behind her for the silver. Emily Richards rounded out the podium.
Before then, Tyler Melbourne-Smith led from early on and dictated the pace as he won the Men's 800m Freestyle gold, ahead of Luke Hornsey in silver and Alexander Sargeant in bronze, while Greg Butler took his second British title of the meet with a convincing Men's 200m Breaststroke win. Seventeen-year-old Filip Nowacki was impressive in chasing him down the final length to take silver, George Smith securing bronze.
Full results from day five of the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships are here.