Welsh swimmers produced a second day of positive performances at the 2024 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.
After Keiran Bird secure the 400m Freestyle British title and Medi Harris earned a spot on the Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay team for Paris on day one at the London Aquatics Centre, Welsh swimmers and para-swimmers were back in the pool on the hunt for medals and personal bests.
Mabli Collyer and Theodora Taylor clinched first place finishes in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke Junior and B Finals respectively, and Rebecca Sutton delivered an impressive performance to win the Women’s 100m Backstroke B Final before Harris just fell short of the medals in the Paris final.
Men’s 200m Butterfly B Final
Antonio Rodriguez and Rhydian Arch were the first Welsh representatives of the evening in the 200m Butterfly B Final.
From lane one and two, both set a fierce tempo from the outside, and Rodriguez was able to maintain his early pace to snatch an impressive third place finish.
Men’s 200m Butterfly Paris Final
Swansea University’s Rhys Edwards followed them into the pool for the Paris final, where he finished seventh in a time of 2:01.7.
Women’s 200m Breaststroke Junior Final
Mabli Collyer, who represented Wales at last year’s Commonwealth Youth Games, made a strong start in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke final as she reached the halfway mark in second place in a time of 1:13, and she never looked back as she battled past Chloe Bown in a sprint finish down the final 50m to win the junior race.
Women’s 200m Breaststroke B Final
Theodora Taylor headlined a B final containing Swim Wales teammates Sophie Brassington and Amy Crowley. Taylor took control from the off and continued to assert her dominance from lane five as she passed 100m in 1:11.25. There was no stopping the Torfaen Dolphin, who charged home to take first place in 2:30.37. Sophie Brassington swam an impressive race to snatch third in 2:31.60.
Men’s 100m Backstroke Para Paris Final
After a third place in the 100m Breaststroke Para Paris final on day one, Rhys Darbey took to the London pool again in the 100m Backstroke. The Nofio Clwyd athlete earned a fifth place finish as he builds towards the Individual Medley as he touched in 1:02.54 to earn 752 points.
Women’s 100m Backstroke B Final
Before Harris’s shot at the Paris nomination time, Rebecca Sutton lined up in lane four for the B Final. Derby’s Georgina Pryor took a commanding early lead before being reeled in by Sutton in the final 50m, and the Commonwealth Games swimmer took the touch in 1:02.14, just two tenths of a second ahead of Pryor.
Women’s 100m Backstroke Para Paris Final
Nofio Gwynedd’s Ela Letton-Jones displayed her rapid improvement to make the Para Paris final alongside the likes of Poppy Maskill. From lane one, Letton-Jones finished seventh in a time of 1:15.50.
Women’s 100m Backstroke Paris Final
After a bronze medal performance in the 200m Freestyle, Harris was out to get on the podium again in the 100m Back final.
A strong start saw her hit the turn in third place behind Kathleen Dawson and Lauren Cox, but the Porthmadog swimmer lost momentum heading into the final 25m and saw Honey Orsin and Blythe Kinsman come past her in the closing stages as she had to settle for a fifth place finish.
