Strong opening days at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships 2026
The 2026 edition of the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships is underway at the London Aquatics Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (14–19 April), with swimmers racing for places at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. The opening days have already delivered a packed programme of finals, personal bests and promising performances across senior, junior and para events.
Day 1
The championships opened with a busy slate of breaststroke, freestyle, butterfly and para events.
The standout swim of the day came from Tyler Melbourne-Smith who claimed bronze with a time of 3:47.17 in the Men’s 400m Freestyle A final. Kieran Bird took 8th place in the same event.
Rose Williams had a strong performance in the Women’s Para S14 100m Freestyle A Final, taking 5th place with a time of 01:00.85, with S12 Welsh star Ela Letton-Jones claiming the 6th spot in her 100m Freestyle race.
In the Men’s 100m breaststroke, William Irvine placed 2nd in the Junior Final in 1:03.54.
The men’s 400m Freestyle B final saw a strong team showing:
- Morgan Davies took 2nd B Final (3:59.35)
- Joshua Williams clocked 3:55.03 for the 3rd spot
- Jack Bamborough finished 4th (4:00.24)
- Thomas Trebilcock recorded 3:56.01 for 5th place
Maxwell Anderson finished 7th in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke B Final with 1:03.09.
Welsh Para swimmers also impressed in the Women’s 100m Freestyle B Final:
- Eliza Humphrey 6th Para B-final (01:14.59)
- Meghan Willis 8th Para B-final ( 01:08.58)
Day 2 – Backstroke and Butterfly highlights
Day two delivered more finals and a host of encouraging swims.
Kyle Booth reached the Men’s 50m Breaststroke A Final, whilst competing alongside veteran stars like Adam Ramsay Peaty. Booth took 7th place in the A final. In the heats he secured a Welsh senior record with an incredible time of 00:27.66. This was a fantastic achievement as Kyle has only been back full time training for 3 weeks.
In the competitive Women’s 1500m Freestyle Alexandra Bastone took the 4th spot with a time of 16:40.0.
In the Men’s 200m Butterfly A final Antonio Rodriguez finished 7th in 2:00.01 and in the Women’s 100m Backstroke A Final Rebecca Sutton claimed 8th place with a time of 01:02.04.
In the Women’s 100m Backstroke MC A-Finals, both Rose Williams and Ela Letton-Jones gave strong performances:
- Women’s 100m Backstroke Ela Letton-Jones 01:10.85 5th MC A-final
- Women’s 100m Backstroke Rose Williams 01:08.13 6th MC A-final
Up and coming Welsh swimmers make a splash in Junior finals:
- Men’s 50m Breaststroke William Irvine 2nd Jnr-final (00:29.06)
- Women’s 100m Backstroke Ffion Humphreys 2nd Jnr-final (01:02.86)
- Men’s 200m Butterfly Thomas Wooffindin 4th Jnr-final (02:04.21)
- Men’s 200m Butterfly Ryan Hardy 8th Jnr-final (02:06.89)
- Men’s 200m Butterfly Jack Keers 10th Jnr-final (02:08.54)
- 400m Ind. Medley Freya Gordon 8th Jnr-final (05:02.91)
B Finals (Day 2):
- Medi Harris won the Women’s 100m Backstroke B Final (1:01.79)
- Lewis Fraser secured 2nd in the Men’s 50m Breaststroke B Final with a fantastic time of 00:27.98
- Scarlett Humphrey 9th MC B-final Women’s 100m Backstroke (01:24.51)
- Rhys Edwards took 5th place in the Men’s 200m Butterfly B Final (02:01.80)
Day 3 – Heats set the stage for evening finals
An exciting third day began with a packed morning of heats across six events:
- Women’s 50m Backstroke
- Men’s 100m Backstroke
- Women’s 200m Breaststroke
- Men’s 100m Freestyle
- Women’s 200m Freestyle
- Men’s 1500m Freestyle
Finals are scheduled for 6pm, with heats and B finals available via the Aquatics GB livestream and medal races broadcast on BBC iPlayer.
With several days of racing still to come, performances are building momentum as swimmers push for qualification standards and championship finals. The stage is set for more fast racing and potential team selections as the week unfolds.
