By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2025 AQUATICS GB SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tuesday, April 15th – Sunday, April 20th Prelims at 9:30am local (4:30am ET)/Finals at 7pm local (2pm ET) London Aquatics Centre LCM (50m) Meet Central Aquatics GB World Championships Selection Criteria SwimSwam Preview Draft Entries Live Results Livestream Live Recaps Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3Day four of the 2025 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships is upon us, with athletes vying for slots on the British roster for this summer’s World Championships.
This competition is also a selection opportunity for the younger set to stake their claim on qualifying for the World and European Junior Swimming Championships, U23 European Swimming Championships and European Youth Olympic Festival.
As in the past, Aquatics GB has set some tough qualification standards, which are outlined in the selection criteria and preview bullets above. Also, as in the past, the British coaching brain trust will reserve ‘discretionary’ selections so there is a chance athletes can still make the team if they miss the QT.
Men’s 50m Back
Last night we saw Olympic finalist Oliver Morgan destroy his former British national record in the 100m back, ripping a new standard of 52.12 to become the world’s 2nd-best performer this season.
The 21-year-old was back at it this morning, taking on the 50m back sprint where he nabbed the top seed in 24.76, the sole swim of the morning under the 25-second barrier.
The time Birmingham’s Morgan clocked this morning was only a hair off his best of 24.73, an outing he put on the books at last year’s British Universities & Colleges Championships (BUCS). That slightly faster performance rendered Morgan Great Britain’s #2 performer of all time, sitting only behind national record holder Liam Tancock’s mark of 24.04 from the supersuited 2009 World Championships.
Entering this competition, Morgan checked in as the 9th-swiftest man in the world this season, courtesy of the 24.77 produced at this year’s BUCS.
Carnegie’s Johnny Marshall, also of the University of Florida, nabbed the 2nd seed in a time of 25.09, a new personal best by .12. Marshall is coming off the NCAA Championships, where he earned runner-up status in the 100y backstroke.
As we’ve mentioned, Aquatics GB does not dictate an outright qualification time for what they originally called ‘non-Olympic events’, which included 50s of breast, fly, and back. Swimmers may be discretionarily selected for these events, which have since been added to the LA 2028 Olympic program, or potentially have the 50 added to their lineup if they’ve already qualified for the 100m distance.
Women’s 50m Fly
18-year-old Eva Okaro carried her momentum from winning the women’s 50m free last night in a World Championships-worthy time into these prelims of the 50m fly.
Okaro of Repton, new training home Olympic champion Adam Peaty, produced a speedy morning swim of 26.57 to lead the pack, although Loughborough’s Laura Stephens was right behind in 26.70.
Edinburgh’s Ciara Schlosshan rounded out the top 3 performers in the only other sub-27-second result of the pack, hitting 26.90.
Okaro’s lifetime best checks in at the 26.39 posted just last month at the Edinburgh International Swim Meet, an outing only .08 outside Olympian Fran Halsall’s British Age Record.
Stephens’ performance this morning, on the other hand, indeed represented a new PB, overtaking her previous best-ever 26.77 from 2 years ago.
Stephens missed out on 200m fly Worlds qualification, finishing behind Keanna MacInnes who made the grade in a new Scottish record.
Men’s 100m Fly
22-year-old Ed Mildred of Manchester Performance Centre put his hat in the ring to potentially claim the 100m fly title, capturing the top seed in a morning mark of 51.75.
Mildred is coming off a stellar 200m fly performance where, although he missed Singapore qualification, he earned a respectable silver in a rapid new lifetime best of 1:56.21. With winner Duncan Scott all but saying he’s not going to swim that longer distance in Singapore, Mildred’s new PB may convince selectors to give him the roster slot.
A victory in this 100m fly would help solidify that selection and his 51.75 performance this morning already shaved .04 off his best-ever 51.79 from the 2022 European Championships. He remains GBR’s 6th-best performer of all time in this 1fly.
That’s also good news for the men’s medley relay, which needs the 100m fly victor to be at least as fast as 53.18 to earn the qualification.
A potentially big roadblock in Mildred’s way, however, is Olympian Jacob Peters of Bath Performance Centre.
24-year-old Peters snagged the 2nd seed in a solid 51.86 as the only other swimmer to delve under the 52-second barrier this morning.
Peters ranks as GBR’s #2 performer of all time, courtesy of the 51.16 he put on the books at the 2023 edition of these Championships.
Both of these top contenders will be chasing the stiff Aquatics GB-mandated qualification time of 51.35, a benchmark under which only Peters and national record holder James Guy have ever beaten.
Not to be discounted as dark horses are 5th-seeded Josh Gammon (52.69) and 6th-seeded Joe Litchfield (52.77).
Of note, Jamie Ingram, the 9th-fastest British swimmer ever, finished 9th and out of the A-final, as did Luke Greenbank, who settled for 11th place.
Women’s 400m Free
16-year-old Amelie Blocksidge already successfully defended her 1500m free title and the Salford swimmer will try to double up with a potential in this 400m.
Blocksidge got to the wall this morning in 4:15.67 to earn the pole position ahead of Leeds’ Hollie Wilson who touched in 4:16.51.
The former’s lifetime best rests at the 4:12.09 and the latter’s sits at 4:14.27, both produced at last year’s edition of this competition. Beating the selection standard of 4:04.98 will be quite a stretch for those at the top.
GBR’s 4th-best performer in history, Holly Hibbott, lurks as the 4th seed, although even she will need to pull off something truly special to hit the mark.
Men’s 200m IM
Nothing crazy transpired in the heats of the men’s 200m IM, as national record holder and the world’s 9th-best performer in history, Duncan Scott, cruised to a casual morning swim of 1:59.99.
That simply accomplished the 27-year-old Olympic silver medalist’s mission of securing the middle lane for this evening’s main event.
The Aquatics GB-mandated QT of 1:57.18 is well within reach for the man who already notched an in-season performance of 1:58.97 at the Edinburgh International Swim Meet in March.
Matt Ward, last night’s bronze medalist in the 100m back, was the next-fastest performer out of the prelims, carrying a time of 2:00.15, already shaving .01 off his PB put up last year.
Evan Jones and Charlie Hutchison are also among the contenders, with the former clocking 2:00.96 to the latter’s 2:01.18.
Hutchison is a University of Florida commit who earned 400m IM silver already here.
Breaststroke rising star Max Morgan entered the event but did not swim.
Women’s 200m Back
The field is stacked for tonight’s final of the women’s 200m back, with all the contenders chasing the World Championships selection standard of 2:08.68.
Only six British swimmers have ever delved under that threshold, including Stirling’s Katie Shanahan.
20-year-old Shanahan, the reigning European Championships silver medalist in this event, has been as fast as 2:07.45 in her career as GBR’s 3rd-best ever.
This morning she produced a mark of 2:12.70 to put herself in position for a shot at qualification.
Leading the way, however, was teammate Holly McGill who punched an effort of 2:12.04 followed by Bath’s Niamh Ward who hit 2:12.62 for the 3rd seed.
The reigning 400m IM world champion and now-British champion in that event and the 200m free, Freya Colbert will also be hunting the QT. She turned in a morning time of 2:13.50 but owns a PB of 2:08.73 as a bona fide potential spoiler.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025 Aquatics GB Championships Day 4 Prelims: Mildred Puts Up 100 Fly PB To Lead Heats
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