British Championships, Day 5 Men’s Finals: Ben Proud & Jacob Mills Primed For 50 Free Action
Jacob Mills and Ben Proud are in the centre lanes for the 50 free on the penultimate day of action at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in London.
Mills – 17 – led the way in prelims in a huge PB of 21.96 before Proud clocked 22.06 in the final heat although the Olympic silver medallist eased through the final metres.
Proud has been preselected for the World Championships thanks to his trip to the Paris podium while Mills was inside the cut in the 100 free where he went 48.03 behind winner Matt Richards and all but booked himself a ticket to Singapore.
The evening starts with the men’s 800 free where Reece Grady can seal the distance double following his 1500 gold while the 200m breaststroke will also be decided.
To qualify for worlds, a swimmer must finish first in an Olympic event and record a time that equals or betters those in the table below. Athletes that finish second in a time equal or better than that in the table will be considered for selection to a team that will have a maximum of 30 athletes.
Men’s 800 Free: QT, 7:47.80
Tyler Melbourne-Smith pulled away from the field to come home in a PB of 7:58.68 with last year’s silver medallist the only man inside 8mins. Melbourne-Smith, however, had mixed emotions, describing his turns as “terrible,” and said: “It was an alright swim but I need to be a bit quicker.” Luke Hornsey was second in 8:03.11 with Alex Sergeant third in 8:04.28.
