Matt Richards Comes Through In 200 Free Thriller Ahead Of Guy & McMillan In Edinburgh
Matt Richards led home fellow Olympic relay gold medallists James Guy and Jack McMillan as the trio underlined the depth and quality of the men’s 200 free in Great Britain at the Edinburgh International Swim Meet.
Lanes four, five and six of the Royal Commonwealth Pool were awash with Olympic and world medals. Guy has three titles among six Olympic medals and five crowns amid 11 world honours. Richards won silver at Paris 2024, 0.02 behind David Popovici, and joined forces with Guy, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott as the quartet made an historic defence of their 4×2 title. A year earlier the Welshman won double gold, including the individual 200 title, at the World Championships in Fukuoka. McMillan swam the 4×2 prelims in Paris to earn a gold medal.
Tom Dean, Matthew Richards, Duncan Scott & James Guy: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
Dean and Scott didn’t compete in the 200 free in Edinburgh with the latter instead opting for the 200IM on the opening night. Once again the men’s 200 free promises to be a race to relish at next month’s British Championships in London, which double as trials for the World Championships in Singapore.
Richards went out hard and led Guy by 0.11 at the first turn before the 2015 world champion split 26.81 to take over and reach the halfway point with a 0.27 lead. Guy extended his advantage to 0.34 at 150 with McMillan moving into third before Richards accelerated on the final 50, splitting 27.37 to come home in 1:47.19, 0.07 ahead of Guy (1:47.26). McMillan posted the swiftest last 50 of 27.17 to take third in 1:47.39 with the three split by 0.20secs.
Splits:
Richards: 24.64/51.83 (27.19)/1:19.82 (27.99)/1:47.19 (27.37)
Guy: 24.75/51.56 (26.81)/1:19.48 (27.92)/1:47.26 (27.78)
McMillan: 25.51/52.92 (27.41)/1:20.22 (27.30)/1:47.39 (27.17)
Scott Tops World Rankings After Dominant Display
Scott has won 200IM silver at the last two Olympics and he produced a fine exhibition of medley swimming in the final event of day one in Edinburgh.
The eight-time Olympic medallist reached the first turn a second ahead of Charlie Hutchison in 25.27, extending his advantage to 1.21secs at halfway in 55.32. He stretched away on the breaststroke before going to his legs on the freestyle to come home in 1:58.97, the fastest time in the world this year.
Splits: 25.27/55.32 (30.05)/1:30.33 (35.01)/1:58.97 (28.64)
Max Litchfield came through for second in 2:01.17 with Hutchison third in 2:01.54.
Ollie Morgan: Photo Courtesy: Morgan Harlow, Aquatics GB
Ollie Morgan was just 0.01 off his British record when he went 52.71 at the BUCS Championships in Sheffield in February and he surged ahead with almost a bodylength lead by halfway in 25.69, turning more than a second clear of Matthew Ward (26.74).
The University of Birmingham swimmer continued to stretch away on the second 50, splitting 27.28 to touch in 52.97, 1.66secs ahead of Ward (54.63) with Swim Ireland’s John Shortt third in 54.74.
Morgan will be favourite to claim his third straight title when he heads to the British Championships in London next month, a year after setting the national standard of 52.70 at the Aquatics Centre. The 22-year-old followed that up with eighth at Paris 2024 before leading off the medley relay as the quartet finished fourth at La Defense Arena.
Lauren Cox led European bronze medallist Roos Vanotterdijk by 0.12 in 29.10 to 29.22 at the halfway mark of the women’s 100 back. Sprint specialist Cox was third in the 50 at the 2023 worlds but she was still neck and neck with the Belgian in the final metres with Vanotterdijk taking the win in 59.77 to 59.95. The pair were the only women inside the minute mark with Katie Shanahan next home in 1:00.70.
The Wiffen twins enjoyed a 1-2 in the 1500 as they got the finals session underway. Olympic bronze medallist Daniel dominated, consistently splitting in the mid 30s, before a final 50 of 29.46 guided him home in 15:06.66. Nathan had been in a stroke-for-stroke tussle with Harry Wynne-Jones before accelerating away on the final 100 to take second in 15:32.22 to 15:35.94.
Victory For Evans In Edinburgh
Angharad Evans rewrote the British record books in 2024 when she lowered the 100m breaststroke mark to 1:05.54 before going on to finish sixth in Paris. The University of Stirling swimmer opened her 2025 campaign with a fine outing at BUCS where she went 1:06.02.
Anna Morgan led by 0.01 at halfway in 31.48 to 31.49 before a 34.89 second 50 propelled Evans into the wall in 1:06.38 ahead of Kara Hanlon (1:07.10) with Morgan third in 1:07.36.
Laura Stephens: Photo Courtesy: Morgan Harlow/Aquatics GB
Laura Stephens was 0.93secs clear of Keanna MacInnes at the final turn of the 200 fly. MacInnes, however, made inroads down the final 50, coming back with each stroke in the last 25 with Stephens holding on to win by 0.02 in 2:09.15 to 2:09.17 with Emily Richards third in 2:09.66.
Milou van Wijk of the Netherlands got the touch in the women’s 50 free in 24.48, 0.05 ahead of Belgium’s Florine Gaspard (24.53) with Eva Okaro – who’d had a fine start – clocking 24.80 for third.
Meiron Cheruti spotted his finish to win the 50 fly in 23.34 ahead of Nyls Korstanje (23.37) and 2017 world champion Ben Proud (23.49)
Noah de Schryver came through to win the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:12 97 and was followed home by Dimitrios Tsaliagkos (2:13.42) and Greg Butler (2:13.74).
A fine second half of the race saw Leah Crisp stretch away to win the women’s 400 free in 4:13.78 ahead of Imani de Jong (4:16.26) and Valentine Leclercq (4:16.74).
