Golden Gammon has plenty of festive cheer
Joshua Gammon capped a fantastic 2023 by winning a hattrick of gold medals and Jemima Hall bagged two titles as University of Bath swimmers excelled at the Gocardless Swim England National Winter Short Course Championships in Sheffield.
Sports performance student Gammon, coached by Andrei Vorontsov, went under 50 seconds for the first time as he stormed to 100m butterfly gold in 49.87. He then finished nearly four seconds of the field in the 200m butterfly (1:51.88) before completing a clean sweep of butterfly titles in the 50m (22.55).
Business student Hall – who, like Gammon, is supported by TASS (Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme) – won gold in both the 50m backstroke (27.87) and 100m freestyle (54.44), as well as freestyle bronze over 200m (1:56.75) and 400m (4:07.58).
Backstroke specialist Niamh Ward, who studies civil engineering, won 200m silver (2:07.67) and 100m bronze (59.23), while University of Bath Swimming Club teammate Jana Spinner claimed 100m individual medley silver (1:02.32) and 100m breaststroke bronze (1:08.21). She was also victorious in the Senior finals of the 100m freestyle (55.26) and 50m breaststroke (31.60) during a busy week.
Sustainability and management postgraduate student Kat Price won 200m butterfly bronze (2:10.58) and narrowly missed the podium in the 100m final (1:00.35), and there were further fourthplaced finishes for Hall (100m backstroke, 59.93), Anna Farrow (100m IM, 1:02.89) and Archie Evans (50m backstroke, 24.87).
The Senior Finals saw victories for data science student Luis Weekes in the 200m breaststroke (2:13.38) and recent Pan-american Games competitor Sam Williamson in the 100m IM (55.93). Runners-up spots went to Farrow (100m freestyle, 55.93), Emily Morgan-hughes (100m IM, 1:03.84) and Maisie Gifford (200m freestyle, 2:00.34), and Kaleb Fox-jones was third in the 100m freestyle (49.29).
Team Bath AS Swimming Club’s Rue Fowler, who also trains in the London 2012 Legacy Pool at the Team Bath Sports Training Village, enjoyed an excellent week including 50m backstroke bronze (28.11) and a fourth-placed finish in the 50m butterfly (27.21).
That came after a superb 200m freestyle gold for Freya Anderson on the final night of the European Short-course Championships earlier in the month which ensured British Swimming finished top of the medal table in Otopeni, Romania.
It was a fifth medal of the week for British Swimming Performance Centre Bath star Anderson, who also anchored the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay quartet to victory in a British and Championship record time.
Team-mate Jacob Peters notched his first individual international medal too, a brilliant 100m butterfly bronze, and there were multiple podium places for University of Bath Swimming Club’s Ben Proud and alumna Anna Hopkin as the British team made history with 23 medals.
Anderson, coached by David Mcnulty at the Team Bath Sports Training Village, provided the final flourish by powering to a commanding victory as she reclaimed the 200m freestyle title she took in Glasgow four years ago.
“I am really happy with that,” she said.
“I really had to stick to my guns in that race because everyone has different tactics, but I played to my strengths and it paid off.”
Anderson also produced a trademark storming finish to the 100m freestyle final to take bronze behind University of Bath sport & exercise science graduate Hopkin, who was narrowly pipped to gold after leading from the front for much of an exciting race.
Hopkin, who had missed out on a 50m freestyle medal by just twohundredths of a second, and Anderson had started their busy weeks by winning women’s 4x50m freestyle relay bronze with Lucy Hope and Medi Harris.
They repeated that achievement in the 4x50m medley relay, Anderson swimming the freestyle leg in the heats and Hopkin in the final, before combining with Proud and
Lewis Burras to win mixed 4x50m freestyle relay gold in emphatic style.
That was a third 50m freestyle gold of the week for Proud, who clocked the second-fastest time ever of 20.18 in the men’s final and helped GB secure the men’s relay title with a new British record.
Performance Centre Bath swimmer Peters went under 50 seconds for the first time to place a fantastic third in the 100m butterfly.
“I’m happy, it’s a medal and a PB,” said Peters, who also set a new British record of 22.10 as he narrowly missed out on a 50m butterfly medal.
“I still think there is more in me but it’s my first-ever individual international medal so hopefully that’s a sign of things to come. It gives me a lot of confidence going into the Olympic year.”
Peters also teamed up with Oliver Morgan, Archie Goodburn and Matt Richards to win silver in the men’s 4x50m medley relay, with fellow Bath swimmers Jono Adam and Ed Mildred also receiving medals following their important efforts in the preliminary rounds.
Mildred was seventh in the men’s 200m butterfly final, University of Bath Mechanical Engineering student Cameron Brooker – supported by an Ivor Powell Sports Scholarship – posted a new personal best to finish sixth in the 200m backstroke, and Jacob Whittle was eighth in the 100m freestyle.
The London 2012 Legacy Pool at the University of Bath, the training base for the British Swimming Performance Centre Bath squad, is open to the public too. Visit teambath.com/swimming to see the swimfit timetable.