Matt Richards’ 200m British freestyle gold secures Paris nomination
Matt Richards came out on top of a stacked field to claim men’s 200m freestyle gold on the final day of the British Swimming Championships and secure another nomination for this summer’s Olympics.
With just two places available in each individual event, Tom Dean, who won individual 200m gold in Tokyo, will not defend his title in Paris.
Richards, 21, who booked his ticket to the French capital after taking the 100m freestyle title, will defend his 4x200m freestyle gold from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics alongside Duncan Scott, Dean and James Guy, who finished a respective second through fourth inside the required nomination time.
Scott said: “It’s always so difficult when there are only two individual spots, and I’ve been on the wrong side of that last time, but at the same time that sort of urges everyone on. There’s real good quality in that race. It’s a great sign for the 4x200m, but it’s a tough way to end the week. Another exciting one and I’m really happy with that.”
Swimmers who did not earn direct nominations through the British Championships still have a chance of earning one of the remaining spots on Team GB if chosen by the selectors.
Anna Hopkin, a gold medallist in the mixed 4x100m medley in Tokyo, had already secured a place in Paris after defending her women’s 50m freestyle title on Thursday and added a 100m freestyle gold for another nomination.
Freya Anderson, who swam in the heats for that gold medal-winning relay team, was an uncertain participant in the championships after revealing last month that she had been diagnosed with glandular fever at the start of this year, forcing her to pull back from training.
Anderson skipped the 200m freestyle but did compete in the 100m, finishing third and outside the nomination time, with Eva Okaro – also outside the mark – taking silver to match the seeding from the afternoon’s heats.
Oliver Morgan, who broke the British 100m backstroke record on the second day of competition, earned his second Paris qualification of the week after edging out Luke Greenbank to take the British 200m title.
Greenbank, a 200m breaststroke bronze and men’s 4x100m medley relay silver medallist in Tokyo, touched the wall just 0.12sec after Morgan and will hope he has done enough to impress the selectors and represent Team GB again this summer.
Angharad Evans had finished under the nomination time in the women’s 100m breaststroke heats but missed out on doing the same and earning a direct nomination in the final, where she pipped Kara Hanlon to the finish by just 0.06sec.
While she missed the Paris mark, 14year-old Amelie Blocksidge cemented herself as one to watch with gold in the women’s 800m freestyle after successfully defending her 1500m title.
Tully Kearney, who set a British S5 50m women’s backstroke record on the penultimate day of competition, finished first and under the nomination time in her multi-classification 100m freestyle final.
The Tokyo 2020 100m freestyle S5 champion and 200m freestyle silver medallist was one of a number of athletes who posted times under the Paralympic mark on the final day of competition to put themselves in contention for this summer’s Games.
British Championships