Catch Up On The Top 5 Performances From The 2023 British Swimming Championships

The 2023 British Swimming Championships took place Tuesday, April 4th through Sunday, April 9th with the meet representing the primary opportunity for athletes to qualify for this summer’s World Championships.

Halfway through the competition, British Swimming surprisingly changed up its selection policy, eliminating the previously-specified number of eight discretionary picks and leaving the door open for unlimited selections.

That was most likely in response to the fact that, due to stiff selection standards which, in some cases were inside of existing national records, only 5 swimmers outright hit automatic Fukuoka qualification.

Nevertheless, there were impressive performances throughout the six-day affair both on the men’s and women’s sides. Here are our top 5 swims from the 2023 British Swimming Championships.

#1 Matt Richards‘ History-Making 200m Freestyle – 1:44.83

20-year-old Matt Richards made his presence known across the trio of sprint freestyle events, wreaking havoc in the 50m, 100m and 200m distances.

Richards hit Welsh records across all 3, with his best times from the meet checking in at 21.98, 47.72 (prelims) and 1:44.83, respectively.

In fact, Richards’ results rendered him the first man ever to dip under the 22-second threshold in 50m, the 48-second threshold in the 100m and the 1:45 threshold in the 200m either at the same meet or throughout one’s entire career.

Richards’ 200m free performance of 1:44.83 was especially significant, as the Millfield swimmer beat out reigning Olympic champion Tom Dean in the process. Dean settled for silver just .10 behind in 1:44.93 while 2015 world champion in the event James Guy rounded out the top 3 in 1:45.85.

Richards’ outing hacked nearly a second off of his previous personal best, a time which stood at the 1:45.77 notched at the 2021 edition of this meet.

His new PB now checks him in as Great Britain’s 3-best performer of all time and he ranks #2 in the world this season. But, his time also strikes fear into men’s 4x200m free relays around the world now that GBR has another sub-1:45 swimmer in its arsenal.

#2 Freya Colbert Introduces Herself with 4:35.50 400m IM

With the retirements of Hannah Miley and Aimee Willmott, Great Britain was in dire need of a new world-class 400m IMer.

Enter 19-year-old Freya Colbert.

Prior to these British Swimming Championships, Loughborough’s Colbert held a 400m IM personal best of 4:39.80. She produced that result at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where she placed 4th.

However, Colbert crushed that outing with a massive new PB of 4:35.50 to take the gold in Sheffield. That hacked 4 seconds off of her Birmingham performance and even cleared the stiff qualification standard of 4:36.00.

Also in the process, Colbert became the 3rd fastest British woman in history, with her 4:35.50 sitting only behind the aforementioned retired Olympians.

She ranks #2 in the world on the season, following the earth-shattering World Record of 4:25.87 16-year-old Summer McIntosh established at the Canadian Trials.

#3 Laura Stephens Dips Under 2:07 in 200 Butterfly – 2:06.62

Laura Stephens has been the top British 200m butterflier on the women’s side since Alys Thomas‘ retirement.

But the 23-year-old Loughborough star entered entirely new territory with her monster 2:06.62 personal best-setting swim to take gold in Sheffield.

Entering the competition, Stephens’ career-quickest 2fly rested at the 2:07.04 she clocked 2 years ago. As such, her result en route to qualifying for the 2023 World Championships brought her into the 2:06 zone for the first time ever, becoming Great Britain’s 4th fastest woman in history in the process.

Stephens now checks in as the #2 swimmer in the world this season.

#4 Tom Dean Blasts 1:56.65 200m IM

Tom Dean may very well be the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 200m free but the 22-year-old athlete from Bath demonstrated his versatility en route to winning the 200m IM in Sheffield.

Dean stopped the clock in a rapid 1:56.65, the fastest time of his career, en route to beating out the Olympic silver medalist in the event, Duncan Scott. Scott was right there with him, registering a time of 1:56.72 as the only other swimmer to get under the 2:00 barrier in the final.

As for Dean, his effort overtook his previous personal best of 1:56.77 posted at the 2022 World Championships. That rendered him the 5th-place finisher there in Budapest.

Dean remains Great Britain’s 3rd fastest performer of all time in this event but now joins Scott in making a 1-2 potential British punch a possible prospect this summer as well as in Paris.

The pair insert themselves into the season’s world rankings in slots #3 and #4, respectively.

#5 Jacob Peters Tops Men’s 100m Butterfly Podium in 51.16 Personal Best

Jacob Peters has been a mainstay on the British elite international swimming scene for several years but has been yearning for a true breakout performance.

His 100m fly at these British Swimming Championships fit the bill, as the tatted 22-year-old busted out the best performance of his career in a time of 51.16.

Splitting 23.69/27.47, Peters beat out James Guy for the gold, hacking .34 off of his previous personal best in the process.

Peters’ result at this competition out-performed his 52.07 heats swim from the Olympic Games, his 51.50 semi-finals performance at the 2022 World Championships, his 52.35 from the 2022 European Championships as well as his 52.16 time from last year’s Commonwealth Games.

Peters is positioned only behind Guy’s national record of 50.67 from 2017 as the 2nd fastest British man in history.

Worldwide, Peters of Bath now ranks 4th on the season, with this head-turning performance coming at just the right time to use as motivation for Fukuoka.