2021 BRITISH SWIMMING INVITATION MEET
The 2021 British Swimming Invitation Meet ended on a high note, as some of the nation’s most talented freestylers duked it out in the 200m distance.
Taking the elite meet title in the event was World Championships relay gold medalist Duncan Scott, with the University of Stirling star cranking out a winning effort of 1:46.70.
Opening in 51.63 and closing in 55.07, Scott got the edge over runner-up Tom Dean, the new Bath team member who snagged the 200m free silver tonight only .05 behind in 1:46.75.
It was James Guy who had the quickest front speed of the pack, posting a first 100m mark of 51.58 before backing off a bit to collect bronze in 1:47.47.
This trio of Scott, Guy and Dean represent 3 of the 4 fastest British men of all-time in the 200m free, with retired swimmer Robbie Renwick as the final foursome. Scott owns the national record in 1:44.91 from the 2019 FINA World Championships, while Guy’s mark of 1:45.14 renders him as the 2nd-best Brit en route to his winning the 2015 World Championships title. Finally, Dean owns a PB of 1:46.03 from last year’s Edinburgh International Swim Meet.
All told, the top 6 swimmers were all under the 1:50 threshold in the 200m free this evening, with Scott and Dean ranking #9 and #10 in the world this season.
| 2 | Alexander Graham |
AUS | 1:45.69 | 12/13 |
| 3 | Elijah Winnington |
AUS | 1:45.79 | 12/13 |
| 4 | Hwang Sun Woo |
KOR | 1:45.92 | 11/19 |
| 5 | Martin Malyutin |
RUS | 1:46.10 | 10/26 |
| 6 | Mikhail Dovgalyuk |
RUS | 1:46.16 | 10/26 |
| 7 | Alexander Shchegolev |
RUS | 1:46.57 | 10/26 |
| 8 | Kristof Milak |
HUN | 1:46.68 | 12/12 |
| 9 | Wang Shun |
CHN | 1:46.91 | 01/02 |
| 10 | Andrew Seliskar |
USA | 1:47.01 | 03/05 |
| 10 | Ji Xinjie |
CHN | 1:47.01 | 01/02 |
| 12 | Baturalp Unlu |
TUR | 1:47.08 | 12/27 |
| 13 | Daniil Shatalov |
RUS | 1:47.12 | 10/26 |
| 14 | Antonio Djakovic |
SUI | 1:47.14 | 12/19 |
| 15 | Nils Liess |
SUI | 1:47.17 | 12/19 |
The women’s 100m free saw Anna Hopkin get to the wall first in a time of 54.44, sneaking to the time pad just .07 ahead of two-time European Short Course Championships gold medalist Freya Anderson. Anderson settled for silver in 54.51, while Lucy Hope represented the only other sub-55 second swimmer in a time of 54.94.
Max Litchfield grabbed the men’s 400m IM gold in a mark of 4:16.74 while Harriet Jones proved the speediest in the women’s 100m fly in 59.33.
Additional winners included James Wilby nabbing the 200m breast victory in 2:11.24 (Adam Peaty scratched), as Luke Greenbank, the newly-minted British national record holder in the 200m back, collected 100m back gold tonight in 54.56.
Earlier we reported on Kathleen Dawson‘s eye-catching swim in the 200m back where the Stirling star posted a career-best and Scottish national record of 2:09.44. You can read the post here.
