By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2025 SWIM OPEN STOCKHOLM

• Saturday, April 12th – Tuesday, April 15th
• Stockholm, Sweden
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap
• Entries/Live Results

The 2025 Swim Open Stockholm concluded tonight with Germany’s Lukas Märtens following up his astounding 400m freestyle World Record with another huge swim, this time in the 800m free.

23-year-old Märtens blasted a winning effort of 7:39.10 to beat the field by 2 seconds en route to registering a new lifetime best and lowering his own former national benchmark.

His teammate and 1500m freestyle victor here Florian Wellbrock snagged the silver medal in 7:41.10 while Oliver Klemet made it a German sweep with a time of 7:44.92 for bronze.

Entering this competition, Märtens’ career-swiftest performance checked in at the 7:39.48 produced for bronze at the 2023 World Championships.

Although he was just .38 ahead of that previous result, the man negative-split his race by a large amount this time around.

Märtens opened in 3:51.07 on the front half but sped his way to 3:48.03 on the back 400m, nearly 3 seconds faster.

Splits by 200:

• 1:53.42
• 1:57.65
• 1:55.91
• 1:52.12 (!!!!!)

Of note, China’s Zhang Lin also negatively split his race when setting the longstanding World Record of 7:32.12 in 2009 – 3:46.79/3:45.33 – including an other-worldly final 200m of 1:51.76.

Märtens bumped himself up to now rank as the 9th-best performer in history.

Top 10 Men’s LCM 800 Freestyle Performers All-Time

1. Zhang Lin (CHN) – 7:32.12, 2009
2. Ous Mellouli (TUN) – 7:35.27, 2009
3. Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN) – 7:37.00, 2023
4. Sam Short (AUS) – 7:37.76, 2023
5. Daniel Wiffen (IRL) – 7:38.19, 2024
6. Sun Yang (CHN) – 7:38.57, 2011
7. Grant Hackett (AUS) – 7:38.65, 2005
8. Bobby Finke (USA) – 7:38.67, 2023
9. Lukas Märtens (GER) – 7:39.10, 2025
10. Ian Thorpe (AUS) – 7:39.16, 2001

He also now dethrones Irish Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen to rank #1 in the world this season and the only swimmer on the planet to have a sub-7:40 time thus far.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Lukas Märtens Negative Splits 7:39.10 800 Free Performance At Swim Open Stockholm

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

We’ve already done a deep dive into our recruiting archives, looking at how the top 20 recruits from the high school class of 2021 did after four NCAA seasons. Now it’s time to look back at a more recent recruit ranking: the current year’s freshmen:

Relevant links:

• Way-Too-Early Sophomore Ranks, Class of 2024 Boys
• Junior Ranks, Class of 2024 Boys
• Senior Re-Ranks, Class of 2024 Boys

Naturally, this analysis has a far smaller sample size than the lookback of how the class of 2021 fared over their entire career, so it’s much more difficult to read too much into these numbers. Still, it’s useful to look at which first-year NCAA swimmers had the best performances relative to their recruiting ranks.

As always, our notes on this data:

• The data included is only individual scoring at NCAAs. That’s not an exact measure of an athlete’s contribution to a program: many of these swimmers (and others not listed) were relay scorers at NCAAs, scored significant points at conference meets and provided great leadership and culture-building for their programs. This data isn’t a perfect analysis of the best recruits – it’s merely a quick look at the data we can compile.
• A college swimming career includes four years of eligibility, and sometimes more. Revisiting scoring after one year is an incomplete analysis of a swimmer’s career – this is not the final word on any of these prospects, and we will revisit this data over the next three seasons to get a more complete evaluation.

The ranks listed below are from our re-rank last summer – they are not current ranks of NCAA athletes. We also do not rank international athletes as recruits, as it’s hard to predict if and when they’ll come to the U.S., and which class with which to include them.

TOP 20 RANKED RECRUITS

HM=Honorable mention

We’ve traditionally female swimmers have much more success in their freshman seasons of college relative to their male counterparts, and that held true again this past season. We only saw four of our ranked male recruits score individually in their first year of NCAA competition, compared to 12 of the female top 20 (and two Honorable Mentions compared to one male).

The Hits:

• Leading the way in freshmen scoring was Texas’ Cooper Lucas, who potted 13 points after setting back-to-back best times on Friday in the 400 IM, clocking 3:38.21 in the prelims to advance to the ‘A’ final where he placed 6th (3:38.18). He added another point (for 14 total) in the 200 fly, hitting a PB of 1:40.86 in the heats before finishing 16th. Lucas came into the season as the fastest recruit in the class in the 400 IM (3:41.15).
• Louisville’s Jake Eccleston was the surprise second-highest point scorer among ranked recruits, landing an ‘A’ final spot in the 200 breast after a blistering prelim swim PB of 1:50.19. He finished 7th in the final in 1:50.27, and nearly added to his point total one day earlier, placing 17th in the 100 breast (51.48).
• Also hitting double-digit points in his freshman year was Johnny Crush, who brought the Army school record in the 100 back down by nearly three seconds over the course of the season, culminating with his 44.52 in the prelims at NCAAs to make the ‘A’ final where he finished 8th. Prior to Crush’s Army debut, the program record stood at 47.22.
• Minnesota’s Jacob Johnson came into the season as the fastest swimmer in the class in the 200 fly (1:42.29), and consistently improved throughout the campaign, cracking 1:40 for the first time in the NCAA consolation final (1:39.96) to place 10th and score seven points.
• Honorable Mention recruit Daniel Li entered his freshman year at Stanford with a PB of 1:55.02 in the 200 breast, and produced a pair of 1:51.8s at NCAAs to place 15th and score a pair of points, making him one of just five ranked domestic recruits to hit the board.
• Georgia’s Drew Hitchcock didn’t score any points as a freshman, but that doesn’t tell the full story of his debut NCAAs. Hitchock qualified for the ‘B’ final of the 400 IM after setting a best time of 3:39.55 in the prelims, but was disqualified in the evening session.
• Several other top-ranked recruits had impressive seasons despite not scoring individual points at the NCAA Championships. #1 Kaii Winkler set best times in the 100 and 200 free to place 5th in both at the ACC Championships, #6 Spencer Nicholas ripped a 44.41 100 fly at the Tennessee Invite which was faster than the ‘A’ final cut-off at NCAAs, his Virginia teammate #8 David King led off the 800 free relay at NCAAs in 1:31.83 (and didn’t swim the 200 free individually), and #11 Kyle Peck was on fire for Texas at the Eddie Reese Showdown in January, clocking times of 45.02/1:39.36/44.74 in the 100/200 back and 100 fly, all of which would’ve scored at NCAAs.

The Misses:

With three more seasons of eligibility, there are no real misses, but we’re simply looking at swimmers who may have not performed as expected as freshmen.

• Our #3 and #4 ranked recruits, Lucca Battaglini and Adriano Arioti, were the only two recruits in the top 15 (who competed through the full season) to not earn an NCAA invite.
• Cal’s Battaglini came in as the fastest swimmer in the class in the 50 free (19.04), and had his quickest swim come at ACCs in 19.15, 13 one-hundredths shy of the NCAA cutline (19.02).
• Arioti, who came in as an incredibly versatile recruit with elite times across fly, back, free and IM, didn’t quite hit his PBs with Harvard, posting his best finish at the Ivy League Championships (3rd) in the 200 back (1:41.37 in prelims, just over a second shy of the 1:40.13 cutline).
• The other top-10 recruit we’ve yet to mention is Luke Whitlock, who committed to Florida and shortly after our last edition of the recruit rankings, made the U.S. Olympic team in the 800 free. Whitlock last raced for the Gators at the UGA Fall Invite in November, and announced he was heading home for the second semester in December. His 1650 free time of 14:49.90 in the UGA Fall Invite was just over a second shy of the NCAA cutline. He’s now entered the transfer portal.
• Among the recruits ranked 16-20 and the rest of the Honorable Mentions outside of Daniel Li, four swimmers attended NCAAs as relay-only swimmers, while five missed out on earning an invite.

UNRANKED RECRUITS

And of course, we’ll include which unranked recruits earned NCAA invites and scored points this season – both domestic up-and-comers and international pickups.

DOMESTIC:

By Sean Griffin on SwimSwam

2025 RUSSIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 13-18, 2025
• Kazan, Russia
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Livestream

The 2025 Russian Swimming Championships continued in Kazan on Tuesday with the men’s 50 freestyle. Although it was just the semifinals, with the finals scheduled for tomorrow, a new world-leading mark was set by 21-year-old Egor Kornev.

Kornev clocked a time of 21.54, surpassing Leonardo Deplano‘s 21.62 from just two days ago at the Italian National Championships.

For reference, 21.56 was the bronze medal-winning time at the recent Paris Olympics, where Florent Manaudou earned his fourth consecutive Olympic medal in the event. Kornev is well-positioned heading into this July’s World Championships, with tomorrow’s final offering a chance to improve on his mark.

Current World Rankings:

1. Egor Kornev (RUS) – 21.54 (4/15)*
2. Leonardo Deplano (ITA) – 21.62 (4/13)
3. Jamie Jack (AUS) – 21.66 (12/17)
4. Cameron McEvoy (AUS) – 21.70 (12/1)
5. Ben Proud (GBR) – 21.73 (3/15)

Kornev is best known for his standout performance at the 2024 World Short Course Championships in Budapest, where he anchored Russia to gold and a new world record in the men’s 4×100 medley relay (3:18.68). Diving in with the lead, Kornev (45.42) held off a charge from Olympic gold medalist Jack Alexy, who posted a blistering 44.53 split for Team USA.

The rising sprinter made waves in long course last July, becoming the 4th fastest performer in Russian history with his 21.70 clocking at the Russian Cup. His time tonight leapfrogs him all the way up to 2nd, sitting only behind Vladimir Morozov‘s 2019 Russian record of 21.27, and just ahead of legend Aleksandr Popov, who clocked 21.67 in 2000.

Kornev holds a personal best of 47.74 in the 100 free and is set to compete in the event later this week, with heats and semifinals scheduled for April 17th and the final on April 18th.

Top 5 Russian Men’s 50 Freestyle Performers All-Time:

1. Vladimir Morozov– 21.27, 2019
2. Egor Kornev— 21.54, 2025
3. Aleksandr Popov– 21.64, 2000
4. Kliment Kolesnikov – 21.69, 2022
5. Evgeny Sedov -21.74, 2017

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Egor Kornev Posts 21.54 World-Leading 50 Free, Now #2 In Russian All-Time Rankings

By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam

2025 AQUATICS GB SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 15th – Sunday, April 20th
• Prelims at 9:30am local (4:30am ET)/Finals at 7pm local (2pm ET)
• London Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Aquatics GB World Championships Selection Criteria
• SwimSwam Preview
• Draft Entries
• Live Results
• Livestream

Hello, everyone and welcome to the first finals session at the 2025 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships! This is the sole qualifying opportunity for British swimmers to qualify for the many international rosters for this year’s championships, including the World Championships in Singapore.

The action at the London Aquatic Centre starts with a quick flight of ‘B’ finals at 6pm local time; our live recap will begin with the main session at 7pm with the junior, multi-class para, and open finals of the women’s 50 breaststroke, men’s 400 freestyle, women’s 200 butterfly, men’s 100 breaststroke, and women’s 200 freestyle.

Top Seeds for the Open Finals: 

• Women’s 50 breaststroke: Kara Hanlon, Edinburgh Uni — 31.10
• Men’s 400 freestyle: James Guy, Manchester PC — 3:50.28
• Women’s 200 butterfly: Keanna Macinnes, Stirling — 2:10.15
• Men’s 100 breaststroke: Gregory Butler, Loughborough PC — 1:00.23
• Women’s 200 freestyle: Freya Colbert, Loughborough PC — 1:58.68

After swearing off the 400 freestyle more than five years ago, the 29-year-old James Guy has returned to the event this season. He owns the British record with a 3:43.75, which he swam for silver at the 2015 World Championships. Guy was the only man to crack 3:51 in this morning’s heats, with fellow Olympian Jack McMillanfrom Stirling (3:51.19) and Kieran Bird (3:51.50) following behind him. He’s also the only one in this field that’s been under Aquatics GB’s tough 3:45.73 standard for Worlds consideration.

The women’s 200 butterfly projects as one of the closest races of the session, as three women cruised into the Open final with a 2:10. Keanna MacInnes, another Stirling Olympian, leads the way in 2:10.15, which is about three seconds off her lifetime best 2:07.24. MacInnes swam this event at the Paris Olympics, just missing the final and placing 9th.

Laura Stephensdid make that Paris final and took 8th. She’ll swim next to MacInnes tonight after clocking a 2:10.69. Emily Richards (nee Large) will be on MacInnes’ other side after swimming a 2:10.27 in the heats. Edinburgh’s Ciara Scholsshan was the final swimmer under 2:11 this morning, clocking 2:10.87 for fourth heading into the final.

The men’s 100 breaststroke should be another close race. Four men are separated by .63 seconds after the heats. Gregory Butler earned lane four for the final with a 1:00.23, but Archie Goodburn (1:00.56) and Filip Nowacki (1:00.68) are lurking.

Women’s 50-Meter Breaststroke

Junior Final

• British Record: 30.02 — Imogen Clark (2022)
• British Junior Record: 30.21 — Imogen Clark (2017)

Top 3:

1. Imogen Myles, Seven Oaks — 31.83
2. Gabrielle Idle-Beavers, Mt. Kelly — 32.11
3. Charlotte Hardy, Millfield — 32.30

15-year-old Imogen Myles kicked off the session by winning the junior final of the women’s 50-meter breaststroke. She swam a lifetime best 31.83, taking about four-tenths off her lifetime best with the swim. She was the sole swimmer in the final to break 32-seconds as Gabrielle Idle-Beavers swam 32.11 for second place.

Multi-Class Para Final

• SB2 World Record: Ellie Challis, Great Britain — 1:04.33 (2022)
• SB2 British Record: Ellie Challis, Great Britain — 1:04.33 (2022)

Top 3:

1. Ellie Challis, Manchester (SB2) — 1:10.52 (759 points)

Paralympic champion Ellie Challis is the world record holder in the women’s SB2 50 breaststroke with the 1:04.33 she swam at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships. She wasn’t close to her world record this morning but still described the swim as “better than this morning.”

She scored 759 points in the event with her 1:10.52 as she raced against only the clock in this evening’s final.

British Open Final

• World Record: 29.16 — Rūta Meilutyte, Lithuania (2023)
• European Record: 29.16 — Rūta Meilutyte, Lithuania (2023)
• British Record: 30.02 — Imogen Clark (2022)
• 2025 Worlds Consideration Time: —

Top 3:

1. Kara Hanlon, Edinburgh — 30.80
2. Anna Morgan, Edinburgh — 31.28
3. Jasmine Carter, Basildon — 31.40

It was a strong start to the session for Edinburgh University as teammates Kara Hanlon and Anna Morgan went 1-2 in the women’s 50 breaststroke. Hanlon defended her status as the fastest woman in the event after prelims, lowering her season-best to a 30.80. She’s been as fast as 30.50, which she posted two years ago. Her teammate Morgan improved on her swim for this morning, dropping from a 31.50 to 31.28.

Jasmine Carter earned bronze out of lane eight. She clocked a 31.40, which is just two-hundredths off the lifetime best she swam in January of this year.

The Aquatics GB did not set a qualification time for this event, though they’ll have to going forward with the announcement that the stroke 50s will be on the schedule at the LA 2028 Games. So, we’ll have to wait to see how the 100 breaststroke turns out to see if any Team GB swimmers will be in the event in Singapore. Notably, Angharad Evans was absent from this event during prelims.

Men’s 400-Meter Freestyle

Junior Final

• British Record: 3:43.75 — James Guy (2015)
• British Junior Record: 3:44.58 — James Guy (2014)

Top 3:

1. Ethan Kelly, City of Liverpool — 3:57.54
2. Samuel Sterry, Tigers Jersey — 3:57.76
3. Kourosh Khodakhan, CO Leeds — 3:58.80

Ethan Kelly blasted out to an early lead in the junior final of the 400 freestyle. But the rest of the field reeled him in during the middle 200 meters and with just 100 to go, it looked like Kelly had lost the momentum. But, he kicked back into gear down the stretch, using a phenomenal closing 25 meters or so to run down Samuel Sterry and Kourosh Khodakhan.

Kelly hit the wall at 3:57.54, lowering his lifetime best for the second time today. His lifetime best coming into these championships was a 4:01.35. He broke that during prelims, cracking the 4:00-barrier for the first time, before taking even more time off in this final.

Multi-Class Para Final

• S8 World Record: 4:19.74 — Oliver Hynd, Great Britain (2017)
• S9 World Record: 4:09.93 — Brenden Hall, Australia (2013)
• S10 World Record: 3:57.71 — Maksym Krypak, Ukraine (2016)
• S8 British Record: 4:19.74 — Oliver Hynd, Great Britain (2017)
• S9 British Record: 4:18.30 — Lewis White (2018)
• S10 British Record: 4:07.05 — Robert Welbourn (2010)

Top 3:

1. Tomas Navarro-Barber, Portsmouth (S9) — 4:32.05 (783 points)
2. Bjorn-Sebastian Aaen, Hamilton (S9) — 4:33.90 (767 points)
3. Kieran Williams, Manchester (S10) — 4:20.52 (759 points)

As a reminder in our first para final with multiple swimmers, the important bit to pay attention to in these finals are the para points. In a multi-class para final like this one, it’s the points that determine placement rather than time, which allows swimmers to race each other across classes.

So, while Kieran Williams dropped three seconds from his prelims time and hit the wall first in 4:20.52, it’s Portsmouth’s Tomas Navarro-Barber who earns the gold medal in this race as his 4:32.05 earned 783 points. Williams actually settled for bronze, as Bjorn-Sebastian Aaen earned 767 points with his 4:33.90 to take home the silver medal.

British Open Final

• World Record: 3:39.96 — Lukas Märtens, Germany (2025)
• European Record: 3:39.96 — Lukas Märtens, Germany (2025)
• British Record: 3:43.75 — James Guy (2015)
• 2025 Worlds Consideration Time: 3:45.43

Top 3:

1. James Guy, Manchester — 3:46.64
2. Tyler Melbourne-Smith, Loughborough — 3:49.38
3. Jack McMillan, Stirling — 3:50.05

Like Kelly in the junior final, James Guywasted no time in the British Open men’s 400 freestyle final. He opened up a lead from the start, making the 100-meter turn in 52.59. He continued to extend his lead over the next 100, flipping 1:49.16 at the halfway point. He was well under his British record pace at that point.

Guy was still under his British record pace with 100 meters to go (2:46.89) even though it looked like the pain was certainly starting to set in on the third 100 meters. He fell off the pace over the final 100 meters, stopping the clock in 3:46.64. It’s a strong performance for Guy as he returned to this event for the first time in about eight years. However, the time did miss his British record and Aquatics GB’s Worlds Consideration time. That said, Guy is pre-selected to the World Championship team based on his performance at the Olympic Games.

Loughborough’s Tyler Melbourne-Smith earned silver in the event, touching .67 seconds ahead of Olympian Jack McMillan. Post-race, McMillan shared he’s also returning to this event for the first time in a few seasons and would “take the small win” of the 3:50.05 personal best.

Women’s 200-Meter Butterfly

Junior Final

• British Record: 2:04.83 — Ellen Gandy (2009)
• British Junior Record: 2:04.83 — Ellen Gandy (2009)

Top 3:

1. Abbie Roscoe, Wirral Metro — 2:12.13
2. Coco Croxford, East Kilbride — 2:13.74
3. Lucia Lesti, CO Salford — 2:14.55

Coco Croxford held the lead for much of the race, but Wirral Metro’s Abbie Roscoe never let her get too far away. Roscoe made her move over the back half of the race, beginning to outsplit Croxford on the third 50. Roscoe moved into the lead with 50 meters to go and held on for the win in 2:12.13, hitting the qualification time for the European Junior Championships.

Croxford took second in 2:13.74, while Lucia Lesti swam 2:14.55 for third in the junior final.

British Open Final

• World Record: 2:01.81 — Liu Zige, China (2009)
• European Record: 2:04.27 — Katinka Hosszu, Hungary (2009)
• British Record: 2:04.83 — Ellen Gandy (2009)
• 2025 Worlds Consideration Time: 2:07.96

Top 3:

1. Keanna MacInnes, Stirling — 2:07.14 Worlds Consideration Time 
2. Emily Richards, Manchester — 2:08.25
3. Laura Stephens, Loughborough — 2:09.70

Keanna MacInnes came on strong over the final 50 meters of the women’s 200 butterfly British Open final to win and post the first Aquatics GB Worlds Consideration Time of these championships. MacInnes, who finished 9th at the Paris Olympics, swam a lifetime best 2:07.14, dropping from the 2:07.24 she swam last April to qualify for the Games. She improves her standing as the sixth-fastest British woman in event history and had a special moment after the race receiving her medal from her mother, who was presenting the awards.

MacInnes did not move into the lead until the final 50 meters. Instead, it was Emily Richards (nee Large) who took the race on from the start. She opened in a 1:00.93 (28.60/32.33) eking out a lead on the field that included Team GB’s two representatives in Paris, MacInnes and Laura Stephens.

Though MacInnes went by her, Richards was able to hold onto second place, clocking a 2:08.25. Stephens finished third with a 2:09.70.

Men’s 100-Meter Breaststroke

Junior Final

• British Record: 56.88 — Adam Peaty (2019)
• British Junior Record: 59.92 — Adam Peaty (2013)

Top 3:

1. William Tonks, Repton — 1:01.90
2. Noah Wheeler, Chalfont — 1:03.66
3. Saxon Minto, Chelmsford — 1:03.72

Repton’s William Tonks had an excellent outing in the junior final of the 100 breaststroke. He pulled away from the field with a 29.23, then extended the lead even further on the back half. Tonks stopped the clock in a lifetime best 1:01.90. He got under the European Juniors qualifying time, though with two juniors in the British Open final, he’ll have to wait to see if he’s indeed punched a ticket to the championships.

Multi-Class Para Final

• SB6 World Record: 1:17.59 — Nelson Crispin Corzo, Colombia (2024)
• SB8 World Record: 1:07.01 — Andrei Kalina, Ukraine (2008)
• SB14 World Record: 1:02.75 — Naohide Yamaguchi, Japan (2023)
• SB6 British Record: 1:23.05 — Bruce Dee (2024)
• SB8 British Record: 1:14.92 — James Crisp (2013)
• SB14 British Record: 1:05.28 — Scott Quin (2019)

Top 3:

1. Harry Stewart, Plymouth (SB14) — 1:06.15 (853 points)
2. Bruce Dee, Northampton (SB6) — 1:23.27 (809 points)
3. Cameron Vearncombe, Manchester (SB14) — 1:10.11 (716 points)

It’s three Paralympians on the podium of the multi-class 100 breaststroke final. Harry Stewart, who broke o

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

The University of Tampa will gain transfers Josh Noll and Aidan Clements for the upcoming 2025-2026 season. Both men join after previously spending time at Auburn.

An Illinois native, Noll joins the team after spending two season at Auburn. He finished his season a the last chance meet posting a lifetime best 1:43.40 in the 200 backstroke as well as a season best 1:35.81 in the 200 free.

Noll’s Best SCY Times:

• 200 free: 1:35.51
• 100 back: 47.92
• 200 back: 1:43.40
• 200 fly: 1:46.63

Noll is a big pick up for the Tampa men as his 200 free time would have been #4 on the roster this past season. It also would have been #7 at 2025 NCAAs, an event in which the team had three ‘A’ finalists in including Jacob Hamlin who won in a 1:33.38. Noll’s 200 back would have also made the NCAA ‘A’ final, finishing 6th. His 100 back and 200 fly best times would have made the NCAA ‘B’ finals.

Clements will return to his home state after spending one season at Auburn. He has three years of eligibility remaining.

Clements swam one season with Auburn and finished his season at the first and last chance meets. He swam a season best 1:37.41 in the 200 free at the First Chance meet.

Clements’ Best SCY Times:

• 200 free: 1:37.36
• 500 free: 4:27.91
• 200 fly: 1:48.48

Clements also would already score at Division II NCAAs as it took a 4:27.12 to earn a 2nd swim in the 500 free. He also is not far off what it took to make the Division II ‘B’ final in the 200 free as it took a 1:36.60 and a 1:46.94 in the 200 fly.

The Tampa men won their first NCAA Championship in 2024 and finished 2nd at 2025 NCAAs last month, about 75 points behind Drury. Jacob Hamlin led the way for Tampa, setting new NCAA records in the 500 free, 1000 free, 1650 free, and being a member of the record setting 800 free relay.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Josh Noll and Aidan Clements Transferring From Auburn To Division II Powerhouse Tampa

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2025 IRISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Saturday, April 12th – Wednesday, April 16th
• Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre, Dublin, Ireland
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap
• Results – Meet Mobile: Irish Open Championships 2025

The 2025 Irish Open Championships continued today from Dublin with a national record going down on the women’s side during this morning’s heats and then again in the semi-final.

Racing in the prelim of the 200m freestyle event, 23-year-old Olympian Ellen Walshe fired off a new lifetime best en route to capturing the top seed.

Walshe stopped the clock at a time of 1:59.31, beating the pack by nearly 5 seconds.

That morning outing overtook the previous Irish national standard of 1:59.74 Victoria Catterson established at the 2023 edition of these championships.

Come tonight’s final and University of Tennessee standout Walshe upped the ante with an even quicker mark of 1:58.88. That means she became the first-ever woman from her nation to clear the 1:59-barrier.

This evening Walshe split 28.03/30.06 (58.09)/30.58/30.21 en route to producing the fasetset time of her career. Entering this competition, she had been as quick as 2:00.39 from February of this year.

Catterson was indeed in tonight’s semi-final, putting up a time of 2:00.85 as the 2nd-seeded swimmer headed into tomorrow night’s final round.

The World Aquatics ‘A’ standard rests at 1:58.23 so Walshe will need to find yet another gear in order to clear that threshold and add the event to her potential Singapore lineup.

Additional Notes

• After hitting an impressive new national standard of 1:56.61 during last night’s 200m back semi-finals, 18-year-old John Shortt dropped the final. That let Brandon Biss get it done for gold, registering 2:01.16 to beat the field by over 3 seconds.
• The semi-finals of the women’s 200m breast saw 20-year-old Ellie McCartney stake her claim on gold. She posted a swift outing of 2:24.35, the fastest of her career, to dip under the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 2:25.91 needed for Singapore.
• National record holder Danielle Hill led the women’s 50m free semi-final with a result of 25.22, the sole swimmer under the 26-barrier. She’ll need to be more in line with her personal best of 24.68 from last year in order to clear the ‘A’ mark of 24.86 needed to book her spot on the World Championships roster.
• Portugal’s Diogo Ribeiro posted the fastest time of the men’s 100m freestyle semi-finals, stopping the clock at 48.63. That was about a second off his lifetime best and Portuguese national record of 48.98 notched in March of last year. The quickest Irishman was represented by Evan Bailey, with the 20-year-old hitting 49.16 to set himself up for tomorrow’s main event.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ellen Walshe Nabs New Irish Record In Women’s 200 Free

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2025 SWIM OPEN STOCKHOLM

• Saturday, April 12th – Tuesday, April 15th
• Stockholm, Sweden
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap
• Entries/Live Results

The super speedy 2025 Swim Open Stockholm saw its last day of action unfold tonight with swimmers from the host nation, Belgium, Australia and beyond taking to the pool for some more World Championships-readying competition.

We reported how Olympian Lukas Märtens busted out the fastest time of his career en route to winning the men’s 800m free.

23-year-old Märtens stopped the clock at a mighty time of 7:39.10 to establish a new PB, German national record and #1 time in the world for the season.

What’s more, the newly-minted 400m free World Record holder negative split his race, giving swim enthusiasts something to wrap our heads around with Singapore on the horizon.

On the other end of the spectrum, making noise in the men’s 50m free event was 26-year-old Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers.

The Aussie continued his impressive series of performances with another sub-22-second 50m freestyle, punching 21.95 to grab the gold.

The next-closest competitor was Piotr Ludwiczak of Poland who nabbed silver in 22.14 while Josha Salchow of Germany rounded out the podium in 22.18.

It was just last week at the Bergen Swim Festival where father-to-be Chalmers threw down the fastest 50m free of his career, hitting a time of 21.78 to dip under the 22-second threshold on just the second occasion.

On the women’s side, on-fire Isabel Gose of Germany put up another impressive freestyle performance, this time in the 800m free.

22-year-old Olympic medalist Gose punched a result of 8:24.64 to handily defeat the field by over 11 seconds.

In doing so, she established a new meet record, overtaking the 8:24.67 retired countrywoman Sarah Kohler put on the books in 2018.

Additional Notes

• American Kieran Smith doubled up on his 400m IM victory with a win in the 200m IM event this evening. The former University of Florida Gator registered a gold medal-worthy tie of 1:59.10 as the only contestant to get under 2:01.
• Germany’s Alina Baievych topped the women’s 200m fly podium with an outing of 2:12.43. She’s been as quick as 2:10.09 in her career, a performance she nabbed en route to bagging bronze at the 2024 European Junior Championships.
• Lithuanian swimmer Kotryna Teterevkova got it done for gold in the women’s 100m breast, touching in 1:07.27.
• Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands got her hand on the wall first in the women’s 100m free, registering 53.44 as the gold medalist. Steenbergen opened in 25.87 and closed in 27.57 to represent the 4th-best performer in the world thus far this season.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Chalmers Puts Up Another Sub-22-Second 50 Free To Close Out Swim Open Stockholm

By Noah Duperre on SwimSwam

World Aquatics Diving World Cup

• 10-13 April, 2025
• Windsor, Canada
• Results

Canada hosted the second leg of the World Aquatics Diving World Cup this past weekend. The city of Windsor in Ontario hosted many of the best divers in the world as they aimed to qualify for the next competition in China. The World Aquatics Diving World Cup series features two “World Cup” events, culminating in a “World Cup Super Final,” which will take place in Beijing, China from May 2-4.

Just like in Guadalajara earlier this month, the Chinese team dominated on the women’s side of the meet. They once again claimed gold in each of the four women’s events and placed 1-2 in the individual events. The host nation earned a silver in the synchronized springboard event with newcomers Sonya Pakhivala and Amelie-Laura Jasmin. Australia, Great Britain and Mexico also earned medals for their nations on the women’s side.

The Chinese men were great in Canada, but still didn’t quite live up to their sky-high standards. The only non-Chinese gold medal of the meet came in the Men’s 3 Meter, where Jordan Houlden of Great Britain claimed the gold and Carson Tyler of the US earned silver. The highest placing 3 meter diver from China was bronze medalist Zheng Jiuyuan. The three remaining men’s events were all won by the Chinese. After lackluster performances on the men’s side from the last two Olympic Games, the American men impressed here as they claimed three total medals.

After also claiming victory in the team event, China’s 8 gold medals and 12 total medals has them firmly at the top of the medal table. Mexico, Great Britain, and the United States each came away with 3 medals a piece. The host country, Canada, improved from their performance on the first stop, winning 2 medals.

The World Cup Super Final will take place in Beijing from the 2-4 of May and will be a major stepping stone for these divers, who will all be looking to make their mark at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore this summer.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: China, Great Britain Victorious in Windsor Diving World Cup Stop

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

The transfer portal has been open since March 12th on the women’s side and closes April 25th. Since the original flood of athletes, swimmers and divers have continued to trickle into the portal. Among the names who have joined the portal include numerous mid-major finalists, with a group of them coming from Saint Francis.

Late last month, Saint Francis announced it would reclassify from Division I to Division III. Some of the team’s top scorers have since entered the portal.

The #3 scorer on the team Taylor Weth had 43 individual points at the 2025 NEC Championships. She was 4th in the 100 breast (1:03.35), 5th in the 200 breast (2:21.81), and 5th in the 200 IM (2:05.92). The teams 4th highest scorer Oksama Horova is also in the portal. The Poland native was 3rd in the 100 free (51.24), 6th in the 100 breast (1:04.53), and 6th in the 50 free (23.69).

Niagara will have a head coaching change this offseason as Eric Bugby departed the program. The team’s top scorer Natalie Killion is in the portal and went a perfect three for three in individual MAAC titles as she won the 200 free, 100 back, and 200 back. Alaine Pitton, the 2nd highest individual scorer for the team, is also in the portal and won MAAC titles in the 200 breast and 200 IM.

Monmouth’s Emilie Mosner also highlights the portal. Mosner made the Coastal Athletic Association ‘A’ final in the 100 breast as she swam a 1:02.57 for 7th. She also was 10th in the 200 breast in a 2:15.70.

Gabrielle Puryear-Lynch of FIU is in the transfer portal. She already transferred to FIU after spending time in the Horizon League as she won the league title in the 200 fly in 2023 with a 2:02.29.

Florida Gulf Coast’s Alexis Mishler was 8th in the 50 free at the 2025 ASUN Championships in a 23.17 and also is in the portal.

Numerous Power 4 swimmers are also in the portal. Camden Doane of Louisville was a top ranked recruit heading into the team but did not make a final at ACCs this season.

After already transferring from USC to Florida, Caroline Pennington is in the portal as well. She did not compete at all this season and her last meet was 2024 NCAAs.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Transfer Portal Update (Women): Saint Francis, Niagara See Numerous Athletes Enter

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

Joseph Pyon has told SwimSwam that he will transfer to St. Bonaventure for the upcoming 2025-2026 school year. Pyon will join the Bonnies after spending two seasons at BYU.

Pyon will make the trip back east after hailing from Gainesville, Florida. Pyon did not swim at a conference championship as a freshman, instead finishing his season in the dual meet against Utah.

As a sophomore, Pyon swam numerous best times at midseason including a 47.85 100 fly and a 1:50.86 200 IM. He finished his season at the 2025 Big 12 Championships where he finaled in the 200 fly swimming a 1:47.88 in prelims for 21st before finishing 23rd in finals. He swam a lifetime best 1:50.57 in the 200 IM.

Pyon’s Best SCY Times:

• 100 fly: 47.85
• 200 fly: 1:47.80
• 200 IM: 1:50.57

The St. Bonaventure men finished 2nd at the 2025 Atlantic-10 Championships with 517.5 points. George Washington captured the conference title with 883.5 points.

Leading the way for the Bonnies was Alexander Behr who scored 45 individual points and was highlighted by a 2nd place finish in the 200 fly with a 1:43.80.Aidan Kreiley scored the 2nd most individual points on the team with 39 and was highlighted by a conference title in the 100 breast (53.30).

Based on his best times, Pyon adds depth to the butterfly group as Behr led the team in both events with a 46.94 100 fly and 1:43.80 200 fly. Behr notably just finished his senior season so there are some gaps to fill in the group. Pyon would have been 3rd on the team this past season in both events along with his 200 IM. It took a 47.84 to make the Atlantic-10 ‘A’ final in the 100 fly while it took a 1:47.48 in the 200 fly.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Joseph Pyon Transferring To St. Bonaventure After Two Years With BYU

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

Esteban Nunez Del Prado Pizarro has announced he will transfer to the University of Kentucky to begin the 2025-2026 season.  Nunez Del Prado spent his freshman season at Division II Grand Valley State University.

Last summer, he represented Bolivia at the 2024 Paris Olympics and finished 23rd in the 200 IM in a 2:08.10. He arrived at GVSU this past fall and made an immediate impact.

In February, he captured numerous conference titles as he won the 200 IM in a 1:46.20 an the 100 fly in a 46.78 at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships. He also finished 4th in the 200 breast (1:58.20) and 5th in the 100 breast (53.84).

He went on to swim at the 2025 Division II NCAA Championships scoring 12 individual points. He was slightly off his times from conference, swimming a 47.11 for 12th in the 100 fly and 1:47.54 in the 200 IM for 15th. He swam a lifetime best 1:57.21 in the 200 breast for 12th.

In addition to his individual impact, he also swam to an NCAA title in the 200 free relay. He split a 19.77 in the 200 free relay to help the GVSU men to the title as they swam a 1:18.10.

Best SCY Times:

• 100 fly: 46.78
• 200 IM: 1:46.20
• 100 breast: 53.59
• 200 breast: 1:57.21

The Kentucky men finished 9th out of 12 teams at the 2025 SEC Championships. The team was led by Ryan Merani who scored 58 individual points.

Based on his best times, Nunez Del Prado makes an instant impact in the 100 fly as he would have led the team this past season. Merani was the team’s fastest 100 flyer with a 47.12 but did not swim the event at SECs. He also brings depth to the breaststroke group as his 100 and 200 breaststrokes would have been 3rd on the roster.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: NCAA Division II Finalist Esteban Nunez Del Prado Pizarro Transferring To Kentucky From GVSU

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

Kayla Walsh will transfer to Liberty after spending two seasons at Auburn, she told SwimSwam. She will arrive for the 2025-2026 season with two years of NCAA eligibility remaining.

“I’m incredibly excited to announce my commitment to Liberty University. This opportunity is truly a blessing, and I’m beyond thankful for the chance to continue my athletic and academic journey in such a Christ-centered environment. I can’t wait to grow as both an athlete and a person alongside such an amazing team and coaching staff! Go Flames!”

Walsh is originally from Greensboro, North Carolina and dove for Triad Diving Academy. As a freshman, Walsh finished her season in the dual meet against Alabama finishing 3rd on the 1 meter and 6th on the 3 meter.

This past season, Walsh finished her season at the 2025 SEC Championships where she scored in the 1 meter and in the platform event. She was 18th in the 1 meter with a 252.95 while she was 20th in the platform event with a score of 219.65. She was 31st in the 3 meter with a 251.05.

In addition to scoring at SECs, Walsh was the champion in the 3 meter event against Alabama in January.

The Liberty women captured the 2025 ASUN Championship with 858.5 points. The team’s top six individual scorers were swimmers whileShannon Icard led the way for the divers with 40 points as she won the 1 meter in a 267.25 and the 3 meter in a 310.70. Icard notably just finished her sophomore season as well so the two will be able to train together the next two years as members of the class of 2027.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Diver Kayla Walsh Transferring To Liberty After Two Seasons At Auburn

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

Andy Commins will transfer to UNCW after spending his freshman season at Auburn. Commins will join the team this fall for the 2025-2026 season.

“Jeremiah 29:11, The obstacle is the way. Super pumped to announce my commitment to attend UNCW this fall and continue to build on my athletic and academic careers in Wilmington! I want to thank my family for their continued selfless support of my athletic career. I can’t thank Bobby and the UNCW coaching staff enough for this opportunity. Cannot wait to join the brotherhood brewing in Wilmington and get to work! Let’s ball!

I am leaving Auburn with profound gratitude. While the circumstances within the NCAA and SEC that led me to part ways are heartbreaking, I have trust in God’s plan through it all. The relationships I’ve made with my teammates will last a lifetime. I want to thank the entire Auburn coaching staff for everything they’ve done for me, from believing in 16-year-old Andy, to supporting me through this change. The Plains will forever be home to me. WDE always.”

Commins swam numerous lifetime bests in the fall at midseason with a 48.07 in the 100 fly and a 1:46.50 in the 200 fly. He did not swim at 2025 SECs as he instead finished his season at the first and last chance meets. He swam a 1:45.48 to improve upon his lifetime best in the 100 fly.

Best SCY Times:

• 100 fly: 48.07
• 200 fly: 1:45.48
• 500 free: 4:27.79 (high school)

The UNCW men captured the 2025 Coastal Athletic Association Championship as they scored 829.5 points to finish ahead of Delaware who scored 737. UNCW was led by William Carrico who went three for three in individual titles to score 60 points. He won the 500 free (4:19.83), 200 breast (1:55.65), and 400 IM (3:44.81). All three swims were lifetime bests as well.

Based on his best times, Commins is an instant boost to the fly group as he would have led the team this past season in the 200 fly. Dave Fitch led the team in both fly events with a 46.72 100 fly and a 1:46.60 200 fly. Fitch notably transferred into the program from Florida.

Commins’ best time in the 200 fly would have been 2nd at the CAA Championships while his 100 fly would have been 7th and 500 free would have been on the edge of the A and B finals.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Butterflyer Andy Commins Announces Transfer To UNCW After One Season With Auburn

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

Britton Spann will transfer to Division II Tampa for the upcoming 2025-2026 season after spending two seasons at Auburn, he announced via Instagram.

Spann arrived in fall 2023 and finished his freshman season at the first and last chance meets for Auburn. He swam a personal best 1:56.91 200 breast at the First Chance meet before swimming a 55.24 in the 100 breast at the Last Chance meet. He competed at US Olympic Trials last summer finishing 72nd in the 200 breast (2:18.01).

He dropped time this fall posting a 53.96 in the 100 breast at midseason. He did not swim at SECs again but swam another lifetime best with a 53.94 100 breast at the First Chance meet. He also swam a lifetime best 1:56.66 in the 200 breast.

Spann’s Best SCY times are:

• 100 breast: 53.94
• 200 breast: 1:56.66

The Tampa men captured the 2024 NCAA title and finished 2nd behind Drury at 2025 NCAAs. Spann is a boost to the breaststroke group as he would have been in the ‘A’ final in the 200 breast as his lifetime best would have been 5th. Tampa was led by junior Jared Mindek in the event as he was 3rd in a 1:55.60.

Spann also would have been in the top of the ‘B’ final at 2025 NCAAs in the 100 breast. Tampa had zero ‘A’ finalists in the event at NCAAs while they had two ‘B’ finalists.

Spann is among at least three transfers from Auburn to Tampa on the men’s side as he joins Josh Noll and Aidan Clements. Both Noll and Clements also have NCAA Division II scoring times already.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Britton Spann Transferring To Tampa After Two Years At Auburn

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

2024 SEC Champion in the 1650 freestyleAndrew Taylor has entered the transfer portal after roster cuts at the University of Florida. Taylor has been battling injuries.

Taylor just finished his sophomore season and originally is from Clearwater, Florida. As a freshman, Taylor captured the SEC title in the 1650 free with a 14:38.41. He also was 7th in the 500 free with a 4:13.81 to help the Florida men win the 2024 SEC team title.

He went on to swim even faster at 2024 NCAAs as he finished 3rd in the 1650 free in a lifetime best 14:37.80. He also swam a personal best 4:13.10 in the 500 free, and was just off making the final as he was 17th. It took a 4:13.00 to make it back. His 16 individual points from the 1650 free made him the 6th highest individual scorer for the Gators as they swam to a 3rd place team finish.

Taylor has been battling injuries and did not make NCAAs this past season. He swam his season best of a 15:01.05 at the SEC Championships for 22nd. He did not score in the 500 free as he was 27th. He did score in the 400 IM as he swam a lifetime best 3:44.70 for 20th. After SECs, he swam at the Florida Invite as he touched in a 4:19.42 in the 500 free.

Taylor is one of the biggest names to enter the portal on the men’s side so far. Another big name includes NCAA All-American Baylor Nelson who has already announced his transfer from Texas A&M to Texas.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2024 SEC Champion Andrew Taylor Of Florida In Transfer Portal After Roster Cuts

By SwimSwam on SwimSwam

A good pull buoy is a non-negotiable part of every swimmer’s gear bag—right up there with paddles, fins, and a suit that won’t fall apart after two sessions. Whether you’re dialing in body position, focusing on upper-body mechanics, or just getting through your aerobic base work without kicking your legs off, the right pull buoy makes a difference.

We took a look at over a dozen pull buoys on the market—ranging from elite-level training tools to budget picks for age group swimmers and high schooler swimmers who misplace gear faster than they swim 50s.

Note: SwimSwam is independently owned and operated. We are not owned by a nonprofit, governing body, or a retail company. If you order via these affiliate links in this post, you help support our mission of unbiased, athlete-first journalistic swim coverage.

Here’s our pull buoy breakdown listed from the highest to the lowest price.

By Coleman Hodges on SwimSwam

Cal Baptiste junior Remi Fabiani was a 3x conference champion this year, qualifying for NCAAs and finishing 13th in the 100 free. After NCAAs, Fabiani announced he would be transferring to ASU for his final season of eligibility.

SwimSwam sat down with Fabiani to discuss his journey from his home country of Luxembourg to Riverside, California. The sprinter takes us through leaving home, his Olympic redshirt season, and what scoring at NCAAs as a Mid-Major athlete was like.

• 0:00 Remi Fabiani Introduction
• 1:50 Transfer to ASU
• 3:25 Training with Michael Andrew
• 9:17 Swimming in Luxembourg
• 12:37 Coming to Cal Baptiste
• 19:32 Swimming 500 Free at First Meet
• 21:36 Considering Transferring
• 27:15 Year Two at CBU
• 32:50 First NCAAs
• 35:15 Olympic Redshirt
• 43:15 Considering Retirement after Missing 2024 Olympics
• 51:50 Scoring at NCAAs

Read the full story on SwimSwam: NCAA All-American Remi Fabiani Details Journey from Luxembourg to Cal Baptiste and now ASU

By Coleman Hodges on SwimSwam

Cal Baptist junior Remi Fabiani was a 3x conference champion this year, qualifying for NCAAs and finishing 13th in the 100 free. After NCAAs, Fabiani announced he would be transferring to ASU for his final season of eligibility.

SwimSwam sat down with Fabiani to discuss his journey from his home country of Luxembourg to Riverside, California. The sprinter takes us through leaving home, his Olympic redshirt season, and what scoring at NCAAs as a Mid-Major athlete was like.

• 0:00 Remi Fabiani Introduction
• 1:50 Transfer to ASU
• 3:25 Training with Michael Andrew
• 9:17 Swimming in Luxembourg
• 12:37 Coming to Cal Baptiste
• 19:32 Swimming 500 Free at First Meet
• 21:36 Considering Transferring
• 27:15 Year Two at CBU
• 32:50 First NCAAs
• 35:15 Olympic Redshirt
• 43:15 Considering Retirement after Missing 2024 Olympics
• 51:50 Scoring at NCAAs

Read the full story on SwimSwam: NCAA All-American Remi Fabiani Details Journey from Luxembourg to Cal Baptist and now ASU

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2025 AQUATICS GB SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 15th – Sunday, April 20th
• Prelims at 9:30am local (4:30am ET)/Finals at 7pm local (2pm ET)
• London Aquatics Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Aquatics GB World Championships Selection Criteria
• SwimSwam Preview
• Draft Entries
• Day 1 Prelims Recap
• Day 1 Finals Recap
• Live Results
• Livestream

We entered day two of the 2025 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships, the sole qualifying competition for this summer’s World Championships.

Last night, we saw two individual qualifiers make the grade as Keanna MacInnes roared her way to a new Scottish record in the women’s 200m fly and world champion Freya Colbert crushed a lifetime best in the 200m free to become Great Britain’s second-swiftest performer in history.

Additionally, the top 4 individual 200m free finishers collectively clocked a time good enough to secure a slot for the women’s 4x200m free relay.

Let’s see who staked their claim on events for this morning’s prelims as the action unfolded from the London Aquatics Centre.

Refresher:As in the past, Aquatics GB has set some tough qualification standards, which are outlined in the selection criteria and preview bullets above. Also, as in the past, the British coaching brain trust will reserve ‘discretionary’ selections so there is a chance athletes can still make the team if they miss the QT.

Men’s 50m Breast

The best British men’s breaststroker in history, Adam Peaty, is not racing at this competition, which leaves the door wide open for an up-and-comer to try to put his mark on the 50m sprint.

After a painstakingly close qualification call in last night’s 100m breaststroke, 17-year-old Max Morgan rebounded with a solid top-seeded effort of 27.64 in this shorter sprint.

That’s already within striking distance of the 27.52 lifetime best the Reed swimmer logged at last year’s British Summer Championships.

Behind him was Archie Goodburn, the 23-year-old who continues to inspire by racing despite having been diagnosed with three inoperable brain tumors last June.

Goodburn of Edinburgh was also sub-28-seconds with a second-seeded time of 27.75 followed by Swansea’s Lewis Fraser‘s mark of 28.00.

Another teen in 17-year-old Filip Nowacki is lurking as the 5th-seeded athlete at 28.09.

Of note, Aquatics GB does not dictate an outright qualification time for what they originally called ‘non-Olympic events’, which included 50s of breast, fly, and back. Swimmers may be discretionarily selected for these events, which have since been added to the LA 2028 Olympic program, or potentially have the 50 added to their lineup if they’ve already qualified for the 100m distance.

Men’s 200m Butterfly

22-year-old Ed Mildred of Manchester Performance Centre ripped a new lifetime best en route to claiming the top spot in the men’s 200m fly.

Two-time European Championships relay medalist Mildred stopped the clock at a time of 1:57.02 to land lane 4 for tonight’s final. That overtook his previous best-ever performance of 1:58.00 from nearly 4 years ago.

However, Olympic relay gold medal teammates Duncan Scott and James Guy are also among the field, with the former snagging the 2nd seed in casual 1:58.85 and the latter claiming the 4th slot in 2:00.11.

Splitting the pair was Bath’s Josh Gammon who notched 1:59.93 to put his hat in the ring.

Swimmers will be chasing a stiff qualification standard of 1:54.97 set by Aquatics GB, a threshold under which only two GBR swimmers have ever been – Michael Rock and Guy.

Guy’s best-ever result of 1:54.91 from the 2022 World Championships rendered him the #2 British swimmer ever behind Rock’s national record of 1:54.58 from the supersuited 2009 World Championships.

Stirling’s Scott, the most decorated Scottish Olympian in history, owns a PB of 1:56.60 from earning bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Women’s 400m IM

As expected, the reigning world champion Colbert grabbed the top seed in the women’s 400m IM, cruising to a time of 4:44.79.

That holds a narrow advantage over Amalie Smith, just 15 years of age, who clocked 4:45.49 to claim the 2nd seed.

Colbert’s Olympic teammate Abbie Wood is also right in the mix, having nabbed the 3rd spot in 4:46.25.

While 21-year-old Colbert represents the 3rd-quickest British performer in history, owning a PB of 4:34.01 from last year’s Olympic Trials, rising star Smith has been making some moves of her own.

At the Luxembourg Euro Meet this past February, Smith cranked out a lifetime best of 4:41.70 to establish a new British Age Record, obliterating her then-career-fastest effort of 4:48.09 from November 2024.

Smith already earned bronze last night in the Junior Final of the 200m freestyle, producing a result of 2:00.71, just .27 off Ellen Gandy’s longstanding benchmark of 2:00.34 from 2007, which stands as the Age Record in that event.

Men’s 400m IM

The men’s 400m IM is 3-time Olympian Max Litchfield‘s race to lose as the Loughborough ace is historically far-and-away the best performer of the top 8.

Litchfield coasted to a #1 seed of 4:17.33 as the sole competitor of the field under the 4:20 mark.

Litchfield owns the national record of 4:08.85 from when he placed 4th in the event for the third consecutive Games. That rendered him just off the podium, only .19 away from bronze.

University of Florida commit Charlie Hutchison was the next-quickest swimmer this morning, securing the 2nd seed in a time of 4:20.76. His PB of 4:14.90 from last year positions him as GBR’s 10th best performer but he’ll have to blast that to bits in order to meet the tough Aquatics GB-mandated qualification time of 4:11.90 needed to automatically qualify for Singapore.

Women’s 100m Backstroke

European Championships silver medalist Katie Shanahan produced a time of 1:00.66 to take control of the women’s 100m backstroke heats, splitting 29.78/30.88 in the process.

That checks in as the 20-year-old Stirling swimmer’s best-ever performance, erasing the 1:00.70 logged at the Edinburgh International Meet. She remains GBR’s 13th-swiftest performer of all-time.

Loughborough’s Lauren Cox touched next in 1:01.11 while Holly McGill snagged the 3rd seed in 1:01.21. Blythe Kinsman of Mount Kelly, also touched in 1:01.21 to share 3rd-seed honors with McGill. Cox currently ranks 14th in the world in this event as a result of the 59.95 turned in at last month’s Edinburgh International Swim Meet.

Mixed relay gold medalist from Tokyo, 27-year-old Kathleen Dawson will also be hunting the 59.46 qualification time in tonight’s final, situated 5th in 1:01.54.

Dawson is the reigning British national record holder, courtesy of the 58.08 put up in 2021. Since then the Stirling standout dealt with a back injury for nearly 3 years which sidelined her performances.

However, she battled back and last year registered her first sub-1:00 performances since the Tokyo Games.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025 Aquatics GB Championships Day 2 Prelims: Duncan Scott Is Hunting 200 Fly Qualification

By SwimSwam Contributors on SwimSwam

Courtesy of Patrick Mader.

Patrick is a writer for mnathletes.com, a website dedicated to featuring Minnesota athletes in a wide range of sports. See the website here.

As emotionally draining and physically taxing it is to balance a rigorous academic schedule and elite athletic career in a demanding sport like swimming can be, Martin Zielinski has managed to accomplish the tasks. A state champion and All-American, Martin has recently accepted a position at Baylor as Chief of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery following a near two-decade stint at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

The Zielinski family moved to Apple Valley, Minnesota, from Pennsylvania when Martin—born in 1977—was six years old. A nearby lake caused his mother safety concerns for Martin and his sister, Katheryn, resulting in the start of Red Cross swimming lessons. Martin admits he enjoyed swimming because he was good at it.

Later the family moved to Bloomington and Martin valued the tutoring of a succession of coaches: John Thomas, Jim Anderson, and especially Dave Anderson, an assistant swim coach at the University of Minnesota (U of M). “Martin was an incredibly driven, successful competitor,” Anderson notes. “However, it was his humor and wit that made training sessions enjoyable and entertaining. He quickly adopted underwater kicking. He was a natural. Without much training at all using underwater kicking, he won the USA Junior meet in his specialty, the butterfly.”

In 9th grade, Martin qualified for state and in 1994, his junior year, the Bloomington Jefferson boys’ swim team claimed the state championship with Martin capturing the 100-yard butterfly title. As a senior, Martin again won the 100-yard butterfly title with a high school national-best time of 48.20 seconds, a state high school record for 26 years until it was broken in 2021 by Chris Morris of St. Cloud Tech. In addition, Martin swam to victory in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.35 seconds.

Piqued by athletic scholarships to national swimming powers USC and Auburn, Martin decided to accept an offer to the U of M. “It was the best fit for me at the time,” Martin explains. “The academic reputation of the medical school and the state-of-the-art Aquatic Center were appealing.”

Another enticing factor was coach Anderson. “When his archrival [Tom Malchow, a 1996 and 2000 Olympian, winning silver and gold medals respectively] committed to Michigan, it was imperative to Martin as a Gopher. He filled an important role as the Gophers’ butterflier during his career.” Martin was disappointed when Anderson departed the program by the time he enrolled.

As a freshman in 1996, Martin earned recognition as an All-American honorable mention. He also earned an invitation to the Olympic Trials, placing 25th in the 100-meter butterfly. “It was the penultimate experience for an eighteen-year-old,” Martin says of the Trials. Showing steady progress, Martin won the Big Ten 100-yard butterfly championship in 1997, breaking the conference record by 0.4 seconds in a time of 47.0 seconds. He then proceeded to place 4th in the event at the NCAA National Swimming Championships. By the end of his collegiate career in 1999, Martin was a seven-time Big Ten champion, a 10-time (including relays) NCAA Division I All-American, and a 2-time Academic All-American.

A personal highlight for Martin was winning the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championship in the 100-meter butterfly in April 1998, qualifying him for the Goodwill Games. “I went out fast, and after doing the turn, I realized I was ahead of some great swimmers!” While the competition did not go well for Martin at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in New York, he was delighted to have the opportunity to meet Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan and famed New Yorker George Steinbrenner.

Having qualified for the 2000 Olympic Trials, Martin faced a choice on whether to continue rigorous training for another year. Instead, he opted to concentrate on his goal of being a medical doctor. “It would have necessitated a pause in academics, and I was not willing to do it,” Martin says of his decision. Following medical school, Martin accepted an internship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester in 2003. Specializing in trauma and acute care surgery, Martin also served at Mayo until this year (2022) when he accepted a position at Baylor in Houston, Texas.

The year 2003 proved to be a busy one for Martin: he graduated from medical school, purchased a home, and married Rochester native Dr. Elizabeth Lorenz, a transplant nephrologist he met in medical school. The couple has three children.

As with many athletes, Martin gives back to his sport: he finds serving as a Team USA Swimming medical provider for entire trips “very rewarding and a fun experience.”

Coach Dave Anderson sums up Martin’s career, saying, “He could work like a sled dog. He was funny and driven.” And the rigorous academic schedule he completed, and his elite athletic career prove it.

You can find this article on mnathletes.com here.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Martin Zielinski: Longtime Record Holder Now Chief of Trauma And Acute Care Surgery At Baylor