Kara Hanlon cemented her place as Britain’s top female sprint breaststroker after winning her second title of the British Championships on the final day of action.
Keanna MacInnes joined Hanlon as British champion, winning the 100m butterfly, but Duncan Scott finished outside of the medals in the 200m freestyle, the final race of the championships, in what was an underwhelming week for Scotland’s most decorated swimmer.
Hanlon has come into her own over the past year or so. The Isle of Lewis swimmer learned her trade in a 12.5m pool but since making her international debut at the Commonwealth Games last summer, the 25-year-old’s performances have sky-rocketed, culminating in two gold and a silver medal at these Championships.
Having already won gold in the 50m breaststroke, Hanlon completed the double last night by winning the 100m breaststroke in 1 minute 6.83 seconds, over a second clear of the field.
“I’m really chuffed to come away with the win. That’s my second-fastest time ever so I can’t complain,” the Edinburgh University swimmer said.
“A year ago, if you’d told me I’d swim 1:06 I’d have been pretty shocked so I feel like I’m putting in good work and it’s paying off.
“I’ve gained a lot of confidence; I’m structuring the race a lot better and am playing to my strengths and I think that really paid off in that last 25m.
“I swam 66 seconds in February which I was a bit shocked by and so to back it up, I’m really proud of that. I want to be faster and so if I come away from this meet knowing I’ve got more to give, that’s all I can hope for.”
MacInnes also produced an impressive swim in the 100m butterfly setting a Scottish record in the process.
The 21-year-old from the University of Stirling became the first British woman to dip under 58 seconds, winning in 57.97 seconds for her second medal of the week.
“After coming third in the 200m, I was a little bit disappointed and bouncing back in the 100m was definitely my aim,” she said.
“So I was really pleased with that and sub-58 is really good for me.
“It’s definitely encouraging to see that what I’m doing is paying off and I’m finding the balance of how to pace the 100m, which took a while for me.
“I learnt earlier in the season that if I focus too much on the girls around me, I tense up and so I was focusing on my own race and relaxing down the first 50m so I could come back strong in the second 50m.”
The men’s 200m freestyle final was billed as another head-to-head between Scott and his great rival, Tom Dean.
With the pair Olympic silver and gold medallists respectively in the event, the predictions were that they would occupy the top two spots in this race too but that failed to transpire.
Scott was out of the thick of the action in lane one having had a less than impressive qualifying swim and in the final, he failed to find his best form.
At the 50m mark the 25-year-old was fifth and although he clawed his way into fourth by the halfway point, he was unable to go any higher, finishing in 1 minute 45.90 seconds with 100m specialist, Matt Richards, taking gold in 1 minute 44.83 ahead of Dean and bronze medallist James Guy, meaning Scott departed Sheffield with just two silver medals.
Meanwhile, Gregor Swinney of Edinburgh University finished fifth in the 50m butterfly final in a Scottish record of 23.82 seconds.
With these British Championships doubling up as the trials for the World Championships in Japan in July, there will now be a nerve-wracking wait for many of the Scots. Only Katie Shanahan, the two-time British champion, has guaranteed herself selection for the GB team, although a number of other Scots are odds on to be selected having swum consideration times.
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