Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub
GoCardless Swim England National Winter Championships 2024 day one medallists
December 5, 2024Records tumbled as an enthralling day of action opened up the GoCardless Swim England National Winter Championships in Sheffield.
The first day of the Championships saw a number of impressive performances from some of the nation’s best and future stars of the sport.
Two of the Team GB’s Paris 2024 stars went head-to-head as Eva Okaro and Freya Colbert raced for gold in the Female 100m Freestyle.
Okaro got out the blocks fastest but Colbert battled back in the closing stages as the duo went into the wall together. It was Repton’s Okaro who held on however, finishing in 53.01 and just 0.30 ahead of the Loughborough Peformance Centre athlete.
Colbert may have settled for silver in the freestyle but she did get her hands on the gold in the 200m Individual Medley. The 400m Individual Medley world champion put more than a second on her rivals to clock in at 2:07.99.
There were standout performances from Max Morgan and Amelie Blocksidge as they both came away with senior and junior golds from Thursday’s finals session.
Reed School’s Morgan won out a battle with Greg Butler and Filip Nowacki in the Open/Male 100m Breaststroke. The trio were split by less than a second at the wall, but it was 16-year-old Morgan who touched first in an impressive time of 58.12.
Meanwhile, Blocksidge came away with the perfect preparation for her first senior world championships next week with gold in the Female 1500m Freestyle.
The City of Salford swimmer powered across the 60 lengths of the Ponds Forge pool to finish just under the 16-minute mark with an effort of 15:58.22 to take both senior and junior gold.
Stockport Metro’s Daniel Khodaverdi had a standout day, breaking the British Junior short course record in the Open/Male 400m Freestyle.
The 15-year-old clocked in a time of 3:52.51 to knock a quarter of a second off Leuan Lloyd’s time from 2009.
He bettered his effort from the heats, where he already broke the English Junior record time, as he kicked off his Winter Championships in fine form.
The effort saw him narrowly miss out on a junior medal with Tigers Jersey’s Samuel Sterry winning junior gold with a time of 3:51.19.
In the Open/Male 50m Butterfly, Ethan Soppett-Moss equalled the Open 50m Butterfly English Junior best.
He touched the wall in the sprint with a time of 24.09 to match Commonwealth Youth Games medallist Nick Finch’s effort from this event in 2021. His strong swim saw him go away with the junior bronze medal in the event.
A world’s best time from William Ellard in the 200m Freestyle highlighted the morning session as the S14 swimmer clocked a time of 1:50.64 in the heat declared winner event.
The Norwich Swan athlete bettered Australia’s Jack Ireland’s previous best by more than a second, which he set just over a year ago. Subject to ratification, the effort will add to the double Paralympic champions record collection, adding to a day where he was named as a nominee for BBC’s Young Sport’s Personality.
You can find all the results from the opening day of the GoCardless Swim England National Winter Championships 2024 here and you can watch back all the action on the Swim England YouTube channel.
Event photography: Will Johnston Photography
GoCardless Swim England National Winter Championships day one medal roll of honour
Open/Male MC 400m Freestyle
1. William Newton, City of Coventry, 4:27.19, 723 points
2. Max Davies, Worksop, 4:55,76, 680 points
3. Lewis Jones, Arun Tridents, 4:42.05, 665 points
Open/Male MC 200m Freestyle
1. William Ellard, Norwich Swan, 1:50.64, 1024 points (world record)
2. Harry Stewart, Plymouth Leander, 2:00.16, 800 points
3. Mark Tompsett, Manchester Performance Centre, 2:01.51, 773 points
Female MC 200m Freestyle
1. Louise Fiddes, Hatfield, 2:07.28, 918 points
2. Olivia Newman-Baronius, Maxwell, 2:09.11, 879 points
3. Georgia Sheffield, Manchester Performance Centre, 2:09.17, 878 points
Female 1500m Freestyle
Senior
1. Amelie Blocksidge, City of Salford, 15:58.22
2. Fleur Lewis, Loughborough University, 16:05.85
3. Hollie Wilson, City of Leeds, 16:24.02
Junior
1. Amelie Blocksidge, City of Salford, 15:58.22
2. Hollie Wilson, City of Leeds, 16:24.02
3. Lucy Parsons, City of Liverpool, 16:24.08
Female MC 400m Freestyle
1. Brooklyn Hale, Cockermouth, 4:55.63, 831 points
2. Evie Lambert, Borough of Kirklees, 5:08.37, 732 points
3. Astrid Carroll, Stockport Metro, 5:04.84, 686 points
Commemorative silver medallist – Ahalya Lettenberger, Loughborough University, 5:30.44, 813 points
Open/Male 100m Breaststroke
Senior
1. Max Morgan, Reed’s School, 58.12
2. Greg Butler, Loughborough Performance Centre, 58.32
3. Filip Nowacki, Millfield, 58.98
Junior
1. Max Morgan, Reed’s School, 58.12
2. Filip Nowacki, Millfield, 58.98
3. William Tonks, Repton, 59.84
Female 200m Individual Medley
Senior
1. Freya Colbert, Loughborough Performance Centre, 2:07.99
2. Leah Schlosshan, Manchester Performance Centre, 2:09.21
3. Candice Hall, City of Sheffield, 1:38.97
Commemorative silver – Hiroko Makino, Tokyo Dome, 2:09.21
Junior
1. Pheobe Cooper, City of Sheffield, 1:40.72
2. Amalie Smith, RTW Monson, 1:41.62
3. Ines Guimond-Beetham, Camden Swiss, 2:12.87
Open/Male 50m Butterfly
Senior
1. Jamie Ingram, City of Manchester Aquatics, 22.73
2. Joe Litchfield, Loughborough Performance Centre, 23.04
3. Abduljabar Adama, Mount Kelly, 23.29
Junior
1. Abduljabar Adama, Mount Kelly, 23.29
2. Jack Brown, Plymouth Leander, 23.98
3. Ethan Soppett-Moss, Corby, 24.09
Female 100m Freestyle
Senior
1. Eva Okaro, Repton, 53.01
2. Freya Colbert, Loughborough Performance Centre, 53.31
3. Jemima Hall, Bath University, 54.27
Junior
1. Annabelle Compton, Wycombe District, 54.41
2. Skye Carter, Basildon Pheonix, 54.64
3. Hollie Wilson, City of Leeds, 55.05
Open/Male 400m Freestyle
Senior
1. Charlie Hutchinson, Loughborough University, 3:40.19
2. Tyler Melbourne-Smith, Loughborough University, 3:40.36
3. Reece Grady, Stockport Metro, 3:44.80
Junior
1. Samuel Sterry, Tigers Jersey, 3:51.19
2. Kourosh Khodakhar, City of Leeds, 3:50.58
3. Llewllyn Potter, Camden Swiss, 3:52.04
Female 100m Breaststroke
Senior
1. Imogen Clark, Derby Excel, 1:05.79
2. Elizabeth Booker, Loughborough Performance Centre, 1:06.62
3. Leah Schlosshan, City of Leeds, 1:07.51
Commemorative gold medal – Hiroko Makino, Tokyo Dome, 31.18
Junior
1. Mabi Collyer, Repton, 1:07.68
2. Jasmine Carter, Basildon Pheonix, 1:08.07
3. Gabrielle Idle-Beavers, Mount Kelly, 1:08.34
Open/Male 200m Backstroke
Senior
1. Luke Greenbank, Loughborough Performance Centre, 1:52.29
2. Samuel Greenbank, City of Sheffield, 1:54.64
3. Evan Jones, Manchester Performance Centre, 1:54.91
Junior
1. Daniel Ransom, City of Leeds, 1:56.65
2. Fergus Thomson, Mount Kelly, 1:57.08
3. Denys Mialkovskyi, RTW Monson, 1:58.46
Open/Male 100m Individual Medley
Senior
1. Joe Litchfield, Loughborough Performance Centre, 53.20
2. Calvin Fry, Loughborough Performance Centre, 53.61
3. Alexander Casey, Loughborough University, 54.29
Junior
1. Zachariah Dale, Repton, 55.99
2. Noah Wheeler, Chalfont, 56.00
3. Aran Bissett, RTW Monson, 56.01
