Charlie Hutchison won an impressive gold medal at the British Swimming Championships but Scotland’s most decorated swimmer, Duncan Scott, was forced to settle for silver.
Six-time Olympic medallist Scott was involved in the closest final of the meet with all three medallists in the 100m freestyle final being separated by only three hundredths of a seconds.
The 25-year-old is a former Commonwealth Games champion in this event but after a somewhat sluggish start, Scott reached the halfway point in fifth place.
However, as is his trademark, he came through incredibly strong in the final 50m to touch the wall in second place in 48.00 seconds, just one hundredth behind winner, Lewis Burras.
With this meet doubling as the trials for the World Championships in Japan in July, Scott also dipped inside the consideration time for the GB squad and despite missing out on gold, declared himself happy with his performance.
“This is what I love – when it’s really tight,” the University of Stirling swimmer said. “It doesn’t matter what shape I’m in or what my preparation’s been like, I’m just here to compete and I think in those situations, I do it really well so I’m really happy with that.
“Time-wise this season, I’ve been a bit all over the shop so to be able to put it together like that fills me with confidence for the rest of the week.”
Scott admitted he was aware just how close the field was in the closing stages of the final but experience has taught him not to be distracted by his opponents.
“Towards the end of the race, there’s no point in looking at what other people are doing. The last 25m is about focusing on your own strokes. I knew it was going to be close but Lewis [Burras] is a pretty tall guy so I’d have to be quite far ahead of him to get the touch.
“The 100 free is more cagey than other events and I think that really benefits me in terms of coming through the field.”
In the 400m individual medley, Hutchison, from Dumfries and Galloway, started strongly and after taking the lead early in the backstroke leg, never looked in danger of losing his grasp on first place, taking gold and his first-ever British title in 4 minutes 17.89 seconds, over a second clear of Welshman William Ryley in second place with Hutchison’s compatriot, Mark Szaranek, winning bronze.
Keanna McInnes also produced an impressive performance to win bronze in the 200m butterfly, setting a new personal best and breaking the Scottish record in the process.
The University of Stirling swimmer finished third behind Loughborough’s Laura Stephens in 2 minutes 8.05 seconds and admitted she felt both satisfied and disappointed with her swim after missing out on the consideration time for the World Championships by only 14 hundredths of a second.
“There’s mixed emotions. It’s a Scottish record, a huge PB and I put the race together quite well so I couldn’t really ask for more,” the 21-year-old said before looking forward to the 100m butterfly on Sunday. I think that was a positive swim in the 200m and my 100m has been really good all season so I definitely think there’s a bit of a drop to come in that race.”
In action today is Katie Shanahan, who is hot favourite for gold in the 200m backstroke while in the 100m freestyle, Lucy Hope is looking to add another medal to her bronze in the 200m freestyle. In the 200m breaststroke, George Smith is looking to win his first medal of the meet.
