Filip Nowacki and Abbie Wood Collect Day 5 Titles at Aquatics GB Championships
Following a pair of runnerup finishes to Adam Peaty in the sprint-breaststroke events, teenager Filip Nowacki commanded the 200-meter breaststroke on the fifth day of the Aquatics GB Championships at the London Aquatic Centre. The 18-year-old upstart secured berths to this summer’s Commonwealth Games and European Championships by posting a time of 2:08.52, good for No. 2 in the 2026 world rankings.
The reigning world junior champion in the event, Nowacki trailed at only the first turn, where Gregory Butler was in front. But by the midway point of the race, Nowacki was in front at 1:01.54, with Butler back at 1:01.95. Nowacki increased his lead to .59 heading into the last length and he added to his margin down the stretch, prevailing by almost a second over Butler, who placed second in 2:09.51.
Nowacki and Japan’s Shin Ohashi, a fellow teen, have been tabbed as the future of the breaststroke events, and they will get the chance to showcase their skills in major competition this summer – but not against each other. While Nowacki will race in Glasgow at the Commonwealth Games and compete in Paris at the European Champs, Ohashi will head to the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, California.
In his earlier breaststroke races, Nowacki went 59.39 to finish behind Peaty (58.97) in the 100 distance and added a 27.10 effort in the 50 breast, where Peaty sprinted to a time of 26.64.
Abbie Wood Blazes No. 1 Time in 200 IM
British veteran Abbie Wood delivered the best performance of her career on the way to the title in the 200 individual medley. Wood packaged a start-to-finish triumph over Freya Colbert and logged a mark of 2:08.17, good for the fastest in the world this year and a .68 improvement over her previous best, which was set at last year’s Aquatics GB Champs. Colbert, already the champion in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle, touched the wall in 2:10.82.
Wood immediately built a lead on the opening butterfly leg, as her split of 27.64 gave her a .68 edge on Colbert. Her margin grew to .85 at the halfway point, but it was the breaststroke where Wood opened up a significant advantage, thanks to a split of 37.02, compared to the 39.18 of Colbert. Earlier in the meet, Wood was the second-place finisher to Angharad Evans in the 200 breaststroke.
Jacob Mills was the lone athlete to crack the 22-second barrier in the 50 freestyle, as his dash of 21.91 was enough to fend off Matt Richards (22.07). That finishing order was a reversal of the outcome of the 100 freestyle from earlier in the week, and Richards will look for another title in the 200 freestyle on the final day of action.
In the women’s 100 butterfly, Keanna Macinnes cruised away from the field in 57.57 while Reece Grady was the winner of the men’s 800 freestyle in 7:56.42.