{"id":583717,"date":"2024-04-07T03:30:03","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T10:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=583717"},"modified":"2024-04-07T05:59:38","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T12:59:38","slug":"british-trials-day-6-prelims-tom-dean-matt-richards-duncan-scott-james-guy-friends-set-for-200-free-frenzy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/british-trials-day-6-prelims-tom-dean-matt-richards-duncan-scott-james-guy-friends-set-for-200-free-frenzy\/","title":{"rendered":"British Trials, Day 6 Prelims: Tom Dean & Matt Richards Book Centre Lanes In 200 Free; 1:47.76 To Make The Final"},"content":{"rendered":"

British Trials, Day 6 Prelims: Tom Dean & Matt Richards Book Centre Lanes In 200 Free; 1:47.76 To Make The Final<\/h4>\n

Olympic champion Tom Dean<\/strong> booked lane four alongside 2023 world gold medallist Matt Richards<\/strong> for the final of the 200 free at the Aquatics Centre in London.<\/p>\n

The lst event of the six-day programme is set to be a frenzy of freestyle with a depth of quality that is unmatched outside Great Britain.<\/p>\n

Away from the 200 free, Luke Greenbank<\/strong> – the Olympic and world medallist – led the 200 back as he seeks to book his place at Paris 2024.<\/p>\n

Men’s 200m Backstroke<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Greenbank went in the final heat after 100 winner Ollie Morgan<\/strong> had posted a time of 1:58.89.<\/p>\n

Jonathon Marshall<\/strong> was leading before Greenbank, who won bronze in Tokyo, came past on the second half of the race to book lane four in 1:57.35.<\/p>\n

Greenbank told Swimming World:<\/p>\n

“It’s an opportunity to blow off the cobwebs. Hopefully there’s a lot more in there I think.<\/p>\n

“I just wanted to get out, strong start, try to finish well but I think there’s no point overdoing it in the heats so there’s a little bit more in there.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also through to Sunday’s final: Brodie Williams<\/strong> (1:59.43), Charlie Brown<\/strong> (1:59.59), Matthew Ward<\/strong> (1:59.98), Cameron<\/strong> Brooker<\/strong> (2:00.89) and Jack Skerry<\/strong> (2:00.95).<\/p>\n

Men’s 200m Freestyle<\/h3>\n

There was a huge sense of anticipation for this event at the Aquatics Centre with Olympic and world champions taking to the water.<\/p>\n

Dean led home Duncan Scott<\/strong> for a British 1-2 in Tokyo and it was the latter who appeared in the fifth of eight heats, the first seeded prelim.<\/p>\n

The six-time Olympic medallist produced some great underwaters to win the heat in 1:47.18 ahead of Joe Litchfield<\/strong> – winner of the 100 fly – who clocke 1:47.76.<\/p>\n

Dean was in lane four alongside Jack McMillan<\/strong> in the following heat with the latter leading the way before the pair went stroke for stroke out of the final turn with the Olympic champion posting 1:46.47 to 1:46.79 and Kieran Bird<\/strong> going 1:47.17, 0.01 quicker than Scott’s time.<\/p>\n

Come the final heat and 2023 world champion Richards took his place alongside Millfield training mate and Tokyo 4×2 teammate and gold medallist James Guy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Guy led out of the final turn before Richards came past to stop the clock in 1:46.64 to book lane five with Guy also through in fourth as he seeks to qualify for his third Games having not yet booked a slot.<\/p>\n

Qualifiers:<\/h4>\n

Tom Dean (1:46.47); Matt Richards (1:46.64); Jack McMillan (1:46.79); James Guy (1:46.90); Kieran Bird (1:47.17); Duncan Scott (1:47.18); Luke Turley (1:47.26); Joe Litchfield (1:47.76)<\/p>\n

Max Litchfield<\/strong> (1:48.01) and Cameron Kurle<\/strong> (1:48.64) were the men to miss out in ninth and 10th to take the reserve spots.<\/p>\n

Richards, who has booked slots in the 50 and 100 free, pointed to the pressure that comes with the event despite being a world champion.<\/p>\n

He said:<\/p>\n

“We know how strong our event is in Britain.<\/p>\n

“It’s not by any means going to be an easy race at all tonight, it’s going to be a real scrap that could go one of many different ways.<\/p>\n

“The pressure is very much there.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t say the week’s been faultless either.<\/p>\n

“The 50 yesterday was great, I was really pleased with that; the 100 was executed quite poorly on my behalf, it wasn’t as fast as I think it maybe should have been.<\/p>\n

“We showed that last night – the speed was there on that 50, kind of confirmed that 100 should have been better.<\/p>\n

“I am just going to try and make sure tonight I right the wrongs of that 100 and really get after it and have a good race with the boys.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Given the quality across the board, how do you mentally prepare for a race like that?<\/p>\n

“It is really useful being in the end heat there, it makes it so much easier to know exactly what’s been done and what’s needed to get into the final.<\/p>\n

“I probably could have backed off even more just to make the final but I wanted to be in that middle lane, I wanted to be in that race tonight.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to be trying to fight for a win from an outside lane, that’s not easy to do.<\/p>\n

“So I just tried to do enough this morning to make sure I was in the final tonight, in a good lane and reserve something for tonight and we can see what we can do.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All four members of the winning 4×2 relay in Tokyo will take their place in the final with many of the field friends, teammates and training partners.<\/p>\n

Looking to those moments before the race, Richards added:<\/p>\n

“Me and Duncan were chatting the other day and we were saying that 100 free call room was probably the most intense call room either of us have ever been in.<\/p>\n

“That kind of sets you up: we know what we’re going to expect tonight, it’s going to be really intense before that race.<\/p>\n

“We are all really good friends, we are all good mates and team-mates but at the end of the day, tonight we’re competing for the same spots and that means a lot to all of us individually.<\/p>\n

“So before the race it will be very tense, after the race we’ll all shake hands and be pleased for each other whatever the result.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n