Angharad Evans Into The First Sub-1:05 All-Time Top 10 With 1:04.96 Hammer Of A British Record
Evans will arrive in Glasgow to race for Scotland at a home Commonwealth Games and then Paris to race for Great Britain at the European Championships in August a contender for gold in both the 100 and 200m breaststroke - as a n all-time top 10 swimmer in both
Having made it 10 out of 10 on the all-time top 10 British rankings with a 1:06.15 in heats of the 100m breaststroke but more, much more, was to come in the final this evening, a 1:04.96 crushing the British record and making the global women's all-time top 10 a sub-1:05 affair for the first time in history.
The last session of the six-day British Championships also witnessed qualifiers for the European Championships in Paris in August in the:
- Men's 200m backstroke - Uni of Birmingham's Oliver Morgan (1:55.86) and Loughborough PC's Luke Greenbank (1:56.01)
- Men's 50m butterfly - Bath PC teammates and training partners Josh Gammon and Jacob Peters
- Women's 50m freestyle - Eva Okaro, of Repton and Texas, and Theodora Taylor, Torfaen.
- Men's 200m free and 4x200 free: Manchester PC's Matt Richards and James Guy for the solo, and them plus Stirling PC mates Duncan Scott and Jack McMillan (Gabriel Shepherd first in line for a reserve spot):
Craig Lord
Evans' Epic
A quick take on just how good Evans' new career high is:
- good enough to have won the World title in Singapore last year
- just 0.01 outside Lydia Jacoby's Olympic gold time from Tokyo 2020ne - 0.123sec shy of the Commonwealth record held by Tatjana Shoenmaker/Smith, the Olympic champion over 200m in 2020ne and 100m in 2024
- good enough to leapfrog Katie Meili, Leisel Jones, Anna Elendt (Singapore 2025 champion), Reona Aoki and ... Olympic 200m champion Kate Douglass
- 0.41sec inside the British record she set at nationals a year ago
Evans will arrive in Glasgow to race for Scotland at a home Commonwealth Games and then Paris to race for Great Britain at the European Championships in August a contender for gold in both the 100 and 200m breaststroke.
The current generation of swimmers still in the race is led by Evgeniia Chikunova, whose best is now just 0.04sec ahead of Evan's new high bar.
All-time Top 10 in the world - Women's 100m Breaststroke:
On the record, and a second one at that, Evans said immediately after the race:
"So unexpected! To back up my 200 with another good swim gives me a lot of confidence going into the summer. It'll be interesting to watch that back because it definitely didn't feel like a perfect swim. The back end hurt quite a bit, so it'll be interesting to see how fast I went out. I'm super happy with that and excited to move it on, hopefully, in summer."
Fed with the 30.88 split, she added:
"To go a 1:04 is not an easy thing. My endurance is ok, but my easy speed, I knew, was where I had to push it. So I definitely try to go out fast and that's faster than I usually do... that's not actually that fast of my 50 PB."
“To swim a 64 has been my mission, and I’ve just got it, so I’m super happy with that. The best thing for a swimmer is seeing that time at the end of the race and knowing that all the hard work has been worth it.
"I'll take this week! Two PBs, two British records is something I didn't go into this week thinking I'd do, so, as I said, a big confidence boost going into summer. Racing the European girls is going to be amazing, so definitely some points to improve on that [swim this evening]."
Out in 30.88sec, - just shy of her dash best of 30.55 and her first time under 31 at the turn in a 100m race - the University of Stirling Performance Centre ace coached by Bradley Hay and Ben Higson, raced into a class of her own on the way to stopping the clock in as British record that entered into the all-time top 10 for a second time.
In the 200m, under the 2min 20sec barrier three days ago, she rose from No23 to all-time No9:
Craig Lord
More coverage of the last session of finals at the 2026 British Championships at the London Aquatics Centre.
The Session In Full:
Men's 200m Backstroke
Oliver Morgan, coached by Gary Humpage at the University of Birmingham, made it a sweep of all backstroke titles with a narrow 1:55.86 to 1:56.01 victory over Luke Greenbank in the 200m.
Morgan roared ahead over the first three lengths, before Greenbank struck back and looked as though he might get not only catch his quarry but run him down. Morgan had other ideas, refused to yield even as the his rival piled on the pressure in the closing stages of battle. The bronze went to the first of four Bath PC men in the final, Jack Skerry, on 1:57.60:
Women's 50m Freestyle - Okaro & Taylor To Paris
In 24.42 and 24.59 respectively, Eva Okaro, who leaves her teens behind this year, and Theodora Taylor, in the year of her 17th birthday, delivered a rare result: Britain will have two sprinters in the women's 50m freestyle at European Championships in Paris this August, and both of them are sub-24.6 swimmers.
Darcy Revitt made it a sub-25 podium in 24.77, while in seventh place, Eva's twin, Izabella Okaro, clocked 25.45, prompting her sister to say: It was nice, and special, that my sister was in there, too, and she did a PB!"
And so did Eva: 0.06sec faster than the career high she clocked to win the senior title for the first time last year.
Men's 50m 'Fly - Gold For Gammon, Tickets For Him & Peters
Coached by Dave McNulty and team at Bath PC, Josh Gammon edged out Jacob Peters by 0.01, both dipping below the cut for Paris 2026 in 23.10 and 23.11 23.10 respectively. Gammon said:
“Words can’t even describe how that felt. None of the events went my way this week, so I felt like I had nothing to lose. It feels like it’s all been a bit up and down recently, so to get that result was a shock, but I’m so proud.”
Women's 800m Freestyle
Amelie Blocksidge, coached by John Stout at City of Salford, booked tickets to European juniors for Britain and the Commonwealth Games for England with an 8:33.02 victory to add to her win in the 1500m free earlier in the championships.
