Abbie Wood one to her blocks for the 200m medley final with a best time of 2:08.85 from the same moment at the same event at the British Championships a year ago. She left the water tonight sporting a new career high of 2:08.17.

That time would have won silver at the World Championships in Singapore, where Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh claimed gold in 2:06.69, which compares to the British record held at 2:06.88 by Siobhan-Marie O'Connor since she claimed Olympic silver a slither behind Hungarian Katinka Hosszu at Rio 2016.

Wood, back in 6th on 2:09.92 in the Singapore, made her intentions clear from the gun this evening at he London Aquatics centre, in he lead within moments of breaking into stroke, and never led as she rattled through these splits:

• 27.64, 59.84 and 1:36.86 before a closing 31.31 on freestyle

The clock was one measure of progress, another the all-time British 200m medley performances (multiple entries per swimmer) rankings: Having stood at No8 behind O'Connor's seven best swims, Wood's best is Britain's No3 fastest-ever 200IM.

Coached by Dave Hemmings at Loughborough University Performance Centre, Wood retained the crown by a thumping 2.65sec ahead of Freya Colbert, the bronze to 17-year-old Amalie Smith, who clocked 4:35 in the 400IM this week to book a ticket to her senior debut for Britain at the European Championships.

Wood and Colbert will represent Britain in the event at the European Championships in Paris this August.

Wood said she felt "very relieved" to get her big swim done at the end of a challenging week:

"It's been quite a tough week, deciding not to do the 200 free to give me a rest for this, and holding my own until the next-to-last days of the championships has been quite hard.

"It's always great to get a PB but my main focus this season is to put it on in the summer, which I've struggled to do in the past few years, so I want to be just as strong there [in Paris].

Her goals was "to build through the season, and hopefully knock that down a little more but I'm so happy with that and so surprised."

"I couldn’t see it at the end, so I was very shocked to hear the time at the end – but really happy ... to have to wait until day five to even make it onto a team has left me quite on edge, but it’s taught me a good lesson and really made me stay headstrong.”

Men's 200m breaststroke

Ross Murdoch's 2:07.30 British record from Glasgow 2014 lived to fight another day this evening, when Filip Nowacki, who claimed World junior gold last year in a sensational 2:07.32, took the national 200m title in 2:0852 ahead of defending champion Greg Butler, on a lifetime best of 2:09.51, both men celebrating tickets to the European Championships in Paris for Great Britain this August:

"It's always great to battle it out with Greg, Ryan and the rest," said Nowacki before being asked what he was looking for in Paris this summer. He replied: "I think just building on that. There's work to do with my turns and my underwaters, but just to improve my time and carry the momentum forward into the summer.

He rated a week that delivered silver in the 100 and then the 50m breaststroke behind Adam Peaty, then gold pin the 200 as 10/10:

“I’d have to say I’d rate my week overall at 10/10. A couple of PBs, and couple of times just off a PB, and I’m on the team for Paris, which I’m really pleased about and was the main aim for this week.”

In the snaps above, Adam Wilkie congratulates Filip Nowacki, the 2026 British 200m breaststroke champion. Adam is the son of the late David Wilkie, who claimed Olympic gold for Great Britain in the 200m breaststroke at the 1976 Olympic Games with an iconic World-record 2:15.11. Adam will see how close he can get to that time in the conning year, and in the process seek to raise £215,000 for SportsAid to help the next wave of British swimmers.

Adam spoke to me for The Times and State of Swimming earlier this week:

How close can David Wilkie’s son get to dad’s record? (He’s not a swimmer)

As part of the grieving process to remember his dad, Adam Wilkie, 33, has left his day job to embark on the challenge of matching his father’s iconic swim at the 1976 Olympics

The TimesCraig Lord

Adam Wilkie's Great Challenge:

‘In My Father’s Lane - Chasing 2:15’ - Why Adam Wilkie Is Aiming To Swim As Fast As Dad David Did For Gold

As part of the grieving process to remember his dad David Wilkie, Adam, 33, has left his day job to take on the challenge of matching the Scotsman’s iconic world-record 200m breaststroke victory for Britain at the 1976 Olympics

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

• RESULTS IN FULL

The Session In Full:

In other finals...

Men's 50m freestyle

Matt Richards found himself in a pincer of teens in the dash, Jacob Mills the champion and sole sub-22 dasher today, his 21.91 leaving him 0.16sec ahead of the man who beat him for 100m gold this week. The two will clash tomorrow in the 200m. The third man home was the youngest in the final: Gabriel Shepherd, 18 this year:

Mills, 19 this year, was just 0.03sec shy of the 21.88 cut for the European Championships in Paris, but is already on the team for the 100m free and 4x100m free will likely also race the 50 free. He reflected in the race and then the one to come tomorrow:

"It was good to bounce back after a disappointing result in the 100 [silver to Richards' gold]. I was just really happy to get my hands on the wall first tonight. After a bit of a reduced warmup this morning, I thought I've got to put it all in there tonight to beat this guy [nodding towards Guy with a wry smile], because he's pretty good at beating me. I was really happy with that: I nailed my start, and basically, picked the pace up. It was good."

On the 200m battle on last day in London tomorrow, he added:

"I'm pretty excited for that one I've done a lot of work for it this year so, yeah, it should be good."

Men's 800m freestyle - Grady At The Distance Double

Reece Grady, racing for Stockport Metro and based at Arizona State University (ASU), added the 800m freestyle title to his victory over 1500m earlier in the championships. The 21-year-old clocked 7:56.42 as the sole man inside 8 minutes, Loughborough-based pair Luke Hornsey and Sean McCann on that mark for the minor spoils:

Following his A-level examinations in 2023, Grady left for Arizona State University (ASU), where the program was then led by coach Bob Bowman. His academic interested learned towards engineering and related subjects. Coach Herbie Behm is currently the head of the ASU program. Grady, due to graduate in 2027, has gained a lot of experience through his role for the Sun Devils.

Women's 100m butterfly - Macinnes Just Shy of Paris Cut But Medley Relay Awaits

Keanna Macinnes, coached by Ben Higson and Bradley Hay at the University of Stirling, took the first title of the penultimate finals session in London, with solid 57.57. The time fell just 0.09sec shy of the Paris cut, though the medley relay berth is her's should the best of Britain in each stroke stack to selection by the close of the championships tomorrow.

The 100m breaststroke is the only solo 100m final for women to go - and will , feature Macinnes' training partner Angharad Evans, who shows stunning form in the 200m with a pioneering Brit sub-2:20 two days ago.

The 100 'fly final: