Richards & Scott Take Olympic 100 Tickets As Dean Makes It Three On 47s & Cohoon Joins Britain’s Paris Sprint Relay Party
Matt Richards gold, Duncan Scott scorching home from fifth at the turn to silver and Tom Dean confined to bronze by 0.02 after speeding from seventh at the turn, his and sprint relay prospects buoyant on a podium split by 0.1sec.
The fastest 100m line-up ever in home waters was led by 47.84, 47.92, 47.94 for the medals. All three inside the Paris cut of 48.06, Dean the wrong side of selection by less than a whisker. Last man home: 48.81, the entire final home within a second.
Britain, 100m freestyle. Consider this: Rio 2016 was the first Olympic season in history to produce at least one sub-49sec swim by a British man in a textile suit. Today, London 04.04.24? Eleven, three under 48 and the 48s including the fourth member of the Olympic 4x200m-champion quartet, James Guy, who opted out off the final and left his bid to a relay berth in Paris in the heats at 48.6.
Consider, too, the tiny margins at the heart of the soaring competitive spirit in the British sprint freestyle ranks. That 0.02sec was the same margin by which Richards, coached by Ryan Livingstone at Millfield, pipped Dean, coached by Dave McNulty at Bath, for the World 200m title last year and a half of the 0.04sec margin by which Dean claimed Olympic 200m gold ahead of Scott, coached by Steve Tigg at Stirling, in Tokyo.
No wonder Loughborough’s Alex Cohoon, like Richards born in 2002 at the interface of eras Thorpean and Phelpsian, was “speechless”. Fourth in 48.20. Look at the company and 200m firepower he will keep in Paris this summer: Richards, World 200m and Olympic 4x200m champion; Scott, Olympic 4x200m champion and silver medallist in the 200m free, 200m medley and 4x100m medley, a haul that made him the most decorated British athlete of any sport at a single Games ever; and Dean, Olympic 200m and 4x200m champion and Worlds silver medallist a touch behind Richards last year.
The margins:
22.79, 47.84 Richards
23.23, 47.92 Scott
23.44, 47.94 Dean
23.00, 48.20 Cohoon
With every passing battle, their domestic rivalry sharpens Britain’s blade of ambition and hunger for success in international waters, all roads leading to the ultimate goal: Olympic glory. Relays are cornerstones of TeamGB progress in the pool.
Three years after the nation’s finest hour and medal haul in the history of Games swimming, the men’s 4x100m freestyle just joined the official list of targets.
The maths, with Jacob Whittle a possible reserve on 48.39 and Scott the holder of the fastest ever 100m relay split in a textile suit, suggests a quartet capable of racing faster than American gold in Tokyo three years ago, not to mention faster that the world titles were won in ever since.
It’s a paper exercise and there’s a great deal to go this season before the form guide will take proper shape but suffice it to say, the British heat is on long before the summer in an event Britain has no tradition of excelling in – and has never been a title threat in since the 4x100m was introduced to the Games in 1964.
In 1968, Britain took fourth and the best since is a fifth place by the 1984 quartet. In the past 32 years, the Brits have placed seventh and eighth but mostly have not featured in finals at all.
Richards On The Pressure To Join TeamGB Pride
After emerging victorious from a thrilling pool-wide battle, Richards, Britain swimmer of the year in 2023 with world titles in the 200m and, with Scott, Dean and James Guy, the 4x200m, said: “It’s a great result for the team as a whole, that bodes extremely well for our relay. That’s job done for today. To be honest, I thought I was capable of a bit quicker, it wasn’t the best executed race for me tonight – but I can’t complain with that, I’ve got the job done today and left plenty in the tank for us to improve in the summer.”
He might have had a third sprint freestyle medal, even gold, from World titles in Japan last year had Britain not been disqualified for a start too fast in the morning heats of the 4x100m. The Covid contract catch-up crunch meant another World gathering in February this year and teams that did not qualify for Paris in Fukuoka had to show up in Doha and book the ticket for their nation.
Britain finished fourth to get the job done but today’s solo blasts, without the flying gains of a relay, add up to swifter than the 48.19 of Richards, the 48.36 of Whittle, Dean’s 48.63 and Scott’s 47.37, for 3:12.55. Expect much faster than that in Paris, where China’s Doha-title -winning 3:11.08 won’t make the medals, in all likelihood. Indeed, Australia’s Fukuoka 2023 victory of 3:10.16 may struggle too.
Richards noted that the Battle of Britain to make solo and relays berths in the men’s freestyle ranks makes for the kind of pressure Americans (but very few others face) face in the race for relay places at their trials with every passing quad. He said:
“Look, that race is just as high pressured as an Olympic final would be, because at the end of the day, until you get that done, you’re not going to the Olympics. So the nerves and the pressure of that is a great opportunity to practice for the summer. Of course I’m enjoying that pressure, I like to be going in in lane four and trying to deliver for the people watching. I’m really happy with that tonight, it’s great practice for the summer and we’ll improve from here.
“The ticket’s there, I’m going to the Games, but there’s a lot more I want to do this week. I’ve got the 50m on Saturday and the 200m on Sunday, both of those races are still really important to me, I want to book those individual spots and those races for the summer. It doesn’t take the pressure off those, I still want to deliver, but it’s a great way to get into the week.”
Matt Richards, photo – Great Britain 4×200 gold (l-r) James Guy, Matt Richards, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott in 2023… the three to the right have now set their sights on the 4×100 podium in Paris – image courtesy of British Swimming
Scott, like his teammates greyhound cut, offered this teaser for Sunday: “It’s one of them where we’re all teammates but all competing for those spots and that’s where you get something quite special like you just saw there. And we get to go again on Sunday in the 200 free. That was a special race to be a part of. It was quite cagey, quite tight. It’s good to get on that plane… or, Eurostar!”
The British swimming team will travel to the Games not by air but, fittingly, through (but not in) sea.
Dean was asked about the thrill of trials in general and noted: “We saw some great time last night and the night before. You want to get involved, you want to be part of it – and these boys always get you fired up as well.”
Trials Information
- Results in full
- Link to entry list
- Selection policy
- Aquatics GB meet page
- Broadcast & streaming info
- The Vortex: Japanese Olympic trials
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