Tom Dean misses shot at defending Olympic title as Matt Richards wins epic men’s 200m freestyle

Matt Richards pipped Duncan Scott to victory in an epic men’s 200 metres freestyle on the final night of action at the British Swimming Championships as Tom Dean missed out on a shot at defending his Olympic title.

With just two places available in each individual event, one of a trio of world-class British freestylers was guaranteed to not make Team GB’s squad for Paris 2024.

And in a thrilling four-way fight for the national title that also included a resurgent James Guy, Richards powered home down the final length to get the touch ahead of fellow fast finisher Scott.

The pair will thus bid for a medal in the French capital, with Dean having to be content with a relay place.

“It lived up to the hype,” said 2023 world champion Richards. “That was probably the best field you are going to find domestically. It was great practice for the Olympics.

“I said to [Tom Dean] at the end of the race it is so bittersweet because in a perfect world we would love it if we could all get in there and race. There is always going to be someone who just misses out and Deano is a phenomenal talent.”

With the ever-reliable Guy recording his best time since 2017 in fourth, Great Britain’s relay quartet in the event looks exceptionally strong as they attempt to defend their Olympic crown.

But there was disappointment for Dean, who had hoped to target five medals in Paris. The 23-year-old also missed out on a 100m freestyle place at the British Championships, though is likely to compete alongside national champion Scott in the 200m individual medley after a touching the wall second inside the time required for Olympic selection consideration.

“I knew it was going to take a momentous effort,” said the Bath-based Dean. “It is fine margins and you can pay for it at the front end.

“I have been top three in the world for three years in a row and it shows the calibre of this competition. This is what you’ve got to do to just get on the team

“I have spoken about my big medal aims in Paris. That is still there. I want to win individual medals, relay medals and do as much as I can for the team. I have got to reset and slightly refocus.”

Elsewhere, Anna Hopkin, a gold medallist in the mixed 4x100m medley in Tokyo, added a 100m freestyle gold having already secured a place in Paris after defending her women’s 50m freestyle title on Thursday.

Freya Anderson, who swam in the heats for that gold medal-winning relay team, was an uncertain participant in the championships after revealing last month that she had been diagnosed with glandular fever at the start of this year, forcing her to pull back from training.

Anderson skipped the 200m freestyle earlier this week but did compete in the 100m, finishing third and outside the nomination time, with Eva Okaro – also outside the mark – taking silver to match the seeding from the afternoon’s heats.

Oliver Morgan, who broke the British 100m backstroke record on the second day of competition, earned his second Paris qualification of the week after edging out Luke Greenbank to take the British 200m title.

Greenbank, a 200m breaststroke bronze and men’s 4x100m medley relay silver medallist in Tokyo, touched the wall just 0.12 seconds after Morgan and will hope he has done enough to impress the selectors and represent Team GB again this summer.

Angharad Evans had finished under the nomination time in the women’s 100m breaststroke heats but missed out on doing the same and earning a direct nomination in the final, where she pipped Kara Hanlon to the finish by just 0.06.

While she missed the Paris mark, 14-year-old Amelie Blocksidge cemented herself as one to watch with gold in the women’s 800m freestyle after successfully defending her British Championships 1500m title earlier this week.

Tully Kearney, who set a new British S5 50m women’s backstroke record on the penultimate day of competition, finished first and under the nomination time in her multi-classification 100m freestyle final.

The Tokyo 2020 100m freestyle S5 champion and 200m freestyle silver medallist was one of a number of athletes who posted times under the Paralympic mark on the final day of competition to put themselves in contention for this summer’s Games.

Additional reporting by PA