By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam
2026 AQUATICS GB SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tuesday, April 14th – Sunday, April 19th Prelims at 9:30am local (4:30am ET)/B-Finals & Junior Finals at 6pm local (1pm ET)/A-finals at 7:45pm local (2:45pm ET) London Aquatics Centre European Championships Selection Policy SwimSwam Preview Meet Central Entries Prelims Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 Finals Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 Start Lists/Live Results LivestreamMatthew Ward lowered his lifetime best and Scottish Record in the 100 back in the heats at the Aquatics GB Championships this morning, clocking 53.29 to undercut the 53.52 he swam at this meet last year.
He was out slightly slower in his swim this morning, flipping 0.05 seconds off his record pace, but came home in a 27.40 to slice 0.23 seconds off his best. He is now nearly a second ahead of the second-fastest Scot in history, Edinburgh’s Gregor Tait, who owned the record in 54.22 until Ward took it with a 54.10 swim in 2024.
He moves up to rank 5th all-time among British men, leapfrogging the pair of Jack Skerry and Luke Greenbank, who were also in the field tonight.
British Men’s 100 Back, All-Time Top Five
Ollie Morgan – 52.12 (2025) Liam Tancock – 52.73 (2009) Chris Walker-Hepburn – 52.88 (2015) Jonny Marshall – 53.03 (2024) Matthew Ward – 53.29 (2026)Ward was slightly slower in the final tonight, touching in 53.58. That was good enough for silver, as he locked up his qualification to the Scottish team for a home Commonwealth Games this summer and likely did enough to make the team for the European Championships.
The qualification time for that meet was 53.47, which Ward dipped under in his record-setting swim this morning but was 0.11 seconds outside this evening. With only finals swims being considered, he has not guaranteed qualification but will likely be taken as a medley relay alternate as a minimum.
He now ranks 8th in the world this season, and is the third-fastest Commonwealth swimmer this year after Pieter Coetze (52.41) and Ollie Morgan (52.40)
2025-2026 LCM Men 100 BACK
Xu CHNJiayu11/1252.392PieterCOETZERSA52.4004/143Hubert Kos HUN52.6312/054ApostolosCHRISTOU GRE53.0903/225OliverMORGANGBR53.1403/136ThomasCECCONITA53.1604/167JohnSHORTT IRL53.1704/098 RomanMityukovSUI53.4304/129Blake Tierney CAN53.5212/0510Ruard van RenenRSA53.6104/14View Top 26»Ward’s swims today were his fastest and third-fastest swims ever, sandwiching the 53.52 he swam in the final last year. He was slower later that summer at the European U23 Championships, placing 3rd in 54.29. Jack Skerry, who placed 4th tonight in 54.07, took gold there in a time of 53.35.
This marked the 5th year in a row that Ward had set a lifetime best at this meet, and sees him continue the steady progress which has seen him drop from 54.76 in 2023 to 53.29 three years later. He is the fifth British swimmer to go under 53.7 in the 100 back in the last 12 months, as they have quietly built up some serious depth in this event with Ollie Morgan, Jack Skerry, Jonny Marshall, Cam Brooker and Ward.
Ollie Morgan won his fourth British title in a row tonight, clocking 52.41 for his third-fastest swim ever behind only the 52.12 he swam at this meet last year and the 52.37 he swam for 5th in the World Championships final last summer. Ward took silver, with 2023 World Championship qualifier Brooker 0.06 seconds off his best to take 3rd in 53.69.
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