Shropshire's Ollie Morgan is off to Paris Olympics
Ollie Morgan is heading to the Paris Olympic Games with real medal hopes after qualifying for the men’s 200-metre backstroke at the British Swimming Championships.
The 20-year-old former Ludlow Swimming Club member, from Bishop’s Castle, followed up his British record swim in the 100m by beating Olympic medallist Luke Greenbank to the 200m title.
Greenbank – who won bronze at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 – set the pace for much of the contest, but it was Morgan who showed an impressive stroke rate down the final 25 metres to grab the lead and touch the wall well inside the Olympic standard with a new personal best of 1:56.27. Greenbank also earned a nomination time.
But there was disappointment for former Ellesmere Titan Freya Anderson – part of the mixed 4x100m medley squad that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 23-year-old – who was diagnosed with glandular fever at the start of this year, forcing her to pull back from training – skipped the 200m freestyle, but did compete in the 100m. However, her third-placed finish left her outside the nomination time for Paris.
n Ollie delight: Page 44
