British Trials, Day 4 Finals: Joe Litchfield Wins 100 Fly To Claim Olympic Ticket Ahead Of Joshua Gammon & Jacob Peters
Joe Litchfield booked a trip to the Paris Games after coming from sixth at the turn to claim the 100m fly title at the Aquatics Centre.
The spotlight had been on reigning champion Jacob Peters after he matched the QT of 51.45 in prelims as he posted the sole sub-52 of the morning.
Peters told Swimming World after the race he intended to “get pumped, get my music going and really try to bring the emotional side out” and he appeared on track as he turned first in 23.63 ahead of Ed Mildred (23.88) and James Guy (24.00) with Litchfield back in sixth in 24.23.
However, the second 50 saw the field come back at Peters with Litchfield going 27.48 to pick everybody off and touch the wall in 51.71, earning his Olympic nomination by virtue of the men’s medley relay combined times.
Joshua Gammon added 100 silver to 200 gold in 51.82 with Peters third in 51.88 ahead of Mildred (52.11) and Guy (52.29) with Lewis Fraser (52.32), Jamie Ingram (52.74) and Thomas Carswell (53.00) completing the field.
With that, Joe Litchfield joined brother Max on the Olympic team, sparking family celebrations in the stands.
Of the moment he realised he’d won, Litchfield said:
“Honestly, I didn’t really believe it.
“I heard my name before i saw the time so I didn’t really know what time it was going to be.
“I knew I had that in me, I didn’t personally think – obviously with Jacob going a bit faster this morning – that that was going to win it.
“I thought Jimmy (James Guy) was going to be a bit faster but a race is a race and I managed to get my hand on the wall first so I’m absolutely buzzing.”
