By David Williams Matt Richards added a silver medal to add to Medi Harris’ silver in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay final at the European Aquatics Championships in Rome. Richards secured a silver medal in a thrilling Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay finale alongside Tom Dean, Anna Hopkin and Freya Anderson. As was the overriding tactic, […]

Olympic champion Matt Richards has been backed to start fine-tuning his season for next year’s Commonwealth Games after being named in the Great Britain swimming squad for the World Short Course Championships. Richards will be joined by another Welsh Olympic finalist, Dan Jervis, for the championships in Abu Dhabi in December. It will be the first outing for the Welsh pair under the GB banner since Richards struck gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay in Tokyo and Jervis finished fifth in his 1500m freestyle final.

Today is National Sporting Heritage Day and sports across Wales such as swimming and cricket have both been celebrating their past as well as looking ahead to the future, as Graham Thomas reports.  Every sport likes to honour its heroes from the past. Whether it’s teams or individuals, a nod to those who have gone before can prove inspirational to everyone – whether they be elite performers, grass roots enthusiasts, or youngsters trying a new activity for the first time.

The Tokyo Olympics will be remembered as the Games where Welsh women re-wrote their country’s history. Hannah Mills and Lauren Price not only came home with gold medals, but their achievements were trailblazing firsts for the nation. Together with Matt Richards and Calum Jarvis, they not only contributed to three gold medal events won by Welsh athletes for Great Britain (providing gold for four athletes as swimmers Richards and Jarvis were part of the 4 x 200m freestyle relay squad) but the Welsh female pair have now gone where no others have gone before.

Matt Richards and Calum Jarvis have ended Welsh swimming’s long 109-year wait for Olympic gold medals with a magnificent victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay in Tokyo. The Welsh pair were part of a dominant Great Britain squad that struck gold, ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee in second and Australia, who took the bronze. The British quartet won in six minutes 58.58 seconds – an emphatic 3.23secs clear of the Russians and only fractionally outside the world record by three hundredths of a second.

Welsh swimmer Calum Jarvis is now within touching distance of fulfilling his dreams and winning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. His Team GB relay team were the fastest in their Men’s 4x200m freestyle heats but this success was a long in time in the making, as Tom Prosser discovers. Calum Jarvis was part of the successful Team GB Men’s 4x200m freestyle team this morning alongside fellow Welsh swimmer Matt Richards. Their Team GB finished the heats with the fastest time of 7:03.25 and will now be aiming for a medal in the final which will take place in the early hours of tomorrow morning (Wednesday).

By Rob Cole  Matt Richards has already proven himself to be the fastest of the record ‘Super Six’ Welsh swimmers in Tokyo, but few knew that the speed he hopes will carry him onto the podium was honed in a paddling pool in his back garden last year.   When lockdown hit last year the rising star of the Swim Wales National Squad had to leave his training centre at Bath University and returned to the family home in the west Midlands.  

Matt Richards is dreaming of challenging for something shiny at the Olympics in Tokyo after bagging his second medal in the pool in Hungary. The 18-year-old Welsh freestyle record holder at 100m & 200m followed up his silver in the men’s 4x100m free relay with another in the 4x200m free at the European Championships.

Dan Jervis produced a controlled swim to book his spot in the final of the men’s 1500m freestyle at the European Championships in Budapest. The 24-year-old Swansea swimmer will bid for his maiden European medal on Wednesday evening.

Matt Richards marked his GB debut by celebrating a stunning relay silver medal at the European Championships in Budapest. The 18-year-old – who broke two Welsh records at the selection trials in April – helped GB to finish second in a British record 4x100m relay time of 3:11.56.

Harriet Jones booked a spot in Monday’s semi-finals of the 100m butterfly at the European Championships in Budapest. The 23-year-old clocked 59.36 secs finishing fifth in her heat as France’s Marie Wattel won in 57.69.

Alys Thomas will realise her dream of a first Olympic Games this summer after being named as one of a record six Welsh swimmers who are heading to Tokyo with the Great Britain squad. At 30, Thomas will be the oldest swimmer in the 24-strong group, but as she proved in becoming Commonwealth champion 18 months ago, hers is a career that is defying convention in the sport and she will head to Japan as a genuine medal prospect in the women’s 200m butterfly. Joining Thomas will be Harriet Jones – after her stunning showing at the recent British selection trials – along with Dan Jervis, Matt Richards, Calum Jarvis and Kieran Bird, who also upset the form book at the trials with a huge personal best in the 400m freestyle.