Matt Richards . . . Now The Second Fastest Briton Ever Over 50m

By Gareth James

Matt Richards has become the second fastest British man of all time over 50m.

The 19-year-old Team Wales Commonwealth Games star smashed his own personal best when he won the 50m freestyle at the 2022 Swim England Winter Championships on Friday night.

Richards – Olympic Gold medal winner last year in the men’s 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay in Tokyo – won his 50m sprint event, with Welsh star Medi Harris also taking gold in the women’s 50m backstroke.

Richards produced a time of 21.11 to win the event by well over half a second.

 

Can confirm @M4ttRichards is in ridiculous form right now.

Unconfirmed British Record 100m Free SC here in Sheffield 🇬🇧@Swim_England @SpeedoUK

— Propulsion Swimming (@Propulsion_Swim) December 3, 2022

The swim was a new personal best for the Worcestershire-based athlete and it took him to number two on the all-time British performers’ list.

He sliced .27 off of the 21.38 he logged nearly 3 years ago.

In Britain, only Ben Proud has been quicker with his national record of 20.45 from last year’s FINA Short Course World Championships.

Harris, the Swansea star, raced in the women’s 50m backstroke and also came away with a personal best at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield.

Medi Harris (second from left). Pic: Getty Images.

She stopped the clock in a time of 26.49 to grab the gold, rewriting a big-time personal best in the process.