Dawson and Horton share gold after thrilling finish at Summer Meet

Liam Dawson and Lucas Horton tied for gold in a thrilling race to kick off the finals session on day three of the Swim England National Summer Meet.

The Men’s 13/14 Years 100m Freestyle provided a grandstand opener to the evening session, with Nova Centurion’s Dawson and Wirral Metro’s Horton getting the crowd off their feet as they battled down the last 50m.

The pair touched the wall in 55.79s, with Dawson improving on the personal best he set in the heats by 0.66s.

It also capped a superb day for Horton, who had earlier shaved more than two seconds off his own PB.

Team Bath’s Oliver Watts smashed his PB from the morning to take the bronze medal in 56.22.

Lewis Moore chased down Ayotobi Laguda with just metres to spare to win the 17 Years title.

Ellesmere College’s Laguda led at the halfway mark and looked strong with 25 metres to go.

But he was caught by Team Ipswich’s Moore, who finished impressively to win in 52.73s, 0.14 ahead of Laguda.

City of Peterborough’s Myles Robinson-Young claimed bronze in 53.24.

Adam Strickland swam under 54 seconds for the first time in his life to win gold in the 15 Years final.

The Derwentside swimmer headed to Ponds Forge with a lifetime best of 55.92 and he took almost a second off that in the heats.

By the end of the day, he was more than two seconds quicker than he’d ever been, clocking 53.90s for the title.

Sheffield’s Barney Howarth-Osborne was agonisingly close to swimming 53 seconds, winning silver in 54.03.

Portsmouth Northsea’s Oliver Kettle won the bronze in 54.23.

Julian Lin stunned the field from lane one to win the 18 Years and Over final.

The Loughborough University swimmer led at the halfway mark and held firm to win in 51.50s, just 0.01 quicker than the PB he set at the British Summer Championships in 2015.

Derventio’s Ryan Reader pipped Bath University’s Jeffrey Chen to silver, finishing just a hundredth of a second ahead in 51.61.

Reuben Edwards dipped under 53 seconds for the first time ever, winning the 16 Years final in 52.93.

The RTW Monson swimmer had set a PB of 53.90 at last week’s British Summer Championships and showed spectacular progress in a short period of time.

Pershore’s Patrick Heeks took the silver, ahead of Reading’s bronze medallist Silas Mendez.

Women’s 400m Freestyle

Hermione Roe made a late charge to win a thrilling Women’s 14 Years 400m Freestyle final

The Stockport Metro swimmer didn’t have the lead at any of the turns, but chased down her teammate Caitlin Lansom in the closing stages.

Roe’s winning time of 4:28.55 was more than 10 seconds quicker than her PB at the start of the day.

Roe won 50m Freestyle silver on Thursday and was the 100m Breaststroke champion at the British Summer Championships.

Lansom finished just 0.06s behind to secure a Stockport 1-2, also swimming a huge personal best time.

Ellesmere College’s Katie Hale won her second bronze medal in as many days, following her success in the 50m event.

Ashleigh Baillie won her third national title of the week, taking gold in the 12/13 Years final.

The City of Sheffield swimmer held off the late challenge of City of Salford’s Ella Blocksidge.

Baillie had already topped the podium in the 100m Butterfly and 200m Freestyle.

Borough of Kirklees’ Ruby Knight rounded out the podium in a PB of 4:34.19.

Lola Proctor took almost five seconds off her lifetime best to win the 15 Years final.

The Sutton Cheam swimmer won bronze in the 200m Freestyle at last year’s Summer Meet, but stepped into top spot with a commanding swim.

Proctor won in 4:32.72, with City of Birmingham’s Millie Checkley in second and York City’s Ella Stabler in third.

Canadian Freya Rothery won a commemorative gold medal, touching the wall first in 4:25.97.

Jennifer Green won gold in an enthralling 16 Years final.

From lane one, Green seemed to be swimming her own race as she led at the halfway mark.

Despite close competition from Romford Town’s Amelia Moule and Wrekin College’s Eve Leleux, Wigan BEST’s Green strode clear towards the end to win in 4:28.69.

Moule won silver, 0.08s ahead of bronze medallist Leleux.

100m Butterfly champion Jessica Podger was back on top of the podium in the 17 Years and Over age group.

The Millfield swimmer was locked in a tense battle with Beckenham’s silver medallist Tiegan Child at the final turn, but kicked brilliantly to win gold by more than a second in 4:23.62.

Plymouth Leander’s Amy Pemberton won the bronze medal.

Women’s MC 400m Freestyle

Fern Sneddon continued her standout week at Ponds Forge, winning the Women’s MC 400m Freestyle title.

RTW Monson’s S6 swimmer had already won gold in the 50m and 100m Freestyle, completing her hat-trick in a tight final.

Sneddon touched the wall in 6:30.98 for 521 points, just 16 ahead of Cockermouth’s Grace Ella Cooper-Holmes.

Northampton’s Eliza Humphrey (S11) won bronze with 476 points.

Men’s MC 400m Freestyle

William Perry improved his personal best time from the heats by more than 10 seconds to be crowned Men’s MC 400m Freestyle national champion.

Northampton’s S6 swimmer clocked 5:38.67 for a superb total of 613 points, ensuring he comfortably secured the gold medal.

Bolton Metro’s Luke Batty (S9) won silver with 544 points, while Bridlington’s Charlie Coulam (S10) won bronze.