By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2025 SWIM ENGLAND NATIONAL WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, December 11th – Sunday, December 14th
- Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield, England
- SCM (25m)
- Meet Central
- SwimSwam Preview
- Draft Program
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap
- Start Lists/Live Results
The 2025 Swim England National Winter Championships concluded last night at the storied Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield.
The final night of action brought about two British national records, both on the men’s side.
We reported how Tyler Melbourne-Smith cranked out a new benchmark on the 800m free while Ed Mildred busted out a lifetime best in the 200m fly. You can read more about each below.
There were multiple additional swims worth mentioning, including 21-year-old Olympian Jacob Whittle‘s victory in the men’s 100m freestyle.
The Repton athlete produced a time of 46.98 to top the podium in a super close battle with newly minted 200m backstroke national record holder Cameron Brooker and 50m freestyle winner Gabriel Shepherd.
Whittle marked the sole swimmer to delve under the 47-second barrier, although Brooker was only a hair behind in 47.01 and Shepherd immediately next to the wall in 47.02.
Whittle’s effort represented the 4th sub-47-second time of his career, one which boasts a lifetime best of 46.38 from the 2023 European Short Course Championships.
Brooker’s time, however, blew his former career-best time of 48.13 from November of 2024 to bits, as did 17-year-old Shepherd’s performance.
Entering these championships, Shepherd’s PB rested at the 48.08 produced at last year’s version of this competition.
The men’s 200m final saw 21-year-old Evan Jones picking up the win, unleashing a lifetime best of 1:53.35 in the process.
Jones split 24.34/52.28/1:26.10/1:53.35 to beat the pack by over two seconds, one which included newly minted 200m breaststroke European Junior record holder Filip Nowacki.
18-year-old Nowacki settled for silver in 1:55.44 followed by 17-year-old Aran Bissett who rounded out the podium in 1:55.84.
Prior to last night’s performance, Manchester Performance Centre’s Jones had never been under the 1:55 barrier, owning a PB of 1:55.97 from three years ago.
Flash forward to these championships and Jones now checks in as the #5 British man in history.
Top 5 British Men’s SCM 200 IM Performers All-Time
- Duncan Scott – 1:50.98, 2023
- James Goddard – 1:52.57, 2011
- Liam Tancock – 1:53.10, 2008
- Max Litchfield – 1:53.21, 2018
- Evan Jones – 1:53.35, 2025
Winners on the women’s side included Betsy Wizard of Northampton hitting a mark of 57.38 to top the 100m fly podium and Honey Osrin clocking 2:05.94 to capture 200m backstroke gold.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Whittle Nabs 100 Free Gold On Final Night Of English Winter Championships
