Ollie Morgan Demolishes British 100 Back Record In 52.12; Goes Second In 2025 Rankings
Ollie Morgan demolished his British 100m backstroke record in 52.12 to go second in the world rankings at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships.
The University of Birmingham swimmer set the previous standard of 52.70 as he secured Olympic qualification at the same London Aquatic Centre before going on to finish eighth in Paris.
On Thursday, Morgan went out in 25.24 and came back in 26.88 to cut a 0.58 chunk from his record. He was well within the cut for the World Championships in Singapore as was Jonny Marshall who clocked 53.52 for second. In fact, the first four men home were all within the QT with Matthew Ward (53.52) and Cameron Brooker (53.63) third and fourth respectively.
Morgan went second in the 2025 rankings behind Kliment Kolesnikov and his 52.04 from the Russian Championships.
“Pretty mint,” said Morgan when asked how he felt minutes after his swim. “We knew there’d be something quick in there. Everything we were doing in training was pointing that way. Had a quite busy year really with uni and just trying to get that done. So we sat down straight after the Games and spoke about the whole next four years I guess which I haven’t done before so that was a weird conversation to have.
“To be going 52.1…the training I’ve been doing has been backing it up. I’ve been loving it every day, getting better and better. Each week in training has been doing something even more phenomenal.”
The 21-year-old, who is coached by Gary Humpage, identified his finish as something he could improve upon. “I think I glided in from three metres out – that’s what it felt like, I was thinking – is that wall going to come? Felt really strong: we’ve been working lots on the underwaters – starts, turns – it wasn’t quite there this morning. Take a look back, work on it and it’s all come together with that swim.”
Morgan is rubbing shoulders with the current and past greats. He’s become one of the top 15 performers in history topped by Thomas Ceccon and his 51.60 WR set at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.
Morgan is aiming high and has his eyes on the Italian’s global standard. “We’ve always said there’s definitely a 51-point in there. It’s just going to take time, it’s going to take experience. Again, I’ve been at it again for four years almost – not even that – so the sky’s the limit, just got to keep pushing, get to worlds in the summer and see what happens.”
He added: “I was having a conversation with some of my mates last week, looking at the rankings, like Hubert (Hubert Kós) went 52.2 and I’m there sat on my sofa annoyed at it going ‘come on, get me to next week and see what I can do.’ It’s blocking out the noise but you can’t ignore them all the time.”
Swimming World spoke to Morgan ahead of the world trials: read more here
