Ed Mildred & Tyler Melbourne-Smith Down British Records From Supersuit Era
Ed Mildred and Tyler Melbourne-Smith each downed British records from the supersuit era on the final day of the Swim England National Winter Championships in Sheffield.
Mildred stepped up in the 200 fly to become the first British man to break 1:51secs in the final individual men’s event of the four-day short-course meet at Ponds Forge.
That followed Melbourne-Smith’s 800 free standard bearer where he sliced almost three seconds off fellow Welshman David Davies’ record that had stood for 16 years.
Ed Mildred: Photo Courtesy: Mike Lewis/ISL
Mildred opened his competition at Ponds Forge with fourth in the 50 fly (22.79) which he followed up with second over 100m in 50.02).
Come the 200 and he was on Josh Gammon’s shoulder at halfway before powering ahead over the third 50 and coming home in 1:50.64.
With that he took 0.63 off Joe Roebuck’s national record of 1:51.27 which had stood since the 2009 European Short Course Championships in Istanbul as the supersuit era lurched towards its inevitable end.
Gammon also went inside the old mark in 1:51.17 with Luke Greenbank third in 1:55.33.
Mildred has flourished since joining up with Ryan Livingstone at Manchester Performance Centre where he trains alongside the likes of Matt Richards and James Guy, who share six Olympic medals.
The 22-year-old won the 100 fly at the British Championships in April and finished second over four lengths behind Duncan Scott.
That earned him selection to the British team for the Singapore worlds where he finished 15th in both the 100 and 200 and split 51.08 on the fly leg as the men’s medley relay finished sixth.
Tyler Melbourne-Smith: Photo Courtesy: Morgan Harlow, Aquatics GB
Melbourne-Smith has had a superb meet. He went top of the 2025 world rankings in the 400 free when he posted a 3:36.09 PB that elevated him to second all-time in the British rankings behind Duncan Scott. It would have earned him gold at the European s/c Championships in Lublin, Poland.
The Loughborough University swimmer returned to the water for the 800. First to turn after 100m in 53.39, the 20-year-old was metronomic thereafter with splits ranging from 28.04 to 28.92.
He came home in 7:33.56 to take almost three seconds off the British record of 7:36.47 that had stood to fellow Welshman Davies since the Duel in the Pool in December 2009.
It was a huge PB for Melbourne-Smith whose previous best was 7:40.53 at the 2023 edition of the championships.
Luke Hornsey was second in 7:46.48 with open water specialist Hector Pardoe making it a Loughborough clean sweep in 7:47.22.
