The day started in a very different climate to the streets of Sheffield in the sauna that is the incredible Ponds Forge, where Olympians and Paralympians such as Abbie Wood and Poppy Maskill took to the pool.
It didn’t take long for the first BUCS record to fall as Faye Rodgers broke her first of the day in the Female 100m Butterfly, coming home in a time of 01:05.89.
As the day continued, nine more records tumbled, including Birmingham’s Oliver Morgan claiming the Open 100m Backstroke gold in a clock shattering time of 51.72.
Over at the English Institute of Sport, it was all about the fastest on track as the 60m champions were crowned. Loughborough’s Tom Young won the Ambulant Men’s Final for the fourth time, while 17-year-old Madeline Down took the Ambulant Women’s title.
Loughborough struck gold twice more through Lorenzo Paissan and Abigail Pawlett (in a new Championship record) in the Men’s and Women’s Hurdles Final. In the 60m Finals, Nottingham’s David Goriola took the Men’s Hurdles crown, while Newcastle’s Joy Eze stormed to the Women’s gold in a new Championship record time.
Away from the track, the sole field event was won by Loughborough women’s pole vaulter, Sophie Ashurst, clearing the bar at 4.03m.
Across the hall, the action on court was non-stop as the first three rounds of the Men’s and Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles competitions began using a straight knockout format.
At Canon Medical Arena we saw the first fencing golds of the weekend on offer. In the Mixed/Men’s Epee it was Nottingham’s Mirica Florin who saw off the competition to become champion. The Female Sabre title heads to the North East of England in the hands of Durham’s Lexie Craze.
Tomorrow, all six sports take centre stage for the only time this weekend, in a day that can only be dubbed as ‘Super Saturday’.
Action from the Athletics: Indoor Championships, Swimming: Long Course Championships and Fencing Finals will be live on YouTube.
