By Rob Cole
Olympian Chloe Tutton led the Welsh medal charge on day two of the Edinburgh International swimming meet as she picked up the British title in the 100m breaststroke.
Despite being beaten by Spain’s multi-medalist, Jessica Vall, the 21-year-old Tutton was too good for British team mate, and Commonwealth Games rival, Siobhan O’Connor, who finished fourth.
Vall won in 1:07.21 to Tutton’s time of 1:08.02 , with Ireland’s Mona McSharry in third. Having only been the fifth fastest in qualifying (1:09.35), Tutton will have been pleased to have picked up the pace in the final, although she was down on her best time in 2017 of 1:07.76 that ranked her fourth in the UK.
Dan Jervis and Kath Greenslade both returned to the pool to add to their medal tally. The night after winning the 1500m freestyle, Jervis took the bronze in the 400m.
Jay Lelliott won the race, beating James Guy, with Jervis back in fourth just behind Spain’s Miguel Duran in 3:52.78. Cardiff junior Ioan Evans finished fifth in the B final in 4:00.99 – not bad for a 16-year-old.
Greenslade had struck gold in the 200m freestyle on Thursday night and added a British Championships silver medal in the 200m backstroke. She came home after Lizzie Simmonds and Germany’s Lisa Graf, clocking 2:11.67.
In the men’s 100m backstroke, Cardiff’s Xavier Castelli was seventh in 55.57 in his second final of the meet at the Royal Commonwealth Pool. Swansea’s Liam White was second in the B final in 56.67.
There were some useful performances from some Welsh juniors as Lewis Fraser, from Swansea Aquatics, picked up a bronze medal in the 50m butterfly in 24.50 sec. Gold Coast bound Calum Jarvis was only 23rd in qualifying in 25.35 sec.
Kyle Booth, from City of Cardiff, reached the A final in the 200m breaststroke and finished eighth in 2:18.69.
Welsh Commonwealth Games Swimmers in Edinburgh
Saturday, 3 March
Women’s 400m freestyle – Ellena Jones
Men’s 200m IM – Xavier Castelli
Men’s 200m backstroke – Xavier Castelli
Women’s 200m breaststroke – Chloe Tutton
Women’s 50m butterfly – Alys Thomas
Women’s 100m backstroke – Harriet West / Kathryn Greenslade
Sunday, 4 March
Women’s 100m freestyle – Chloe Tutton / Kathryn Greenslade
Men’s 200m freestyle – Calum Jarvis / Xavier Castelli
Women’s 50m breaststroke – Chloe Tutton
Women’s 200m butterfly – Alys Thomas