World Champs Charges Max Litchfield & Molly Renshaw Turn Heat Up At Winter Meet

ASA Winter Meet, Sheffield

A week after lifting the world s/c title over 200m breaststroke, Molly Renshaw shattered her personal best in the 200m medley for the win at the ASA National Winter Meet, while Ben Proud, Tim Shuttleworth, Lizzie Simmonds and Max Litchfield led a rush of speedy victories on the first day of action at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.

A session stacked with speedy swims ended with a 21.23 blast from Plymouth Leander’s Proud. Next home, in 22.03, was Georgy Chernov, a young Russian racing for the Energy team that will take on new life with British coach James Gibson at the helm from January. The bronze went to Lewis Clifford-Stephenson, of Chelsea&West, 22.19.

Proud sits at No7 on the season wold rankings courtesy of a 21.17 from world cup tour back in the autumn. The tour was part of a learning curve that the sprinter is travelling along at the behest of his coach Jon Rudd, a man on the move himself next February when he takes up the performance-director role with Ireland.

Asked what his key charges, including 2012 Olympic champion Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) would do when interviewed by SwimVortex when his news was announced, Rudd said that there were were “lots of options out there – and some things that wouldn’t be options. They have their feet on the ground. They are very mature athletes. In Plymouth we purposefully try and create really robust and tenacious individuals. They don’t need me: I add value. There is no reliance; there is interdependency, not dependency.”

Ben Proud by Gian Mattia D’Alberto / lapresse

Ruta Meilutyte – by Patrick B. Kraemer

He cites Proud and a world cup tour he trawled on his own this seaosn at Rudd’s behest.

“He took on the whole world cup tour by himself. I told him ‘you go and do it on your own … learn to stand on your own two feet’. That is one of his areas of development. He is a better attlete for it and all ready and prepared for the next quadrennial. I don’t feel I’ve left two minnows at the deep end.”

Back to Sheffield and racing in his local pool, City of Sheffield’s Max Litchfield, a week on from silver in the 400m medley at world s/c titles in Canada, crushed the rest in the 200m medley on 1:54.42, 13 in the world this season. Next home was teenager Jarvis Parkinson, of London Aquatics, 1:57.79, the bronze to Loughborough’s Fraser Minnican in …

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