Gabriel Shepherd and Patryk Przyczyna have been among the standout performers in recent days at the Swim England National Winter Championships in Sheffield, where they combined to set three British junior short-course records. In a meet largely dominated by senior performances – with three national records falling overall – the two young British swimmers managed to steal some of the spotlight, etching their names into the history books of age-group swimming in the UK.
Two junior records that highlight the depth of British talent
At just 17 years of age, Gabriel Shepherd delivered one of the most eye-catching junior performances of the season in the 50m freestyle. Racing in Sheffield, the Leeds swimmer stormed to victory in the final with a time of 21.24, slashing almost a full second off the previous British junior record. That mark, a 22.14 set by the precocious Jacob Whittle back in 2019, had appeared firmly established in an event where improvements are often measured in hundredths.
Shepherd’s swim is all the more impressive when viewed through the lens of his recent progression. Prior to these championships, his lifetime best stood at 22.68 – already competitive at junior level, but still some way off senior national standards. In little over a year, he has taken more than a second off his personal best, an extraordinary leap over 50 metres, albeit one that can still occur in rapidly developing juniors.
The signs were there earlier in the meet. In the heats, Shepherd dipped under the 22-second barrier for the first time, clocking 21.67, a clear warning shot ahead of the evening final. When it mattered most, he held off far more experienced opposition, including Alex Cohoon – bronze medallist in the 100m freestyle at the 2023 European U23 Championships and an Olympian in Paris the following year – who finished second in 21.31. Another junior, Abduljabar Adama, rounded out the podium in 21.44, also comfortably inside Whittle’s former junior record.
With his 21.24, Shepherd did far more than claim the British junior record. He surged straight up to fifth on the all-time British short-course rankings, sitting behind established names such as Ben Proud and Matt Richards. At only 17, he already looks like a credible contender in the national sprint scene in the short term, much like Jacob Mills (18), who gained valuable experience earlier this year at the World Championships in Singapore, competing in both the 100m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Even younger, Patryk Przyczyna also left a significant mark on the winter championships by breaking two British junior records in the backstroke events. Just 15 years old, the Eastbourne-based swimmer impressed over both the 50m and 100m backstroke.
It was on the shorter distance that Przyczyna struck first. Competing in the B final, he touched first in 24.58, narrowly ahead of Harry Robinson (24.67) and Toby Nakamura-Drew (24.76). That time shaved two hundredths off the previous British junior record of 24.60, set by Dean Fearn in 2023. Marginal on paper, but hugely significant given the depth of the event and Przyczyna’s age.
He returned to the pool the following day for the 100m backstroke, again in the B final, and confirmed his outstanding form. His time of 52.69 saw him comfortably ahead of Rio Daodu (53.12) and Nakamura-Drew (53.52), wiping more than eight tenths of a second off Fearn’s junior record of 53.47. Fearn, notably, has since gone on to become world junior champion in Šamorín this summer, further underlining the quality of the benchmark Przyczyna surpassed.
Placed in the wider context of the championships, these swims take on even greater significance. Przyczyna’s 52.69 would have been good enough for eighth place in the A final, while his 24.58 in the 50m backstroke would have ranked him ninth among the seniors – an impressive feat for a 15-year-old whose physical development is still some distance from that of adult swimmers or even older teenagers.
His recent progression is equally striking. Just a month earlier, at the previous Winter Championships, Przyczyna had set personal bests of 25.60 in the 50m and 54.39 in the 100m backstroke. In the space of a few weeks, he has therefore taken 1.02 seconds off the sprint and 1.70 seconds off the longer distance – a rare rate of improvement, even at junior level.
Those breakthroughs have not come by chance. Despite his young age, Przyczyna has already gained valuable international experience, a crucial factor in the development of any elite young athlete. Last summer, he competed at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje, North Macedonia, where he claimed silver in the 100m backstroke in 57.62 and finished 12th in the 100m freestyle in 53.88. He also played a key role in the relays, helping the british team to silver in the mixed 4x100m medley with a 57.16 leadoff, bronze in the boys’ 4x100m medley (57.23 first leg), and bronze in the boys’ 4x100m freestyle, thanks to a strong 52.73 split. Competitions of this nature force athletes to peak at the right moment, and that experience has almost certainly contributed to the sudden and dramatic drop in his backstroke times.
Still in the learning phase in long course, where his personal bests stand at 26.75 and 57.06, Przyczyna already looks like a swimmer to watch very closely. At just 15, he is emerging as one of the most promising young backstrokers in Great Britain, on a trajectory that could soon see him become a regular presence on the European junior stage.
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