Patryk Przyczyna and Austyn Manley left a lasting mark on the 2026 British Swimming Championships, held a few days ago at the London Aquatics Centre, by breaking multiple national age-group records in the backstroke events. The former, a 15-year-old swimmer from Eastbourne, excelled in the 50 and 100m backstroke with unprecedented performances for his age group. The latter, representing Repton, made his statement in the 200m backstroke by erasing a benchmark that had stood for more than a decade.
Patryk Przyczyna opened his week in the 100m backstroke with a progressive statement of intent. In the heats, he claimed the British 15-year-old record in 55.86 before stepping up significantly in the junior final. Clocking 54.92, he lowered his own mark by nearly a full second in the space of a few hours. His race was built on a 26.79 opening 50, followed by a 28.13 return, half a second quicker than the 28.74 he recorded earlier in the day.
What stands out most, however, is the margin to history. With this 54.92, Przyczyna lowered the previous British 15-year-old record set by Dean Fearn in 2024 by 1.48 seconds — a huge gap at this level. Even more striking, this time is faster than the British 16-year-old record (54.95) and already closing in on the 18-year-old standard (54.10), a mark he could realistically target over the next three years. Across all age groups, he now ranks inside the top 35 British performers of all time, and among the swimmers present at these championships, only the very best seniors are operating on a clearly higher level. His 54.92 would have been enough to place sixth in the senior final, just behind Olympic medallist Luke Greenbank.
He backed this up in the 50m backstroke. Already the record holder earlier this season with 26.40, he improved again to 26.02 in the heats before lowering the mark further to 25.68 in the junior final. Once again, the margin is significant: he took 0.74 seconds off the previous record (26.42), a considerable drop over such a short distance. To put that into perspective, this time places him among the ten fastest British swimmers of the season across all age groups. At just 15 years old, he is already knocking on the door of senior national finals.
Austyn Manley, meanwhile, made his impact in the 200m backstroke with equally impressive progression. Arriving with a personal best of 2:03.44 from last summer, he significantly improved that mark in the heats with a 2:02.50, a drop of 0.94 seconds. But it was in the final that he delivered a truly outstanding performance.
In 2:01.37, he shaved off a further 1.13 seconds and broke the British 15-year-old record that had stood since 2013 at 2:02.05. While the margin may appear smaller than Przyczyna’s, the reference point is crucial: that record had been set by a swimmer who would go on to become an Olympic medallist in this very event — Luke Greenbank. In total, Manley has improved by more than two seconds over the past year in the 200m backstroke, a rare level of progression in such a technical event.
In the British all-time rankings for 15-year-olds, he now stands alone at the top:
Austyn Manley – 2:01.37 (2026)
Luke Greenbank – 2:02.05 (2013)
His time also places him within touching distance of the European junior qualifying standard (2:01.20), missing it by just 0.17 seconds. It is also worth noting that he had already climbed from 12th to 2nd in the all-time British rankings for his age group earlier that morning, even before his final swim.
A discipline driven by Morgan and energised by a new generation
These performances are part of a broader upward trend in British backstroke, which has been steadily improving in recent seasons. Oliver Morgan currently stands as the leading figure, having won every national backstroke title since 2023 and holding the British record in the 100m backstroke with 52.12. He once again claimed victory at these championships in 52.41, the third-fastest swim of his career.
Behind him, a strong group of swimmers is now consistently operating in the 53-second range, including Matt Ward (53.29), Jack Skerry (53.35) and Cameron Brooker (53.6). This internal competition is raising the overall standard and providing depth in a discipline that had long lacked it.
At just 15, Przyczyna is already swimming faster than some 17- and 18-year-olds in British history, edging closer to senior-level standards in both the 50 and 100m backstroke. Manley is following a similar trajectory in the 200m, with steady progression and the ability to deliver across multiple events, as shown by his record in the 200m individual medley earlier in the week.
At this rate of development, Patryk Przyczyna and Austyn Manley are unlikely to remain on the fringes of senior finals for long. They could very soon emerge on the biggest stage, with Olympic appearances a realistic long-term prospect, even if Los Angeles in two years’ time may come slightly too soon.
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