CITY of Oxford’s David Murphy reached his first major final when competing in the British Championships at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.

Murphy qualified for the 100m breaststroke final, where he competed against Olympic champion Adam Peaty.

Seeded eighth in the final, Murphy had a great swim, finishing seventh in a time of 1min 2.0 secs.

He was one of eight City of Oxford members competing in the championships, hoping to qualify for one of three categories of finals – junior, ‘Target Tokyo’ and the open final for the eight fastest overall.

There was a notable success for Callum Smart, who won the junior 100m breaststroke final in a personal best time of 1.3.01, clubmate Connor Bryan coming seventh in a pb of 1.4.19

Smart, also picked up a silver medal in the junior 200m breaststroke final in a British 16 age group record of 2.16.02, with Bryan following him home in fourth place.

Both Bryan and Smart’s performances will result in international selection.

City’sToby Mackay-Champion won the Target Tokyo final with a pb of 2.15.93, closely followed by Murphy in third (2.16.30).

In their respective 50m breaststroke Target Tokyo finals, Emily Wood and Murphy both came second.

The final day saw the City of Oxford’s Maia Little, Tash Fenton and Emily Wood in action in the 100m breast-stroke.

Wood recorded a time of 1.13.09, while Little and Fenton finished in identical times in the heats (1.14.40).

The performance of the City swimmers delighted head coach Amanda Booth.

She said: “After David Murphy’s success in being selected for Britain, Connor Bryan and Callum Smart are following in their teammate’s footsteps.

“That put two more Oxford breaststrokers in the frame for British selection this year or the near future.”

CITY of Oxford claimed two wins in the final round of the Chiltern League at Aylesbury.

Their successes in the Division 2 gala came from Annalise Bischoff in the 12 & under 50m freestyle and Lili Ashton in the 14 and under 50m breaststroke.

City came fifth in the final league standings, with Four Shires, Henley and Bicester filling the top-three positions.

Meanwhile, Ellen Bagley (City of Oxford) was the fastest 11-year-old in three events, when she competed in a development meet at the Leys Pool.

There were double successes for clubmates Matthew Critchley, Kayden Sillah and Logan Bryan.

Other competing clubs included Abingdom Vale, Didcot Barramundi, Wantage and Witney.