European Short Course Swimming Championships - Roundup

The 2023 Edition of the European Short Course Swimming Championships were held in Otopeni, Romania and Oliver was a member of the 35-strong GB team. 

Oliver kicked his racing programme off with the heats of the Men's 50m Backstroke where he comfortably qualified joint 9th into the Semi-Finals with a time of 23.61. Later that evening, Oliver went in the first semi-final and posted a new lifetime best of 23.31. However, he finished 9th again and sadly missed out from the final. That time now puts him 4th fastest Brit of all time - closing in on Liam Tancock's British record. Oliver also knocks .2 off his previous personal best. 

The following day, Oliver was a part of the Silver Medal winning 4x50m Medley Relay team. Oliver led off the relay with a split of 23.48 and the relay was followed up by Archie Goodburn on the Breaststroke leg, Jacob Peters on Butterfly and Matt Richards anchored the relay. The final time was a 1:32.60, just 0.3 seconds shy of the British record set back in 2014. 

On Day 3, Oliver swam in the heats of the 100m Backstroke where he touched 13th with a time of 51.57. That swim would have seen him move on to the semi-finals, however Oliver missed out due to the 2 per nation rule where teammates Luke Greenbank and Cameron Brooker placed ahead of him. 

Nonetheless - Oliver was back on Day 5 to race the 200m Backstroke where he produced a new lifetime best of 1:53.98. Oliver placed 11th overall in the heats, however not moving through to the semi-finals again as Luke Greenbank & Cameron Brooker placed ahead of him. 

On the 6th and final day of competition, Oliver was called up to lead off the mixed 4x50m Medley Relay. Oliver led off with a split of 23.39 and the relay was followed up by Imogen Clark on the Breaststroke leg, Jacob Peters on Butterfly and Anna Hopkin anchored the relay home to a time of 1:38.17. The team were just overhauled from the medal positions by a late-charging Dutch team and wound up coming 4th.