JOE Elwood produced one of the best performances of his life to land 50m backstroke silver at the British Swimming Championships.

The Swarthmoor sprinter clocked 25.70 seconds to finish second behind Team GB Olympian Chris Walker-Hebborn in Sheffield.

Representing Loughborough University, 23-year-old Elwood – who came through the junior ranks at Ulverston Amateur Swimming Club – had qualified fastest from the morning heats.

His time of 25.54 seconds – a new personal best, and better than his effort in the final – was ahead of Loughborough club-mate Luke Greenbank, from Cockermouth, with Walker-Hebborn coming through third-fastest in 25.88.

However, the Commonwealth and European 100m backstroke champion showed his class in the final, with his time of 25.19 seconds more than half-a-second faster than anyone else.

The British Championships are serving as qualifiers for the World Championships in Budapest in July, though Elwood’s times were just outside the mark of 25.29 seconds need to be eligible.

The South Cumbrian ace returned to the pool on Wednesday morning for the heats of the 100m backstroke, where Walker-Hebborn is the red-hot favourite.

Elwood had the seventh-best personal best among the 47-strong field for the heats, but qualified sixth-fastest, with a new personal best of 55.78 seconds.

Walker-Hebborn was the fastest qualifier, in 54.71 seconds, with Greenbank also in Wednesday night's final, clocking 55.07 as the third-fastest qualifier.

Barrow’s Fraser Minnican will contest the heats of the 400m individual medley on Thursday, where he is ranked fourth among the 43 entrants in the heats.