English-based Jamaican Michael Gunning continued his bid for a spot on the team to next year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games when he lowered the national records in the both the 200-metre butterfly and freestyle events at the British University and College Sports Short-course Swimming Championships over the weekend.

Gunning, a student at the University of East London, graced the 25-metre pool at the Ponds Forge in Sheffield with some level of determination, and though missing out on the medals, came away with a major achievement.

After qualifying for the final of the 200m freestyle with a time of 1:50.71, Gunning lowered that time to 1:48.28 in the medal event as he just missed out on the podium in fourth place.

With that swim, which was his best placing at the championship, Gunning bettered the previous national record of 1:49.11 set last year by Dominic Walter at the Canadian Inter-university Championships last year.

He now owns the national records in the event at both the short-course and long-course championships. The long course record stands at 1:50.00 established earlier this year at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Gunning then returned to secure an 11th-place finish in the 200m butterfly, but despite his placing, he still managed to lower another standard previously held by Walter.

His time of 2:05.12, behind a 59.28s 100m split, saw him erasing the four-year-old mark of 2:05.55 set by Walter at the Ontario University Championships in 2013. With that swim, Gunning again earned the accolade of holding the national record double in both short- and long-course formats.

Gunning’s Long-course metre record stands at 1:59.83, also set earlier this year at the British Championships.

The early childhood studies major was elated about the performances as he made reference to his quest for Commonwealth Games qualification.

“I’m over the moon after breaking those records. I’m still in the middle of my hardest cycle yet and to break those records whilst feeling this tired and fatigued, it makes me super excited to see what’s to come,” Gunning said.

Gunning is seeking to be a part of Jamaica’s team to the 2018 Commonwealth Games Team, which should see Commonwealth Games record holder Alia Atkinson leading the way in the pool.