Aussie Young Gun Ed Sommerville Charges To SC 200m Free National Record (1:40.64) After Dislocating His Shoulder – Sixth Fastest Man In History
Queensland teenager Edward Sommerville has recovered from a dislocated shoulder to set a new Australian record in Adelaide overnight, securing a place on the Australian team for the December World Championships in Budapest.
The 19-year-old took just 1:40.64 (23.55; 49.04; 1:14.89) – making him the sixth fastest man in history over the eight-lap short course journey – to announce his arrival onto the world stage but six months ago his hopes and dreams looked all but shattered.
With the Bobby Jovanovich coached Sommerville telling Swimming Australia that six months ago he dislocated his left shoulder during a training hijinks and didn’t even know if he would make Adelaide trials let alone Budapest.
“(The time) was on the tables but it was never guaranteed. For me and my coaches, the goal was just to come here and swim fast … and a (National) record? Really … I shaved 4.33 seconds off my PB. It’s amazing,” said Somerville, eclipsing the Australian record time of 1:40.80 set by four-time Olympian and Paris gold medallist, Cameron McEvoy in 2015.
His time just 0.94 outside the world record of 1:39.70) held since 2012 by Frenchman Yannick Agnel.
Sommerville led all the way to keep Paris Olympian and Australia’s fastest LC 200m freestyler Max Giuliani (Miami, QLD) at bay. Giuliani second in a pb of 1:41.39, making him the fourth fastest Australian behind Sommerville, McEvoy, Kyle Chalmers (1:40.98) and Ian Thorpe (1:41.10). 17-year-old Marcus Da Silva (Cranbrook, NSW) finished third in a pb of 1:43.22 – all three under the World SC Championships QT.
He was one of the stars of the Australian Team, 2023 World Jnrs, Israel, Winning six medals – Gold 4x100m free (WJR, CR), Mixed 4x100m free; Silver 4×100, medley, 4x100m Mixed Medley and bronze 100m free, 4×200 free.
The 2023 Australian Age champion over 100 and 200m free and bronze medallist in the 50m free.
Edward has also been named on an 11-strong Queensland team to contest two World Cup Meets in Shanghai (CHN) and Incheon (KOR) in October.
YONG AND STRONG: Josh Yong on his way to a new Australian Short Course record win the 100m breaststroke. (Swimming Australia Image/David Mariuz)
There was also a new Australian record for WA’s Josh Yong, (UWA West Coast, WA; Coach Ben Higson), his 56.76 in the 100m breaststroke came on the back of his breakout Paris campaign in which he broke the 59 second barrier in his breaststroke leg on his way to winning an Olympic bronze medal in the 4x100m medley relay. Joshua Collett (Bond, QLD; Coach Chris Mooney) also qualified for Budapest touching in 57.29.
Yong s saying: “I took some time off, two or three weeks and just got back into it, so I feel like the form carries over from the Olympics and I wasn’t expecting to lose too much. I knew it was within range that I could potentially qualify but to actually see it happen is cool.
“World Short Course has a special place in my heart. I got my first international medal in that 4x100m relay in Melbourne (in 2022)
“My underwater skills are not exactly the best part of my races but I’m fortunate to work on my skills here to get them better for long course.
“Racing those big names that I watched on TV was a great experience from Paris. But also gaining more exposure to the international scene and even experiencing a podium … I just want more of it.
“Personally, I didn’t think I was a very emotional person but my experience at the Olympics definitely showed that there was a lot of emotion and you have to manage all of that.”
In all, 12 swimmers registered qualifying times for Budapest including dual Olympian Isaac Cooper who smashed out a 50.17 to win the men’s 100m backstroke before having to wait almost an hour for technical officials to rule on an equipment failure for Marius Boll (Carlile, NSW) in lane zero.
Boll will now swim a time trial in the next few days but the result of Cooper first and Kalani Ireland second (51.35) will stand.
A REBEL YELL: Dual Olympian Isaac Cooper after his 100m backstroke win at the Australian Short Course Swimming Championships. (Swimming Australia Image/David Mariuz)