Cody Simpson’s Flying Visit from Queensland to NSW For Back-To-Back State Championship Victories
Paris Olympic hopeful Cody Simpson has won his second State Championship in the space of 48 hours, with a flying visit to Sydney to take out the NSW Senior Age title, following his win at the Hancock Prospecting Queensland Championships in Brisbane.
The 26-year-old from Griffith University clocked a solid 51.80 – just shy of the personal best time of 51.67 he swam to win in Queensland earlier in the week.
IN FLIGHT: Cody Simpson’s flying visit to Sydney paid dividends. Photo Courtesy Wade Brennan Photography
And as he did at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Cody Simpson again proved too strong for local NSW boy, Shaun Champion (Abbotsleigh, NSW) 52.39 and Joseph Hamson (Knox Pymble, NSW) 52.69.
Champion, who is coached by Amanda Isaac, was able to improve his time from the Queensland Championships where he swam 52.55.
Meanwhile in South Australia, Matt Temple, who set a new Australian long course record in the 100m butterfly of 50.25 at the recent Japan Open Meet, stood up in a Time Trial in Adelaide and swam faster than the Australian Short Course 100m butterfly record, clocking 48.62 – the first Australian to swim under 49 seconds.
Temple will be the man to beat at next year’s Olympic Trials in Brisbane and with the Olympic qualifying time sitting at 51.17, the likes of Simpson and Champion have some work to do over the next six months.
In other news from the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, former world champion and two-time Olympic 4x100m freestyle relay gold medallist, 29-year-old Bronte Campbell (Cruise, ACT; Coach: Shannon Rollason) has won the NSW 50m freestyle final in a time of 24.66, as she sets her sights on a fourth Olympic team.
Her time would have placed Campbell fourth – just behind big sister Cate in the Queensland 50m freestyle final on Tuesday night, won by Shayna Jack (St Peters Western, QLD) in 24.09 ahead of Meg Harris(Rackley, QLD) 24.39 and Cate Campbell (Chandler, QLD), shooting for her fifth Olympics, third in 24.41.
The race for Paris in the Australian women’s freestyle ranks is starting to get real, with the greatest depth in the history of the sport in Australia, getting some all-important racing under their belts.
The NSW Senior Age has also seen the State’s jet-setting breaststroke troop continue their recent busy training, racing and flying schedules which started with a lead-in camp before the Japan Open, followed by the Queensland Championships and now the NSW Senior Age.
And it has seen the boys from the Blue Mountains, Haig Buckingham and Matthew Wilson return to SOPAC for a 1-2 finish in the men’s 100m breaststroke final, Buckingham clocking 1:00.69 to Wilson’s 1:01.60 , withAngus Menzies (Knox Pymble, NSW) third in 1:02.98.
Buckingham, like Simpson, adding the NSW title to his win over Sam Williamson (Melbourne, Vicentre, VIC) at the Queensland Championships, he won in 1:00.34.
There were further encouraging signs in Sydney for 22-year-old Carlile, NSW sprinter, Zach Maher, coached by Chris Nesbit , who won the 50m freestyle final in 22.53 – a time that would have seen him finish sixth in the Queensland final – which he missed, finishing 12th in the preliminaries.
QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
On the second last night of the Queensland Championships, Japanese Olympian Rikakko Ikee has proved too slick for her Australian rivals, winning the 50m butterfly winning in 25.76, from Lily Price (Rackley, QLD) 26.07 and dual Olympian Brianna Throssell (St Peters Western, QLD) who was third in 26.28.
The corresponding men’s final saw Ben Armbruster (Bond, QLD), out-touch Isaac Cooper (St Andrews, QLD) 23.60 to 23.78 with Turner Harrison (Nudgee, QLD) third in 24.02. Triple Olympian and world 50m freestyle champion, Cameron McEvoy (Somerville House, QLD) clocked 23.73 in the heats but withdrew from the final.
McEvoy will tomorrow be named on the Australian Dolphins team for the 2024 Doha World Aquatics Championships in February.