Elijah Winnington and Ariarne Titmus Off To A Winning Start at the Queensland State Championships
This year’s World and Commonwealth Games 400m freestyle champion Elijah Winnington (St Peters Western) has led home an exciting group of teenagers to open his McDonald’s Queensland State Swimming Championship campaign on a winning note in Brisbane.
WINNING FEELING: Elijah Winnington after his powerful 200m freestyle win. Photo Courtesy: Swimming Queensland.
While his St Peters Western team mate, Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion Ariarne Titmus turned on the after burners to win the corresponding women’s final in a solid 1:56.10 to mark her busy return to racing.
The men’s final saw 22-year-old Winnington emerge from the wash up of a spectacular year of racing overseas to win the 200m freestyle final and launch his campaign for next year’s World Championships in Fukuoka at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Chandler.
Winnington staged a neck-and-neck battle with fellow Commonwealth Games gold medallist, 1500m champion Sam Short (Rackley Swim Team) and emerging talent Kai Taylor (St Peters Western) in a battle for the podium. It was Winnington with his trade mark early speed and a powerful final 50m who held on to win in 1:47.24 from the ever present 19-year-olds Short (1:47.64) and Taylor (1:48.27).
Taylor, one of the stand-outs of Queensland’s emerging stars tour of Japan last week backed up his performances at the Japan Open (Fourth in the 200free A final in his pb of1:47.83) with another solid swim.
GOGGLE WATCH: St Peters Western trio of Dolphins Shayna Jack, Ariarne Titmus and Brianna Throssell on Day One of the Queensland State Championships. Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan.
Also bolstering Queensland’s teen machinists were fifth placed 19-year-old Max Giuliani (1:49.03pb) who has moved from Tasmania to join coach Richard Scarce at Miami on the Queensland Gold Coast with a fourth 19-year-old Thomas Hauck (All Saints, Gold Coast) sixth in 1:50.59.
Experienced trio Louis Townsend (Rackley), 2018 Commonwealth Games relay gold medallist Jack Cartwright (St Peters Western) 1:53.22 and dual 2022 Commonwealth Games freestyle relay gold medallist from Birmingham Zac Incerti (USC Spartans) 1:54.15.were 8th, 9th and 10th respecvtively.
Titmus, who admitted in the lead up that she had “zero expectations” coming into the meet was in impressive early fettle, returning to serious training only six weeks ago after turning her attentions to a long list of appearances and engagements celebrating her Commonwealth Games successes.
She proved too strong for new club mate, former West Australian and two-time Olympic butterflyer Brianna Throssell (1:58.68) and Japan’s Aoi Masuda (1:59.95) with third Queenslander home, Chelsea Gubecka (Yeronga Park) in 2:00.03 – just two weeks after her 10km Open Water World Series win.
Her club mate and Queensland State Team representative at the Japan Open 18-year-old Jacqueline Davison-McGovern was seventh in 2:01.68 while Shayna Jack (St Peters Western) on the B final in 1:59.25 which would have placed her third in A final.
New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games dual IM gold medallist, Olympian Lewis Clareburt clocked the fastest time of the night in the 400IM winning the 19 years and over age final in 4:17.89 from fellow countryman Sam Brown (4:23.48), with Joshua Staples (St Peters Western) on winning the 18 years and over 400IM in 4:26.
While Russian National Mark Nikolaev, swimming under Chris Mooney at Bond Swimming on the Gold Coast won the 100m backstroke in 54.42, out-touching fast-finishing Griffith University Commonwealth Games representative Joshua Edwards-Smith (54.47) by a fingernail with Kiwi Andrew Jeffcoat completing the blanket podium finish in 54.99.
ALL MEET INFORMATION AND RESULTS