commonwealthA record breaking “Mac Attack” from Queensland girls Emma McKeon and Kaylee McKeown set the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre alight tonight on a sizzling second finals session at the NSW State Open Championships.
RECORD BURST: Kaylee McKeown (USC Spartans) with Minna Atherton (Brisbane Grammar) – two of the Dolphins rising stars. Photo Courtesy: Anthony Burns (Homepix)
With swimming’s immediate competition future cancelled these NSW Championships continue to produce red hot races – with NSW and Australian records tumbling in world best times.
In a nutshell, these were the night two highlights:
- Emma McKeon (Griffith University – Coach Michael Bohl) won the 100m butterfly in a new Australian and NSW All-Comers record of 56.36 – the fastest time in the world this year after her 57.19 heat swim in the morning.
- Kaylee McKeown (USC Spartans – Coach Chris Mooney) toppled her world class opponents Emily Seebohm (Griffith University – Coach Michael Bohl) and Minna Atherton (Brisbane Grammar – Coach David Lush) clocking 58.84 to win the 100m backstroke – also in a new NSW All-Comers record – maintaining her ranking as only one of four swimmers under 59 seconds in 2020 and following her NSW All-Comers record in the 200m backstroke last night. McKeown took 0.06 off Seebohm’s previous NSW All-Comers record set by the triple world champion in 2015 and who finished second (59.77) ahead of former training partner and World championship silver medallist and world short course record holder Atherton (59.90).
- Kyle Chalmers (Marion –Coach Peter Bishop) powered to his third victory of the meet in a powerhouse men’s 200m freestyle in 1:46.12 – the fourth fastest time in the world this year. Chalmers has been unstoppable in two powerhouse days of swimming but had to work hard down the final lap to keep Bond boys Alex Graham (1:47.11) and Elijah Winnington (Coach Richard Scarce) at bay in a helter-skelter race to lock in places in Australia’s individual and world championship winning 4x200m freestyle relay. Winnington later negative split the 800m (4:03.40/3:58.26) 8:01.66 for his second gold of the meet after winning the 400m last night – chasing down Griffith University-based Indian National Team member Kushagra Rawat (3:59.99/4:01.72) 8:01.71 – in thrilling finish to win by just 0.05.
BONDING: Elijah Winnington caps a big night for Bond, anchoring the 4x200m freestyle relay to NSW gold. . Photo Courtesy: Anthony Burns (Homepix)
- But 19-year-old Winnington’s night was far from over – he then anchored the Bond boys home in the 4x200m freestyle relay in a tidy 1:47.73 combining with his Commonwealth Games gold meld-winning team mate Graham (1:48.21), 18-year-old Connor Simms (1:54.63) and Currumbin’s Australian Lifesaving Team world champion Matt Davis (1:52.38).
- The 200m backstroke winner Tristan Hollard (Southport Olympic – Coach Glenn Baker) showed why he will be a boy most likely coming the Olympic Trials, clocking a personal best time of 1:56.98 which is under the Australian Olympic qualifying time – and elevates him to third in the world this year with second placed Bradley Woodward (Coach Adam Kable) chiming in with his 1:57.45 – just outside the time but certainly in the mix alongside Australia’s No 1 backstroker Mitch Larkin.
- Australia’s most consistent swimmer of the summer Kiah Melverton (TSS Aquatic – Coach Chris Nesbit) won her 11th State title of the season (in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia) adding the 400m freestyle in 4:09.23 to her 800m win on night one, leaving Dahlas Rogers (USC Spartans, Coach Chris Mooney) 4:12.05 and World Junior Champion Lani Pallister (Cotton Tree – Coach Janelle Elford) 4:12.36 to fight out the minors. Olympic note: Dahlas’ father Greg Rogers was a member of Australia’s silver-medal winning 4x200m freestyle relay in Mexico (1968) and Elford was a finalist in both the 400 and 800m freestyle in Seoul in 1988.
MISS CONSISTENT: Kiah Melverton has chalked up 11 gold medals from four State Championships. Photo Courtesy: Anthony Burns (Homepix)
- While Cate Campbell (Knox-Pymble – Coach Simon Cusack) 24.19, McKeon 24.29 and Madison Wilson (Marion – Coach Peter Bishop) 24.74 clocked the third, fourth and 10th times respectively for 2020 in the 50m freestyle final.
FAMOUS LANE: Cate Campbell is the latest superstar to race in this lane at the Sydney 2000 Olympic pool. Photo Courtesy: Anthony Burns (Homepix)
Four-time Rio Olympic medallist McKeon started the night when she finally erased Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallist Inge de Bruijn’s name from the 100m butterfly record books – a time set 20 years ago in the same “Pool of Dreams.”
The 56.61 gold medal swim from the flying Dutchwoman had been equaled by McKeon in 2018, but tonight, the girl who used to come to this very pool for the NSW Country Championships made the Australian and NSW All-Comers record her own.
She clocked 56.36 to become the fastest ever swimmer over the distance on Australian soil – clocking the fastest time so far in the world this year.
ON SONG:Emma McKeon knows she has to he on song for the first morning of the Games. Photo Courtesy: Anthony Burns (Homepix)
“It is always good to come back here and race, its where I grew up racing at NSW Country and State Championships so it’s always nice to come back here and be swimming some quick times at this time of year. It gives you confidence as well.
“We need to be able to swim swim quick in the morning and this morning I wasn’t really expecting to swim that quick (57.19) so that put me in a good mind set for tonight’s swim,” McKeon said.
“We have to practice swimming quick in the mornings and I just tried to relax because in my butterfly I rush it a bit too much because I’m more of a technical swimmer and that’s what gives me the early speed.”
And McKeon knows she has to he on song for the first morning of the Games where she is scheduled to swim the 100m butterfly semi-final and then the final of the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
“So I need to back it up with more speed. The training that Michael (Bohl) gives us helps with that as well,” said McKeon.
“I’m used to swimming multiple events and as I get older I want to keep improving; but it does give me confidence swimming this fast now (particularly when) we don’t know when our next competition will be.
“The 100m freestyle (beating Cate Campbell in 53.00) was really good; that’s the quickest I’ve been unrested and I’m really enjoying my swimming at the moment so that’s making a big difference.
“We were planning on doing one meet per month (but we are now not going to the Pro Swim Meet in Mission Viejo next month) so its good to get some fast times on the board now.
“Hopefully we’ll have the Sydney Open (in May) and we always do some suited racing at home; there’s always something we can do to replicate the racing with a lot of good competition around us (in South East Queensland).
In other events….Matthew Wilson (SOSC) won the men’s 100m breaststroke in 1:00.39; Se-Bom Lee (Carlile) the men’s 200IM in 2:02.20; Bond’s Gemma Strauch (2:25.97) the women’s 200m breaststroke; Edward Marks (Carlile) the 50m butterfly in 24.27; Braedan Jason (USC Spartans) the Multi-Class 100m butterfly (1:00.54); Taylor Corry (Nelson Bay) the Multi-Class 100m butterfly (1:09.02); Alexander Tuckfield (SLC Aquadot) the Multi-Class 400m freestyle in 4:24.90; Katja Dedekind (USC Spartans) the Multi-Class 400m freestyle in 4:42.71 and the 100m backstroke in 1:08.54; while Timothy Hodge (Auburn) took out the Multi-Class 100m backstroke in 1:04.11.
Does anyone know what happened to Ariarne Titmus Mitch Larkin and Clyde Lewis ? They would have spiced up the racing some more if they turned up … also Jess Hansen missing in the breastroke events
Yes St Peter’s Western swimmers scratched due to coronavirus related fears.
Dean Boxalls swimmers missed the meet because one of them got sick. Hansen went 1.06 in the heats. Then scratched the final.
Hmm wonder why …. coronavirus issue again perhaps ?
Brilliant summary Hanso…some great swimming on show loved this event