Shayna Jack, Kaylee McKeown Cap Aussie Champs With Impressive Victories
When a world record highlights a session, as was the case with Ariarne Titmus’ global standard in the 400-meter freestyle on Sunday at the Australian Championships, it’s easy to overlook a handful of other standout performances. Such was the case with Shayna Jack and Kaylee McKeown, who respectively soared to victories in the 50 freestyle and 200 individual medley, respectively.
The runnerup in the 100 freestyle earlier in the meet, Jack bested the field in the 50 free behind a stellar mark of 24.14. That swim handed Jack a comfortable victory over Meg Harris (24.50) and Mollie O’Callaghan (24.52) and was the latest step forward in her comeback from a doping suspension. Before winning the 50 free, Jack was sub-53 in the 100 freestyle.
McKeown followed Jack’s triumph by capturing her fourth gold medal of the competition, the latest in the 200 medley. McKeown earlier won the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 400 individual medley, and was timed in 2:09.15 in the shorter medley. She was followed to the wall by Ella Ramsay in 2:12.12. Qualified for four events for the World Championships, McKeown will have to decide if she will attack a full schedule.
Other victories went to Elizabeth Dekkers in the 200 butterfly, behind a time of 2:07.62, and Isaac Cooper in the 100 backstroke. Cooper went 54.02 to back up his prior win in the 50 backstroke. Samuel Williamson topped the field in the 50 breaststroke in 27.05.