Sydney Sprints:Rankings Mover Lani Pallister Fast Tracking A Short Course To Paris 2024
For the second time in three days 20-year-old Queenslander Lani Pallister has shown the world why she’ll be a major contender on the road to Paris 2024 with another impressive performance to claim her second Australian Short Course title title and she did in in style.
RANKINGS MOVER: Lani Pallister has a new lease of life. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Pallister unleashed an impressive short course time of 3:56.74 to win the 400m freestyle on night three of the Sydney Sprints Meet in the 2000 Olympic Pool.
On night one it was the 1500m freestyle and the fourth fastest time in history, clocking a 15:24.63 with her Australian Championship record and tonight Pallister wasted no time in smashing through the four-minute barrier for the first time, moving up the world rankings with a bullet.
And you get the feeling it won’t be the last as the girl from Griffith University on the Gold Coast powered her way to become the 11th fastest swimmer in short course history.
It keeps her in company with fellow Australian, Olympic champion and world record holder Ariarne Titmus (3:53.92) and the world’s greatest female swimmer from the USA Katie Ledecky (3:54.06) – who are ranked N o 1 and No 3 on the short course rankings.
Pallister is a classic “front runner” – going to the lead from the get go at every opportunity and it was no different tonight hitting the first 50m in 27.14, the 100m in 56.56 and then rolled out three even split 100s going through 200m in 1:56.00 and the 300m in 2:56.50 for her 3:56.74 – some impressive swimming.
Tomorrow night it will be the 800m freestyle that will bring the curtain own on a campaign that netted her bronze in the 1500m at the World’s in Budapest and bronze in the 800m at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with a bout of Covid that brought her Budapest campaign to a screaming halt.
SO CLOSE: Luke Hobson falls just short of US record. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)
And as dissection of the race began with coach Michael Bohl, her club mate and 2016 Olympic champion Mack Horton was in the water mixing it with 19-year-old US rising star Luke Hobson and fellow Tokyo Olympian, 4x200m anchorman Tommy Neill (Rackley Swim Team).
After 16 frantic laps it was 19-year-old Hobson, one of several Americans making the most of their US Nationals and Duel In the Pool campaign, who came agonisingly close to the US record of 3:34.81 set by two-time Olympic relay gold medallist Peter Vanderkaay in 2009.
Hobson stopped the clock at 3:35.57 (1:45.79) – just 0.86secs shy of the long-standing mark with Horton maintaining his form to finish second with a world championship QT and his personal best of 3:37.94 (1:48.40) with Neill third and also under the time with his 3:38.24 (1:47.98) – just 0.24 outside his best.
For the Australians only Grant Hackett (3:34.58), Ian Thorpe (3:34.63); Brendon Smith (3:37.11), Elijah Winnington (3:37.45) and Tom Fraser-Holmes (3:37.63) have swum faster than Horton and Neill.
Meanwhile everyone loves a good comeback story and tonight it was former World Championship freestyler from Gwangju in 2019, Clyde Lewis who has finally made it made it back to an Australian Team qualifier with his win in a cracking 200IM final clocking 1:53.01 to the USA’s Grant House (1:53.05) and Carlile’s Tokyo Olympian Se-Bom Lee (1:53.83).
Lewis powered to the front and was never headed, going back to where his career began as an IM swimmer, before he started to mix it with the cream of the world’s freestylers in 2019 – only to miss the Olympic team and face 18 months of injury and heartache – eventually landing in Michael Bohl’s “who’s who” squad at Southport.
IM BACK: Clyde Lewis back in the IM fast lane. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
“It’s been quite a journey these past 18 months and it’s good to be back…I actually surprised myself after a sluggish start to the meet…I just gave it all I had,” said Lewis, who looked to Bohl as soon as he touched the wall.
In the women’s 100m butterfly and it the absence of Emma McKeon (Griffith University) it was Alexandria Perkins (USC Spartans) who added the 100m crown to her 50m title, swimming under the QT in a personal best time of 56.89 as did second-placed Brittany Castelluzzo (Tree Tea Gully, SA) 47.18.
Perkins, fourth in the Commonwealth Games in the 100m butterfly said the Games and the Sydney Sprints had provided unprecedented experience. “It’s been great to get a taste of the racing – so motivating,” said Perkins.
While in the men’s 100m butterfly Matt Temple (Marion, SA) – 50.09 toughed it out to beat Trenton Julian (USA)– 50.22 and with third placed Shaun Champion (Abbotsleigh, NSW) – 50.31 both Australians were under the QT.
FOOTNOTE: World and Commonwealth silver medallist Kaylee McKeown (Griffith University) had earlier withdrawn from her two finals – the 200IM and the 50m backstroke after posting a World Championship qualifying time of 2:05.63 in the medley heats and 26.32 in the two-lap backstroke event – with both swims the fastest qualifying times.
Mollie O’Callaghan (St Peters Western) had also qualified second behind McKeown in the 50m backstroke – withdrawing from second final of the meet after qualifying for the 200m freestyle.
O’Callaghan had posted a qualifying time for the 100m backstroke where she was the second fastest Australian behind McKeown (and US winner Beata Nelson) before finishing third behind McKeon and Madi Wilson in the 100m freestyle.
The Swimming Australia selection criteria allows for times to be swum in either heats or finals and McKeown had already posted qualifying times in both the 100 and 200m backstroke finals to ensure her selection in the 32-strong Dolphins team for the December World Short Course Championships.
RESULTS Sydney Sprints Australian Short Course Championships, Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, DAY 3 FINALS:
Women’s 100m Freestyle Multi-Class
Alexa Leary (S9) (St Hildas, QLD) – 59.71
Katja Dedekind (S13) (Yeronga Park, QLD) – 57.84
Hannah Price (S9) (Campbelltown, NSW) – 1:06.86
Alexa Leary – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Men’s 100m Freestyle Multi-Class
Jack Ireland (S14) (University of Queensland, QLD) – 51.28
Jake Michel (S14) (Carina Leagues, QLD) – 53.99
Dylan Logan (S15) (Geelong, VIC) – 53.15
Jack Ireland – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Women’s 100m Butterfly
Alex Perkins (USC Spartans, QLD) – 56.89
Brittany Castelluzzo (Tea Tree Gully, SA) – 57.18
Laura Taylor (Bond, QLD) – 57.98
Alex Perkins – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Men’s 100m Butterfly
Matt Temple (Marion, SA) – 50.09
Trenton Julian (USA)– 50.22
Shaun Champion (Abbotsleigh, NSW) – 50.31
Matt Temple – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Women’s 400m Freestyle
Lani Pallister (Griffith University, QLD) – 3:56.74
Leah Neale (Chandler, QLD) – 4:02.25
Jacinta Essam (Ginninderra, NSW ) – 4:12.08
Lani Pallister – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Men’s 400m Freestyle
Luke Hobson (USA) – 3:35.67
Mack Horton (Griffith University, QLD) – 3:37.94
Tommy Neill (Rackley, QLD) – 3:38.24
Mack Horton and Luke Hobson – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Men’s 200m Medley Multi-Class
Joshua Alford (SM14) (University of Queensland, QLD) – 2:21.60
Darren Sisman (SM14) (Sans Souci, NSW ) – 2:22.12
Samuel Gould (SM14) (Helensvale, QLD) – 2:23.35
Joshua Alford – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Women’s 200m Medley Multi-Class
Hannah Price (SM9) (Campbelltown, NSW) – 2:41.14
Nicole Taylor (SM15) (Griffith, NSW) – 2:38.55
Maddison Hinds (SM14) (Hornsby, NSW) – 2:37.59
Hannah Price – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Women’s 200m Medley
Beata Nelson (USA) – 2:05.38
Kayla Hardy (Cruiz, ACT) – 2:09.69
Lucy Dring (Sunshine Coast Grammar, QLD) – 2:10.87
Beata Nelson – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Men’s 200m Medley
Clyde Lewis (Griffith University, QLD) – 1:53.01
Grant House (USA) – 1:53.05
Se-Bom Lee (Carlile, NSW) – 1:53.83
Clyde Lewis – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Women’s 50m Backstroke
Minna Atherton (Bond, QLD) – 26.68
Holly Barratt (Rockingham, WA) – 27.02
Tahlia Thornton (USC Spartans, QLD) – 27.37
Minna Atherton and Holly Barratt – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Men’s 50m Backstroke
Justin Ress (USA) – 23.16
Isaac Cooper (Bundaberg, QLD) – 23.31
Mark Nikolaev (USA) – 23.34
Isaac Cooper – Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).