15-Year-Old Elizabeth Dekkers Clocks 2:08.51 LCM 200 Fly At QLD C’ships

2019 QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Saturday, December 14th – Friday, December 20th
• 12/14 – relays only; 12/18 – 12/20 age-groupers
• Brisbane Aquatic Center
• LCM
• Meet Site/Entry List
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 (Relays) Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Live Results

Day 2 of non-relay action at the 2019 Queensland Championships brought a huge swim by teenager Elizabeth Dekkers of Newmarket Racers.

Prior to this meet at Brisbane Aquatic Center, the 15-year-old had never before been under the 2:10 threshold in the 200m fly event, having clocked a lifetime best of 2:10.42 to place 5th at this year’s World Junior Championships.

This morning Dekkers got the ball rolling with a swift heats mark of 2:10.48 to take the top seed by over 10 seconds. Then, come tonight’s final, the teen turned on all the jets to produce a winning effort of 2:08.51, knocking down the Queensland and Queensland All Comers Records in the process.

Splitting 1:02.06/1:06.45, Dekkers’ time of 2:08.51 not only got her the gold, but it also checks her in among the Aussie greats, sitting just outside the top 10 performers ever in the event. The aforementioned QLD records were previously held by Olympic silver medalist Maddie Groves at 2:10.42, as a testament to how elite the previous standards really were.

For additional perspective Dekkers’ time would rank her 6th on the United States’ all-time performers list for 15- AND 16-year-0lds. Her 2:08.51 also would have given her the silver in Budapest at the aforementioned World Junior Championships.

Dekkers now owns the overall Australian national age record for 15-year-olds with her breakout performance.