After setting a new Commonwealth and Australian short course record in the men’s 100m backstroke semi-final last night, Mitch Larkin will tonight get a shot at the world record when he lines up for the final at the 2014 Australian Short Course Championships at the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre in Adelaide.
The 21-year-old fell just short of the world record last night, recording a time of 49.44 to go through as fastest qualifier for the final tonight.
With both Ben Treffers and Ashley Delaney either side of him, Larkin could get the push he needs to dip under the 48.94 short course world record time set in 2009.
The women’s 100m backstroke could see a new swimmer rise from the ranks to take top spot with Madison Wilson stopping the clock at 56.75, just shy ofEmily Seebohm’s Australian short course record of 56.58, to go through as the one to beat tonight. Wilson will need to keep an eye on the always competitive Seebohm as well as third fastest qualifier Hayley Baker.
Wilson will also take on the 100m freestyle semi-final after recording the fastest qualifying time for this morning with a 52.94. Bronte Campbell will go through as second fastest in 53.38 with Emma McKeon rounding out the top three qualifiers in 53.57.
Commonwealth Games and Para Pan Pacs medallist Madeleine Scott got the second day of the 2014 Australian Short Course Championships off to a speedy start when she set an unofficial World Record in the women’s 50m butterfly Multi Class heats. Scott hit the wall in a time of 31.53 to move through to the final in top spot ahead of Maddison Elliott (34.00) and Jacqui Freney (36.42).
In the corresponding men’s event Tim Antalfy will go through fastest to the final after clocking a 25.06 in this morning’s heats. He will need to get the better ofMitchell Kilduff (26.22) and MattHew Cowdrey (27.67) to take the title tonight.
Defending Champion Travis Mahoney was too strong in the heats of the men’s 400m individual medley, recording the fastest time from the heats to take lane four in the final tonight.
Mahoney stopped the clock at 4:13.20 almost three second ahead of his closest rivals Tomas Elliott in 4:16.13 and Jared Gilliland in 4:16.68.
In other events…
Women’s 50m Butterfly
The women’s 50m butterfly saw Emma McKeon post the fastest time from the heats with a 26.08. The time was fast enough to hold off Australian Record holder Marieke D’Cruz in 26.25 and Brittany Elmslie in 26.36 with all three taking on the semi-finals tonight.
Men’s 50m Freestyle
Sydney University swimmers Te Haumi Maxwell (21.63) and Matthew Abood (21.76) took the top two spots into the men’s 50m freestyle semi-final ahead of 200m short course champion Cameron McEvoy in 21.82. The race for a spot in the final will be close, with less than a second separating the top 17 finishers from this morning.
Women’s 100m Individual Medley
Emily Seebohm will add to her busy schedule with a semi-final swim in the women’s 100m individual medley tonight after clocking the quickest time from the heats this morning. Seebohm hit the wall in 1:00.36 with Kotuku Ngawati second through in 1:00.42 and Hayley Baker third in 1:00.56.
Women’s 200m Individual Medley Multi Class
Paralympian Jacqui Freney will be looking to pick up her first short course crown for 2014 when she races in the final of the women’s 200m individual medley tonight. Freney was the top ranked swimmer from the heats with a time of 2:55.53 followed by Taylor Corry in 2:31.43 and Katherine Downie in 2:35.48.
Women’s 400m Freestyle Multi Class
Para Pan Pacs medallist Taylor Corry will also take on the final of the women’s 400m individual medley Multi Class final tonight in search of the short course national title. Corry clocked a 4:39.75 to progress in top spot tonight ahead of Teneale Houghton in 4:47.02 and Lakeisha Patterson in 5:04.06.
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Multi Class
After winning a silver medal last night in the men’s Multi Class 50m breaststroke, Mitchell Kilduff will be looking to upgrade to gold tonight when he goes through to the final of the men’s 200m individual medley as the one to beat. Kilduff recorded a time of 2:16.16 and will swim from lane four with Joshua Alford (2:18.63) and Sean Russo (2:17.04) also on the hunt for gold tonight.
The above is a press release submitted by Swimming Australia.
Chalmers 21.75 in semis of 50. Big time!
Chalmers this morning was fast in the 50. Let down by his starts and turns. Based on free swimming he was well clear of M. Abood in the next lane