2016 Australian Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

2016 HANCOCK PROSPECTING AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC TRIALS)

Men’s 100 Free – Prelims

The first event to go off was perhaps the race of the night, with some of Australia’s biggest names battling it out in the 100 free. It was 17-year-old phenom Kyle Chalmers who led prelims, going 48.61 to almost top his previous best time, put up while winning the junior world title last summer.

Defending national champ Cameron McEvoy sits second in 48.75, while veteran James Magnussen is 48.77 for third. McEvoy won silver at last year’s World Championships, while Magnussen sat the meet out after surgery.

All three should be relatively likely legs of the Australian 4×100 free relay, with solid competition brewing over the final spot. At this point, Kenneth To sits fourth in 49.12, with Tommaso D’Orsogna (49.24) and Will Stockwell (49.32) just behind.

Also into semifinals: James Roberts (49.51, 9th), who swam with McEvoy, D’Orsogna and Magnussen on this relay at the London Olympics and Matt Abood (49.93, 14th), who had the team’s second-best split behind Chalmers in Kazan last summer.

Top 8:

  1. Chalmers – 48.61
  2. McEvoy – 48.75
  3. Magnussen – 48.77
  4. To – 49.12
  5. D’Orsogna – 49.24
  6. Stockwell – 49.32
  7. Copeland – 49.41
  8. Smith – 49.47

Women’s 200 Fly – Prelims

Madeline Groves easily paced the women’s 200 fly heats, winning by well over a second. Her 2:09.80 is still well off her season-best, but there wasn’t much need for speed in the preliminaries – Groves could have gone 9 seconds slower and still moved on to semifinals.

Brianna Throssell is second in 2:11.53, with third-place Alice Stewart a good two seconds back of her in 2:13.29.

Groves and Throssell should be the front-runners, as the duo took the two World Championships entries in the race last year, with Throssell taking 4th overall.

Top 8:

  1. Groves – 2:09.80
  2. Trhossell – 2:11.53
  3. Stuart – 2:13.29
  4. Mee – 2:13.54
  5. Washer – 2:14.50
  6. Gilmour – 2:14.93
  7. Taylor – 2:15.00
  8. White – 2:15.20

Men’s 200 Breast – Prelims

The men’s breaststrokes have been a weaker event for the Australians recently, with the team not entering anyone in the 200 at 2015 Worlds. But 17-year-old Matthew Wilson seems to be a rising young talent, and he’s the top qualifier at Aussie Trials with a 2:12.90.

Nick Schafer, who’s been competing in the U.S.’s NCAA system for the past few years, went 2:13.31 for second. He’s the defending national champ in the event. Behind them, a bunch of athletes went 2:14s, led by Jake Packard in 2:14.59.

Top 8:

  1. Wilson – 2:12.90
  2. Schafer – 2:13.31
  3. Packard – 2:14.59
  4. Tierney – 2:14.73
  5. Milligan – 2:14.87
  6. Bremer – 2:14.88
  7. Layton – 2:14.93
  8. Harley – 2:15.62

Women’s 100 Fly Multiclass – Prelims

21-year-old Taylor Corry topped the women’s para 100 fly event, going 1:08.47 to sit just about a second off the S14 world record. Corry is a two-time Paralympic silver medalist.

Top 8 (per Multiclass point score or MCPS):

  1. Corry – 1:08.47
  2. Scott – 1:11.56
  3. Watt – 1:10.34
  4. Van Roosmalen – 1:10.49
  5. Beecroft – 1:12.57
  6. Leonhardt – 1:11.16
  7. Downie – 1:11.67
  8. Harding – 1:16.69

Men’s 100 Fly Multiclass – Prelims

22-year-old Brenden Hall won the men’s race, going 1:02.97 from the S9 class.

Top 8 (per Multiclass point score or MCPS):

  1. Hall – 1:02.97
  2. Bramham – 1:04.05
  3. Pendleton – 1:01.05
  4. Jason – 59.79
  5. Yourell – 1:01.91
  6. Hodge – 1:05.13
  7. Hearne – 1:02.30
  8. Aungles – 1:07.58

Women’s 1500 Free – Timed Final

Kareena Lee cut seven seconds off her seed to win the national title in the 1500 free, dethroning 2015 champ Chelsea Gubecka.

Lee was 16:27.26, beating out Gubecka’s 16:42.03 by a wide margin. The 1500 is not an Olympic qualifying event on the women’s side, but Lee does earn the Australian title.

Zoe Elkerton (16:51.43) and Aiden Lister (16:52.28) followed after that, with 17-year-old Sarah Thompson coming up with a big 17:01.56 from the early heat to take 5th overall.

Top 8:

  1. Lee – 16:27.26
  2. Gubecka – 16:42.03
  3. Elkerton – 16:51.43
  4. Lister – 16:52.28
  5. Thompson – 17:01.56
  6. Gough – 17:03.37
  7. Fowler – 17:07.62
  8. Finney – 17:12.28

Men’s 200 Free Multiclass – Prelims

24-year-old Daniel Fox came within a tenth of a second of the S14 world record in leading prelims of the 200 free. Fox was 1:56.32, with the record standing at 1:56.27 from last summer.

Joshua Alford‘s 2:00.48 sits second, with Brenden Hall coming off his top-qualifying 100 fly earlier in the session to go 2:04.73 for third.

Top 8:

  1. Fox – 1:56.32
  2. Alford – 2:00.48
  3. Hall – 2:04.73
  4. Schluter – 2:02.38
  5. Ireland – 2:02.87
  6. Kilduff – 2:05.42
  7. Schefman – 2:07.67
  8. Powell – 2:12.91

Women’s 200 Free Multiclass – Prelims

In the women’s 200 free it was Lakeisha Patterson who took the top seed, going 2:21.16 our of the S8 class. Meanwhile S4’s Rachael Watson earned second place in 3:29.11.

Top 8:

  1. Patterson – 2:21.6
  2. Watson – 3:29.11
  3. Clarke – 2:17.02
  4. Dedekind – 2:21.16
  5. Corry – 2:17.64
  6. Lucy – 2:21.81
  7. Cook – 2:22.83
  8. Miro – 2:35.34

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bobo gigi
8 years ago

Day 4 prelims

Men’s 100 free heats with Chalmers, Magnussen and McEvoy between 18 minutes and 24 minutes in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6lvrFKic8g

bobo gigi
8 years ago

Aussie OY, I’ve predicted before the meet that Chalmers would be sub 48.
Do you see that happen too?

However maybe I’ve been a little bit too optimistic about McEvoy predicting a winning time of 47.20.

Aussie Oy
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

McEvoy’s swim looked the easiest of the three while Chalmers looked powerful.
I think Chalmers will go sub 48, but mcEvoy is not going to swim 47.20
Repeating his earlier 47.5 would be a great swim for him.

commonwombat
Reply to  Aussie Oy
8 years ago

Unlikely to be that fast. McEvoy more likely to be 47.5-47.7. Chalmers 48lowish. Magnussen probably about what he’s swam here/48.4-5 top-side. A couple of others MAY sneak below 49 in the final but nothing better than 48.8

Aussie Oy
8 years ago

McEvoy is looking ominous.. while Magnussen looked a bit struggling, his length per stroke is definitely shorter than they used to.
Chalmers will take second spot I think. He will destroy the Junior world record.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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