2017 Aussie National C’ships Day 5 Prelims Live Recap

2017 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Sunday, April 9th – Thursday, April 13th
• Brisbane Aquatic Centre
• Prelims at 11am local/Finals at 7:30pm local
• LCM
• Meet Site
• Entry List
• Qualification Criteria
• Meet Preview
• Live Streaming (differs per session) – Day 5 Prelims
• Live Results

MEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE – PRELIM

• Swimming Australia QT – N/A
• FINA – 25.59
• Top 8:
  1. Benjamin Treffers – 25.02
  2. Joshua Beaver – 25.46
  3. Mitch Larkin – 25.54
  4. James Traiforos – 25.97
  5. Zac Incerti – 25.99
  6. Andrew Rice – 26.11
  7. Tom Jeffries – 26.14
  8. Jasper Dejager – 26.15

Tonight’s top seed in the 50m backstroke, Benjamin Treffers, earned a 4th place finish the 100m distance earlier this meet, but is hoping to get gold this time around. He sits in the pole position with a morning mark of 25.02. The Canberra swimmer who will soon be transplanting to the Gold Coast, pairing up with sprinter James Roberts under Coach Ashley Callus.

Mitch Larkin will try to complete his trifecta of backstroke wins this meet, having already secured gold in the 100m and 200m and, therefore, his berth on the Australian World Championships team. After his race, Larkin was asked about the prospect of 50m distances being added to a future Olympic program, to which the Commercial Club swimmer replied, “I think it would be fantastic. More people could stay longer in the sport.”

WOMEN’S 200 IM – PRELIM

• Swimming Australia QT – 2:11.39
• FINA – 2:13.41
• Top 8:
  1. Emily Seebohm – 2:13.73
  2. Kotuku Ngawati – 2:14.27
  3. Aisling Scott, 2:14.47
  4. Blair Evans – 2:14.78
  5. Abbey Harkin – 2:15.22
  6. Mikkayla Sheridan – 2:15.36
  7. Tessa Wallace – 2:15.50
  8. Taylor McKeown – 2:16.00

With last year’s title winner Alicia Coutts having entered retirement, Australia is looking for its next 200m IM national champion. The winner in 2015, Kotuku Ngawati, is primed to take charge of the event, clocking the 2nd seed in 2:14.27. Last year, the Melbourne Vicentre athlete earned the silver in a time of 2:11.03, her best time to date. As such, she’ll need to have a lifetime best to snag the stiff Aussie QT.

Ngawati sits behind the 100m/200m backstroke champion at this meet, Emily Seebohm, who rarely raced this event over the past year or so to focus on her backstroke for Rio. Tonight, Seebohm notched a time of 2:13.73 for the top seed in the only sub-2:14 outing. Her personal best rests at the 2:09.93 she earned back in 2010, but in 2015 she was more in the 2:11-mid category. She’ll need to do just that in order to qualify in this event for Budapest, as the Aussie-mandated QT is 2:11.39.

Of note, last year’s 4th place finisher Keryn McMaster wound up 9th and out of the final.

WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – PRELIM

• Swimming Australia QT – 2:07.69
• FINA – 2:09.77
• Top 8:
  1. Emma McKeon – 2:09.48
  2. Laura Taylor – 2:11.18
  3. Brianna Throssell – 2:11.48
  4. Emily Washer – 2:11.68
  5. Meg Bailey – 2:12.09
  6. Patarawadee Kitiya – 2:13.29
  7. Alice Stuart – 2:14.02
  8. Kara Svenson – 2:14.15

The winner of the women’s 200m butterfly event at the last 4 national championships is absent this time around, as 2016 Olympic silver medalist Maddie Groves is changing things up by training abroad. Ready to potentially take her place, however, is 200m freestyle Olympic bronze medalist Emma McKeon, who has simply been on fire in Brisbane these past few days.

McKeon’s demonstrated range is impressive, earning silver in the 100m freestyle, gold in the 100m butterfly, gold in the 200m freestyle and now the top seed in this 200m butterfly. The St. Peters Western athlete’s best 200m fly time this season was the 2:09.33 set at the Vic Open, although she’s been as fast as 2:07.83 from a Grand Prix last July. No doubt she was in peak form during the Olympic year, but she’s at least within striking distance, clocking the only sub-2:10 mark of the morning.

Lurking as the 3rd seed, however, is 2016 Olympic finalist Brianna Throssell. Throssell took silver to McKeon’s 100m butterfly gold here in Brisbane and the Western Australian swimmer notched a quick 2:07.87 in Rio. She’ll need to replicate that performance and even top it by a hair in order to qualify for Budapest.

WOMEN’S 400 FREESTYLE – PRELIM

• Swimming Australia QT – 4:07.58
• FINA – 4:10.57
• Top 8:
  1. Ariarne Titmus – 4:11.92
  2. Kiah Melverton – 4:12.71
  3. Dahlas Rogers – 4:12.77
  4. Mikayla Messer – 4:13.26
  5. Leah Neale – 4:13.50
  6. Kareena Lee – 4:17.37
  7. Moesha Johnson – 4:17.79
  8. Jordan White – 4:20.14

The major players in this women’s 400m freestyle did what they needed to do to secure their spots in tonight’s final, but look for times to drop well beneath 4:10 during that session. 16-year-old Ariarne Titmus scored the pole position with her morning swim of 4:11.92, looking good to double up on her surprise 800m victory in Budapest-qualifying fashion from night 1.

Titmus’ personal best checks in at the 4:09.81 earned at the 2016 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, a performance garnering the bronze medal. That result was quite an improvement from the year before, where the St. Peters Western athlete finished in 9th place, just .03 out of the final with a time of 4:15.14 at the World Junior Championships.

Open water 5k national champion Kiah Melverton is looking to improve upon her bronze medal finish in the 800m freestyle and possibly get on the pool roster for the World Championships. And, the girl is dangerous, clocking a speedy 4:08.07 at NSW Championships earlier this year, a time which stands as the 10th fastest in the world.

Last year’s title winner Jessica Ashwood isn’t racing this event this year, while the 2016 runner-up, Tamsin Cook, is taking some time off. As such, any of the top 4 or 5 finalists are in the mix for the 2017 edition of the title.

WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – PRELIM

• Swimming Australia QT – 24.52
• FINA – 25.18
• Top 8:
  1. Bronte Campbell – 24.75
  2. Cate Campbell – 24.76
  3. Shayna Jack – 24.92
  4. Brittany Elmslie – 25.03
  5. Holly Barratt – 25.31
  6. Sara Saal – 25.40
  7. Eliza King – 25.73
  8. Natasha Ramsden – 25.84

The Campbell sisters dominated the women’s splash n’ dash domestically once again, with Bronte edging sister Cate by just .01 of a second. Bronte led the pack in 24.75, a mark just off her 24.60 from NSWs earlier this year. Cate was 24.47 at that same meet, a mark which is positioned as the 4th fastest in the world this season, while she notched a super quick 24.76 tonight. Note that, as has been the norm throughout her career, C1’s reaction time was the slowest of her heat at .80.

Commercial teammate Shayna Jack continues to impress in the sprint events, having already earned a 4th place (and most likely World Championships relay spot) in the women’s 100m free in a time of 53.40. This morning, the 18-year-old notched just the 3rd sub-25-second 50m freestyle of her young career, touching in 24.92 for the 3rd seed.

With C1 out of the picture by removing herself from World Championships consideration, the 2nd spot behind, presumably, Bronte Campbell is truly up for grabs. Brittany Elmslie was lukewarm during the 100m freestyle, but the Brisbane Grammar star bounced back with a win in the 50m butterfly here in Brisbane. She’s certainly capable of clinching the 24.52 Aussie-mandated QT if she can put up a solid race.

MEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• Swimming Australia QT – N/A
• FINA – 27.51

In this timed final of the non-Olympic event, 22-year-old Rockingham Tommy Sucipto came out on top, clocking 27.64 for the win. Men’s 100m runner-up and 200m breaststroke victor, Matthew Wilson finished just behind in 27.89, while Chandler’s Liam Hunter rounded out the top 3 in 27.97. The podium represented the only sub-28 second results of the field, which also included 100m breaststroke gold medalist at this meet, Daniel Cave. Cave and Grayson Bell tied for 4th in 28.03.