2019 Aussie World Trials: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2019 AUSTRALIAN WORLD SWIMMING TRIALS

• Sunday, June 9th – Friday, June 14th
• Brisbane Aquatic Centre
• LCM
• Meet Site
• Swimming Australia 2019 World Championships – Selection Policy
• Start List
• Prelims Heat Sheets
• Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap
• Live Results
• Live Stream

WOMEN’S 200 FREE – PRELIMS

• Australian National Record – 1:54.30, Ariarne Titmus, 2019
• Worlds QT – 1:56.34
• Top 8:
  1. Emma McKeon, 1:56.76
  2. Shayna Jack, 1:57.50
  3. Brianna Throssell, 1:57.90
  4. Leah Neale, 1:58.11
  5. Ariarne Titmus, 1:58.26
  6. Madi Wilson, 1:58.36
  7. Mikkayla Sheridan, 1:59.42
  8. Carla Buchanan, 1:59.91

25-year-old Emma McKeon has already qualified for next month’s World Championships via her 100m fly win on night 1, and now the Olympian looks primed to add this 200m free to her lineup.

Hitting the wall in a stellar prelims time of 1:56.76, the Olympic bronze medalist in this event represented the only sub-1:57 swimmer of the field this morning, with St. Peters Western’s Shayna Jack the next in line in 1:57.50.

McKeon finished with the silver at April’s National Championships, clocking a time of 1:56.00 there, her fastest of the season and the 4th fastest time in the world. Taking the gold at Nationals was Ariarne Titmus, the 18-year-old who lowered her own 400m free National and Commonwealth Record with a mighty 3:59.53 on night 1 of these Trials.

Titmus was the title winner in this 200m free in April with a time of 1:54.30, setting a new Aussie Record and world #1 time in Adelaide. This morning the St. Peters Western star laid low, taking the 5th seed in 1:58.26.

The women are not only vying for individual slots for Gwangju, but also the all-important relay positions to improve their bronze medal standing from the 2017 World Championships. A minimum time of 1:56.34 is what it will take for individual qualification, a mark at least half of the finalists have come past or at least very near in their careers.

In fact, 4 of the women who made tonight’s final appear on the Aussie all-time performers list in this 200m freestyle. Below is the list.

All-Time Aussie 200m Free Performers:

1:54.30 Ariarne Titmus 2000 Adelaide 09.04.19
1:54.83 Emma McKeon 1994 Adelaide 10.04.16
1:55.25 Bronte Barratt 1989 Rio 09.08.16
1:55.73 Kylie Palmer 1990 Sydney 04.04.11
1:56.60r Stephanie Rice 1988 Beijing 14.08.08
1:56.73 Melanie Schlanger 1986 Adelaide 18.03.12
1:56.77r Shayna Jack 1998 Adelaide 10.04.19
1:56.79 Brittany Elmslie 1994 Brisbane 13.12.14
1:56.99 Linda Mackenzie 1983 Sydney 25.03.08
1:56.90 Madison Wilson 1994 Adelaide 09.04.19

MEN’S 200 FLY – PRELIMS

• Australian National Record – 1:54.46, Nick D’Arcy, 2009
• Worlds QT – 1:55.58
• Top 8:
  1. Grant Irvine, 1:57.50
  2. Nic Brown, 1:57.56
  3. David Morgan, 1:58.55
  4. Bowen Gough, 1:59.28
  5. Matthew Temple, 1:59.31
  6. Charles Cox,  1:59.47
  7. Edward Marks, 2:02.04
  8. Lucas Humeniuk, 2:04.38

The Australians are in desperate need of a men’s 200 flyer, with just a 2:04.38 making the top 8 at the Australian World Trials. Nevertheless, Olympians Grant Irvine and David Morgan will attempt to answer the call, with the former sitting as the top swimmer of the morning in 1:57.50.

Morgan’s PB is the 1:55.63 he notched at the 2016 Olympic Trials, meaning the 25-year-old will need to hit a lifetime best to qualify for Gwangju. His quickest in the past 18 months was the 1:56.36 he put up on the Gold Coast for Commonwealth Games silver.

The same stiff qualification challenge holds true for Irvine as the 28-year-old UWSC veteran’s lifetime fastest rests at the 1:55.32 he nailed way back in 2013. Irvine notched a time of 1:56.91 for 4th behind his Aussie teammate at Commonwealths.

Irvine’s fellow Western Australianer Nic Brown made it easily into the final as the 2nd seed in 1:57.56, while 17-year-old Chandler emerging athlete Lucas Numenik sneaked in with the aforementioned 2:04.38. He’s seeking to break the 2-minute barrier for the first time in his young career, holding a PB of 2:00.90.

As for Brown, he nailed the Aussie National title last April in a mark of 1:56.50, his fastest ever by over half a second. Bowen Gough, this morning’s 4th fastest swimmer, was runner-up to Brown in 1:56.73, a new lifetime best by well over a second at Nationals.

Of note, Elijah Winnington was originally entered in this event, but wound up scratching. He fell short of qualifying in his favored 400m free and 200m free events and is no doubt saving energy for his 800m free and 100m free races yet to come.

The men’s 800m free will be included in the Day 3 Finals Recap.