2019 Aussie World Trials Day 4 Prelims Live Recap: Chalmers Goes For 2

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
• Day 3 Prelims Recap
• Day 3 Finals Recap
• Live Results
• Live Stream

MEN’S 100 FREE – PRELIMS

• Australian National Record – 47.04, Cameron McEvoy 2016
• Worlds QT – 48.31
• Top 8:
  1. Kyle Chalmers, 47.91
  2. Cameron McEvoy, 48.75
  3. Clyde Lewis, 48.78
  4. Alex Graham, 48.95
  5. Louis Townsend, 48.95
  6. Ashton Brinkworth, 49.31
  7. James Roberts, 49.55
  8. Matthew Davis, 49.80

The men wasted no time getting their names on the board for a stake on the 4x100m free relay, as well as a possible individual spot for Gwangju the 100m free.

King Kyle Chalmers followed up his 200m free World Championships-worthy gold medal here in Brisbane with a stellar morning swim of 47.91 to mark the only sub-48 second time of the morning.

Splitting 23.32/24.59, Chalmers led wire-to-wire, making his mark on his pet event to land lane 4 for tonight’s show. He already sits as the #2 swimmer in the world with his 47.48 time from Aussie Nationals, his fastest outing since winning gold at the 2016 Olympic Games.

25-year-old TSS Aquatics maestro Cameron McEvoy is the Aussie National Record holder in this event with his time of 47.04, the textile World Record he produced prior to the 2016 Olympic Games. Since then, however, the physics student hasn’t fared as well, on the whole, but there have been sparks of his better years.

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, McEvoy finished in 4th, just out of the medals, with a time of 48.44, for instance. But, he was only as quick as 49.47 at the Aussie Nationals in April. Hopefully for McEvoy fans, his sub-49 second outing this morning is foreshadowing a bigger time from the man tonight. He needs to be just over a tenth faster to nail individual qualification.

Clyde Lewis almost beat Chalmers in the 200m free race, qualifying for Gwangju in that final. He, too, is trying to add this 100m free event, putting his hat in the ring with a mark of 48.78, the fastest of his career. He’s only been as quick as 48.84 to date, but is in the hunt for at least a relay spot.

On trend with the nightmarish meet he’s been having Elijah Winnington wound up 12th in a lackluster 50.27, well under the teen’s proven capabilities. After missing qualification in the 200m and 400m, we’re waiting on comments from his camp as to whether the multiple World Junior Record holder is ill or just having an off meet.

WOMEN’S 200 FLY – PRELIMS

• Australian National Record – 2:03.41, Jessicah Schipper 2009
• Worlds QT – 2:07.82
• Top 8:
  1. Brianna Throssell, 2:10.90
  2. Laura Taylor, 2:11.88
  3. Alice Stuart, 2:12.65
  4. Tianni Gilmour, 2:13.01
  5. Brittany Castelluzzo, 2:13.57
  6. Kayla Costa, 2:14.42
  7. Isabelle Mason, 2:15.96
  8. Jaime Krueger, 2:16.56

The bad news is that it took just a 2:16.56 to make the women’s 200m fly final at Australia’s most important domestic meet of the year. The good news is that the average age of the 8 finalists is just 19, making this lineup a preview of sorts of what may be on the horizon for the green and gold in the 2fly.

One name that’s used to being in the top of the 2fly is Olympian Brianna Throssell, the 23-year-old Western Australian who already booked her spot on the Gwangju roster as a member of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay. This morning, she clocked a solid 2:10.90 to take about a second lead ahead of Laura Taylor‘s 2:11.88.

Taylor is the reigning Commonwealth Games silver medalist in this event, having produced a time of 2:07.39 behind Britain’s gold medalist Alys Thomas on the Gold Coast. She’s been as fast as 2:08.94 en route to winning the 2019 Australian National title.

Both Throssell and Taylor appear on the All-Time Aussie list in this event, with Throssell positioned as 7 with her PB of 2:06.58 from 2016, while Taylor’s 2:06.80 from February of last year is 8th fastest ever down under. With a QT of 2:07.82, both women will need to bring their A-game to have a shot at qualification.

The youngest of the field is 15-year-old Jaime Krueger, who wrangled up the 8th seed in 2:16.56, just over 2 seconds off her lifetime best of 2:14.27.

Of note, Olympic silver medalist Maddie Groves has withdrawn from this meet and, therefore, the World Championships.

MEN’S 200 IM – PRELIMS

• Australian National Record – 1:56.21, Mitch Larkin 2018
• Worlds QT – 1:57.81
• Top 8:
  1. Mitch Larkin, 1:59.93
  2. Thomas Fraser-Holmes, 2:00.39
  3. Travis Mahoney, 2:01.20
  4. Jared Gilliland, 2:02.28
  5. Liam Hunter, 2:02.46
  6. Se-Bom Lee, 2:02.85
  7. James McKechnie, 2:03.57
  8. Brendon Swmith, 2:03.69

National Record holder Mitch Larkin already qualified for next month’s World Championships with a 52.38 stunner in the men’s 100m back. That represented the 25-year-old St. Peters Western star’s fastest time since 2015, the same year he won two titles at the World Championships in Kazan.

Larkin earned the only sub-2:00 time this morning in 1:59.93, a cruising effort from the man who owns a lifetime best of 1:56.21.He earned another sub-1:57 mark en route to claiming the Aussie National title in April in 1:56.83, the #4 time in the world this season. The race is his to lose, but there are a few contenders ready to challenge the backstroking ace.

One is Thomas Fraser-Holmes, the 27-year-old veteran of Griffith University who has fought tooth and nail to get back on track after having served a 12-month ban for missing whereabouts anti-doping violations. His redemption was sealed with a silver medal in the 400m IM at the 2018 Short Course World Championships, fueling his 2nd seed here in 2:00.39.

TFH has been as fast as 1:57.88 from way back in 2014, so he’ll need to crush the quickest time of his career to qualify for Gwangju. But, the man is hungry.

WOMEN’S 400 IM – PRELIMS

• Australian National Record – 4:29.45, Stephanie Rice 2009
• Worlds QT – 4:37.14
• Top 8:
  1. Blair Evans, 4:44.98
  2. Sophie Caldwell, 4:46.12
  3. Meg Bailey, 4:46.92
  4. Jennifer Forrester, 4:47.84
  5. Fran Fitzhenry, 4:49.52
  6. Charli Brown, 4:54.18
  7. Mikkayla Smith, 4:55.05
  8. Madeline Snell, 4:55.93

As with the women’s 200m fly, this 400m IM field is abundant with teenagers willing to put up the performance of their lives to make a mark on this Trials meet. One is 15-year-old Jennifer Forrester of St. Peters Western, who put up the 4th fastest time of the morning in 4:47.84.

That’s just .31 off of her career-fastest of 4:47.84 and a terrific sign of things to come for Aussie IMers.

Leading the pack on the opposite end of the age spectrum is 28-year-old Blair Evans of Western Australia. Evans took the bronze at this year’s Aussie Nationals, hitting a time of 4:41.97 to finish behind winner Kaylee McKeown (4:40.25) and Calypso Sheridan (4:41.40). She’s already earned a silver in the 200m IM on night 1.

McKeown chose not to swim this event here, while Sheridan has already qualified for the World University Games and is ineligible for Worlds.

Nunawading’s Sophie Caldwell may have something to say about Evans’ bids on the gold, registering a mark of 4:46.12 this morning, while the 200m IM bronze medalist here, Meg Bailey, is also in the mix. Bailey swims for Ohio State stateside.

WOMEN 800 FREE – PRELIMS

• Australian National Record – 8:17.07, Ariarne Titmus 2018
• Worlds QT – 8:30.66

The women’s 800m free will be included in the finals recap.