2023 Australian Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2023 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 17 – 20, 2023
• Marine Parade, Southport, Queensland
• Gold Coast Aquatic Centre
• Long Course Meters
• Meet Central
• Entry Sheets
• Prelims at 10 a.m. AEST / 8 p.m. EST; finals at 6 p.m. AEST / 4 a.m. EST
• Preview
• Live results
• Day 1 Prelims Recap

The first night of the 2023 Australian Championships has arrived, highlighted by a loaded women’s 100 free final featuring reigning world champion Mollie O’Callaghan, Olympic champion Emma McKeon, and four other swimmers who went under the World Championships ‘A’ cut during prelims. Shayna Jack (53.72) and Meg Harris (53.91) joined O’Callaghan (53.52) and McKeon (53.81) under the 54-second mark this morning.

Tonight’s finals session will kick off with the men’s 100 breast and continue with the women’s 200 IM, men’s 50 fly, women’s 100 free, men’s 400 free, women’s 50 breast, men’s 200 back, and women’s 800 free. Big names such as Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Kyle Chalmers, Elijah Winnington, and Cody Simpson are all slated to compete this evening.

Retta Race contributed to this report.

MEN’S 100 BREAST FINALS

• World Record: 56.88 – Adam Peaty (2017)
• World Junior Record: 59.01 – Nicolo Martinenghi (59.01)
• Australian Record: 58.58 – Brenton Rickard (2009)
• Commonwealth Record: 56.88 – Adam Peaty (2017)
• 2023 Worlds ‘A’ Cut: 59.75

Top 10:

1. Zac Stubblety-Cook – 1:00.07
2. Joshua Yong – 1:00.57
3. Matthew Wilson – 1:00.68
4. Nash Wilkes – 1:01.19
5. Bailey Lello – 1:01.55
6. Joshua Collett – 1:01.81
7. Samuel Williamson – 1:01.82
8. Cameron Jordan – 1:01.95
9. William Petric – 1:02.46
10. Louis Townsend – 1:03.02

24-year-old Zac Stubblety-Cook defended his 100 breast crown with a 1:00.07, reaching the wall exactly half a second ahead of 21-year-old Joshua Yong (1:00.57). Stubblety-Cook now ranks 19th in the world this season. He was nearly half a second slower than his winning time of 59.60 from last year’s Australian Championships. He went on to clock a personal-best 59.51 during last year’s World Championships semifinals before placing seventh in the final with a 59.65.

24-year-old Matthew Wilson (1:00.68) beat out 21-year-old Nash Wilkes (1:01.19) by about half a second in the battle for third place.

WOMEN’S 200 IM – FINAL

• World Record: Katinka Hosszu – 2:06.12 (2015)
• World Junior Record: Ye Shiwen – 2:07.57 (2012)
• Australian Record: Stephanie Rice – 2:07.03 (2009)
• Commonwealth Record: Siobhan-Marie O’Connor – 2:06.88 (2016)
• 2023 Worlds ‘A’ Cut: 2:12.98

Top 10:

1. Kaylee McKeown – 2:08.16
2. Jenna Forrester – 2:09.32
3. Ella Ramsay – 2:12.39
4. Kayla Hardy – 2:15.16
5. Lucy Dring – 2:16.20
6. Lexi Harrison – 2:16.59
7. Xiandi Chua – 2:17.49
8. Piper Brien – 2:19.12
9. Zoe Deacon – 2:19.24
10. Isabella Boyd – DQ

Kaylee McKeown shaved over five seconds off her prelims time to take the 200 IM title with a personal-best 2:08.16, lowering her Australian All Comers record from 2021 by .03 seconds. McKeown’s previous best was a 2:08.19 from the 2021 Australian Trials. The 21-year-old was faster in tonight’s victory than she was during last year’s World Championships, where she earned silver in 2:08.57 behind Alex Walsh (2:07.13). McKeown now ranks as the second-fastest in the world this season behind Summer McIntosh (2:06.89).

Jenna Forrester also threw down a huge swim on her way to a runner-up finish in 2:09.32, which ranks fifth in the world this season. The 19-year-old dropped exactly a second off her lifetime best from last month’s NSW State Open Championships.

Ella Ramsay (2:12.39) reached the wall three seconds behind Ramsay and almost three seconds ahead of fourth-place finisher Kayla Hardy (2:15.16).

MEN’S 50 FLY – FINAL

• World Record: 22.27 – Andriy Govorov (2018)
• World Junior Record: 23.05 – Andrei Minakov (2020)
• Australian Record: 22.73 – Matt Targett (2009)
• Commonwealth Record: 22.73 – Matt Targett (2009)
• 2023 Worlds ‘A’ Cut: 23.53

Top 10:

1. Ben Armbruster – 23.05
2. Kyle Chalmers – 23.35
3. Cameron McEvoy – 23.68
4. Jack Carr – 23.94
5. Shaun Champion – 23.96
6. Matthew Temple – 24.04
7. Isaac Cooper – 24.09
8. Jesse Coleman – 24.11
9. Joseph Hamson – 24.25
10. Cody Simpson – 24.52

Not only did 20-year-old Ben Armbruster edge defending champion Kyle Chalmers by three-tenths of a second, but he also broke an Australian All Comers record from 2009 with his winning time of 23.08. Armbruster shaved .06 seconds off Geoff Huegill‘s mark of 23.11 from November of 2009, becoming the second-fastest Australian ever and the fastest in a textile suit. He also ranks third in the world rankings this season behind Luca Armbruster (23.02) and Jacob Peters (22.89).

Armbruster’s improvement over the past year has been impressive as he only placed fifth at last year’s Australian Championships with a 23.87.

With a 23.35, Chalmers was .14 seconds slower than his winning time from last year (23.21), which still would have placed second behind Armbruster tonight. Cameron McEvoy (23.68), Jack Carr (23.94), and Shaun Champion (23.96) rounded out the top five as the only other swimmers in the field sub-24 seconds.

WOMEN’S 100 FREE – FINAL

• World Record: Sarah Sjostrom – 51.71 (2017)
• World Junior Record: Penny Oleksiak – 52.70 (2016)
• Australian Record: Emma McKeon – 51.96 (2021)
• Commonwealth Record: Emma McKeon – 51.96 (2021)
• 2023 Worlds ‘A’ Cut: 54.25

Top 10:

1. Mollie O’Callaghan – 52.63
2. Shayna Jack – 52.64
3. Emma McKeon – 53.22
4. Meg Harris – 53.46
5. Madi Wilson – 53.78
6. Cate Campbell – 53.78
7. Brianna Throssell – 54.49
8. Kaylee McKeown – 54.54
9. Milla Jansen – 54.97
10. Alexandria Perkins – 55.44

After the top four qualifiers all finished under 54 seconds in prelims, the highly anticipated women’s 100 free final lived up to the hype as 19-year-old Mollie O’Callaghan (52.63) edged 24-year-old Shayna Jack (52.64) by just .01 seconds.

No one in the world had been sub-53 this season until Sunday, when Swedish star Sarah Sjostrom clocked a 52.99 at the Stockholm Open. Now O’Callaghan and Jack own the top two times in the world this season. 28-year-old Emma McKeon moved up to fifth in the world rankings with her 53.22.

Meg Harris (53.46), Madi Wilson (53.78), and Cate Campbell (53.78) also broke the 54-second barrier to round out the top six finishers. Kaylee McKeown posted a personal-best 54.54 on the back end of a tough 200 IM double to place eighth, marking her second lifetime best of the night just half an hour apart.

MEN’S 400 FREE – FINAL

• World Record: Paul Biedermann – 3:40.07 (2009)
• World Junior Record: Mack Horton – 3:44.60 (2014)
• Australian Record: Ian Thorpe – 3:40.08 (2002)
• Commonwealth Record: Ian Thorpe – 3:40.08 (2002)
• 2023 Worlds ‘A’ Cut: 3:48.15

Top 10:

1. Sam Short – 3:42.46
2. Elijah Winnington – 3:46.39
3. Tommy Neill – 3:49.28
4. Matthew Galea – 3:49.87
5. James Koch – 3:52.19
6. Joshua Staples – 3:52.43
7. Mack Horton – 3:52..48
8. Elliot Rogerson – 3:53.16
9. Nick Sloman – 3:55.98
10. Brendon Smith – 3:56.82

19-year-old Sam Short of Rackley ripped the fastest 400m free of his young career, taking the title tonight in a time of 3;42.46.

That beat out Olympian and reigning world champion Elijah Winnington, with Winnington settling for silver nearly 4 seconds behind in 3:46.39. Tommy Neill rounded out the top 3 in 3:49.28.

As for Short, entering this meet he’d been as quick as 3:44.34, a mark he put up at this same meet one year ago. But with tonight’s swim he dropped almost 2 solid seconds to enter entirely new territory. He’s now the 10th fastest performer in history worldwide and passes up icon Grant Hackett to become the 4th quickest Australian 400m freestyler in history.

Top 5 Australian Men’s LCM 400 Freestyle Performers

1. Ian Thorpe – 3:40.08, 2002
2. Elijah Winnington – 3:41.22, 2022
3. Mack Horton – 3:41.55, 2016
4. Sam Short – 3:42.46, 2023
5. Grant Hackett – 3:42.51, 2001

Short also now ranks #1 in the world this season.

WOMEN’S 50 BREAST FINALS

• World Record: 29.30 – Benedetta Pilato (2021)
• World Junior Record: 29.30 – Benedetta Pilato (2021)
• Australian Record: 30.15 – Chelsea Hodges (2022)
• Commonwealth Record: 29.72 – Lara van Niekerk (2022)
• 2023 Worlds ‘A’ Cut: 31.02

Top 10:

1. Jenna Strauch – 31.16
2. Mia O’Leary – 31.29
3. Talara-Jade Dixon – 31.53
4. Abbey Harkin – 31.60
5. Lauren Gastevich – 31.81
6. Maaike Vrij – 31.91
7. Matilda Smith – 32.36
8. Mikayla Smith – 32.39
9. Felicity Chan – 32.69

After the thrilling men’s 400m free final, the women’s 50m breast felt a little underwhelming, with no racer getting under the 31-second threshold.

Miami’s Jenna Strauch indeed got to the wall first, with the 26-year-old stopping the clock in a time of 31.16. That was enough to hold off Mia O’Leary who snagged silver in 31.29 while Talara-Jade Dixon also landed on the podium in 31.53.

Strauch, who took silver in the 200m breast at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, owns a lifetime best of 30.77 from the heats last year in Birmingham. She wound up clocking 30.85 to place 5th overall.

MEN’S 200 BACK – FINAL

• World Record: Aaron Peirsol – 1:51.92 (2009)
• World Junior Record: Kilment Kolesnikov – 1:55.14 (2017)
• Australian Record: Mitch Larkin – 1:53.17 (2015)
• Commonwealth Record: Mitch Larkin – 1:53.17 (2015)
• 2023 Worlds ‘A’ Cut: 1:58.07

Top 10:

1. Bradley Woodward – 1:57.42
2. Josh Edwards-Smith – 1:57.63
3. Ty Hartwell – 1:57.84
4. Se-Bom Lee – 1:59.64
5. Thomas Hauck – 1:59.70
6. Matthew Magnussen – 2:01.17
7. Marius Boll – 2:03.48
8. Alexander Foreman – 2:03.73
9. Callum Thomas – 2;06.30
10. Will Sharp – 2:07.20

In this men’s 200m backstroke. 24-year-old Bradley Woodward got it done for gold tonight in a duel with fellow Commonwealth Games finalist Josh Edwards-Smith. Ty Hartwell of Chandler was also right there in the mix with the trio producing the 3 1:57’s of the final.

Woodward got to the wall first in 1:57.63 followed by Edwards-Smith’s 1:57.63 while Hartwell bagged bronze tonight in 1:57.84.

As for Woodward, the veteran checks in with his fastest time of the season, while Edwards-Smith already put up a world-leading 1:55.42 at last December’s Queensland Championships. Hartwell’s time tonight represented just the 4th time he’s been under 1:58.

Woodward took silver in this event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, logging a time of 1:56.41 to fall just .01 shy of gold medalist Brodie Williams of Great Britain.

WOMEN’S 800 FREE – FINAL

• World Record: Katie Ledecky – 8:04.79 (2016)
• World Junior Record: Katie Ledecky – 8:11.00 (2014)
• Australian Record: Ariarne Titmus – 8:13.59 (2022)
• Commonwealth Record: Ariarne Titmus – 8:13.59 (2022)
• 2023 Worlds ‘A’ Cut: 8:37.90

Top 10:

1. Ariarne Titmus – 8:20.19
2. Lani Pallister – 8:24.72
3. Maddy Gough – 8:26.08
4. Kiah Melverton – 8:26.28
5. Chelsea Gubecka – 8:42.08
6. Tamsin Cook – 8:43.00
7. Georgie Roper – 8:43.62
8. Jamie Perkins – 8:43.84
9. Tiana Kritzinger – 8:43.89
10. Tayla Martin – 8:56.12

There were no major fireworks in this women’s 800m freestyle, just several world-class doing their thing as a preparation meet for World Trials in June.

Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus was the clear leader, touching in 8:20.19 with an over 4-second lead. Lani Pallister was next in 8:24.72 while Maddy Gough also landed on the podium in 8:26.08.

Titmus’ result here was just off the 8:19.33 she logged at last month’s New South Wales Championships to rank 3rd in the world this season. Pallister tonight was slightly quicker than the 8:25.07 she posted at that same competition.

Titmus owns the Australian national record with her lifetime best of 8:13.59 from last year’s Commonwealth Games. In fact, the entire Birmingham podium was in this race tonight, as Kiah Melverton took Commonwealth silver and Pallister the bronze last year. Melverton was the 4th place finisher this evening in 8:26.28.