Sam Williamson Holds Off Teenage Prodigy Shin Ohashi To Wrap Up Sydney Open

2026 SYDNEY OPEN & UNISPORT NATIONALS

• Friday, May 15th – Sunday, May 17th
• Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Meet Central
• Start List
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Live Results

We entered the final day of the 2026 Sydney Open and Unisport Nationals, taking place at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, with the three-day affair offering a prime racing opportunity for domestic swimmers to tune up ahead of next month’s Commonwealth Games Trials.

There is a strong Japanese contingent racing at the meet as well, giving them a chance to take on some foreign competition as preparation for this year’s prestigious Asian Games.

24-year-old Ben Armbruster of Bond made it happen in the men’s 100m butterfly, reaping gold in a solid effort of 51.73.

That marked the sole time of the field to dip beneath the 52-second barrier, as Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto was next to the wall in 52.30, followed by Shoon Mitsunaga, who hit 52.42. Yesterday’s 200m free winner Tatsuya Murasa settled for 4th place in 52.49.

As for Armbruster, his lifetime best remains at the 50.91 he put up at last year’s U.S. Summer Championships, although tonight’s performance checks in as his 8th-quickest.

After missing last year’s championship season with an injury, world champion Sam Williamson is continuing his comeback campaign.

28-year-old Williamson tried the 50m breast on for size, where he found success in a time of 27.00.

That held off 17-year-old prodigy, World Junior record holder Shin Ohashi, who nabbed silver in 27.36.

29-year-old Somerville House Aquatics ace Grayson Bell bagged the bronze in 27.67.

Williamson owns the Australian national record and Oceanian record in the 50m breast, courtesy of the 26.32 he established at the 2024 World Championships.

Olympian Flynn Southam proved too quick to catch in the men’s 50m free, although no competitor cleared the 22-second barrier en route to the medals.

20-year-old Southam registered 22.20 to get his hand on the wall just a hair ahead of Ollie Moclair, who touched in 22.24.

Shuya Matsumoto of Japan, the nation’s record holder in 21.64 from last summer, notched 22.38 for the bronze medal.

Olympic silver medalist Tomoyuki Matsushita put up a solid in-season performance of 4:10.51 to lead a 1-2 Japanese punch in the men’s 400m IM.

20-year-old Matsushita stopped the clock at 4:10.51 to finish just over a second ahead of countryman Asaki Nishikawa, who logged 4:11.57 as the runner-up.

21-year-old William Petric of Nunawading produced an effort of 4:12.45 to also land on the podium.

Matsushita currently ranks as the #1 swimmer in the world in this event after he ripped a monster 4:06.93 at the Japan Swim in March. Last November at the Japan Open, Nishikawa rocked a time of 4:07.67 to rank as the 3rd-best swimmer in the world at the moment.

Petric’s season-best checks in at the 4:10.20 he posted at last month’s Australian Open to rank as Australia’s 3rd-swiftest 400m IM swimmer of all time.

Additional winners included Hannah Casey, hitting a time of 1:59.00 as the sole women’s 200m freestyler under 2:00, as Poppy Stephen won the women’s 200m fly in 2:10.69, just off her lifetime best of 2:10.20 from earlier this year.

World Championships silver medalist Mio Narita clocked a mark of 2:11.94 as the decisive victor in the women’s 200m IM event.