Chalmers Enters 100 Fly World Rankings, Wilson Rocks 2:08 2Breast

2019 NSW STATE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

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

After capturing the gold already here at SOPAC in the men’s 100m and 200m free, Oylmpc champion Kyle Chalmers wrapped up his 3rd prize by taking the 100m fly title at these NSW State Open Championships. Chalmers already impressed with the world’s first sub-48 second 100m free of 2019 with his time of 47.89 and then the 20-year-old Marion swimmer followed up with a solid 1:47.45 200m effort.

Tonight, Chalmers took on a slightly more ‘off’ event of the 100 fly, where he registered a winning mark of 52.61 to top the field. His mark enters the world rankings at #22 for this season.

Behind Chalmers was 19-year-old Nunawading athlete Matthew Temple who touched in 52.87, while TSS Aquatics’ Commonwealth Games bronze medalist in the 200m fly, David Morgan, rounded out the top 3 in 53.10.

For the women’s 200m fly tonight it was Commonwealth Games silver medalist in the event, Laura Taylor, who powered her way to the top the podium. Winning by almost 1 1/2 seconds, Taylor represented the only swimmer to clock a sub-2:10 mark in 2:09.42, a strong outing, but off her winning effort of 2:08.11.

However, with the Aussie National Championships next month, Taylor’s effort is indeed very promising and places her among the top 5 performers in the world thus far this season.

27-year-old Leiston Pickett downed a NSW State Record from way back in 2009, as she took the 50m breaststroke tonight in 31.16. That overwrote the previous NSW standard set by Samantha Marshall of 31.60 from the supersuit era.

Matthew Wilson, winner of the 100m breast and 200m IM last night, threw down a big-time mark of 2:08.56 to absolutely manhandle the men’s 200m breaststroke this evening. Obliterating his winning time of 2:11.57 from last year, Wilson split 1:01.53/1:06.93 to beat out his mark of 2:08.64 produced on the Gold Coast last year to take bronze at the Commonwealth Games.

Wilson’s effort inserts the 20-year-old SOSC swimmer into the world rankings in the 3rd slot, resting only behind Pan Pacs champion Yasuhiro Koseki of Japan and his world record-holding teammate Ippei Watanabe.

Marion swimmer Madi Wilson surprised the field by taking the 200m free title tonight over Olympic bronze medalist in the event, Emma McKeon. Continuing to make strides in freestyle over her past dominant stroke of backstroke, Wilson touched the wall in 1:58.18 to beat McKeon by .15.

McKeon settled for silver in 1:58.33, but holds the National Record in 1:54.83, so she’s no doubt saving her power for next month. Her season-best entering this meet was the 1:58.73 registered at the Queensland Championships last December, while Wilson’s effort logs a new season-best effort for the Marion swimmer.

Another Commonwealth Games medalist in Lewis Clareburt of New Zealand got on the board, taking the 400m IM in a mark of 4:17.79. He took bronze on the Gold Coast last year in a then-personal best of 4:14.42, which the 18-year-old then dropped to 4:14.27 to take 5th in the final at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships.

Clareburt was already ranked 11th in the world this season with the 4:18.72 he produced at last year’s Queensland Championships, but his outing this evening bumps the teen up to #9 for the moment.

Teenager Kaylee McKeown enter’s the list of the world’s elite, punching a new 200m IM NSW State Record mark of 2:11.50. That registers as the 5th fastest effort on the globe this year and beat out the previous NSW standard of 2:13.28 set by Meg Bailey last year.

Additional Winners:

• Veteran racer James Roberts topped Cameron McEvoy in the men’s 50m freestyle, as the Somerset athlete touched in 22.54 to McEvoy’s 22.59.
• 31-year-old Holly Barratt held off the women’s 50m backstroke field, topping the podium in 28.39, but Wilson was right there in 28.56.
• Ravenswood’s William Yang snagged up yet another win here at NSWs, as the Bobby Hurley-trained swimmer rocked a time of 54.84 to top the men’s 100m back podium.
• Malaysia’s Wilson Sim registered a winning mark of 15:29.76 to win the men’s 1500m freestyle.
• The women’s 1500m free saw Kiah Melverton produce the fastest mark in 16:27.15 for the victory.