Sprenger & Seebohm Break Aussie All-Comers Records; Magnussen Sub-48 on Day 3 of Aus. Trials

Day 3 of the 2014 Australian National Championships, doubling as trials for the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pac Championships as well as other youth-centered meets, put several more swimmers onto this summer’s major teams. However, this session was also bigger than that, as a pair of Australian All-Comers (aka, the fastest times ever on Australian soil) went down, as the Aussies continue to look to reassert their international swimming stature.

All the links you need to follow the meet, including links to live results, can be found here.

Men’s 200 Fly – FINALS

Just as we say how good of a session it was, things did not start off all that well. 23-year old Grant Irvine won his second-straight title in the 200 fly with a 1:56.23, but that left him much slower than his win last year, and also just shy of the SAL “A” time.

Fortunately, the qualifying standards might give him a reprieve. If Australia still has room left on the 26-man roster, Irvine’s “B” time will be called up for the Commonwealth Games, where he’d have to drop .13 seconds to also earn a swim at Pan Pacs.

In the background, 18-year old Mitchell Pratt had a stellar first 150 meters, and took the lead into the last turn, but the slowest final 50 of the entire A-Final left him in 2nd in 1:57.00. Daniel Tranter had almost the opposite swim, saving maybe a bit too much, and his closing 29.69 couldn’t make up enough ground to leave him higher than 3rd (1:57.48). Tranter’s swim didn’t hit the “B” time standard.

Women’s 50 Free – FINALS

Australia’s Cate Campbell already had the world’s top-ranked time coming into this meet, and she’s reaffirmed that status this week by going faster than her previous season-best three times, with a 24.23 in prelims, a 24.13 in the semi’s, and now a 24.18 in finals of the women’s 50 free.

With virtually nobody in the Pan Pacific region or in the Commonwealth of Nations who can contend with that this summer (Simone Manuel, perhaps, will be her best competition), she will be a heavy favorite to pick up big hardware at the summer’s big events.

The Australians as a nation could do very well in these women’s sprint free events; as shown above, they now have three of the four fastest in the world this year. Cate’s younger sister, 19-year old Bronte Campbell, was a 24.58 for 2nd, and Mel Schlanger added time from the semis, but was still good enough for 3rd in 24.82.

That time for the 27-year old Schlanger will ensure her of spots on both the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs teams, which is huge for her after missing most of the 2013 season, including Worlds, while battling a rib injury.

Emma McKeon, who already has multiple swims locked up for the summer, was 4th in 25.00, followed by Brittany Elmslie (25.05), Holly Barratt (25.29), Yolane Kukla (25.39), and the talented 15-year old Shayna Jack (25.51).

Women’s 200 Breast – FINALS

19-year old Taylor McKeown has been teetering on the brink of stardom for a couple of years (she was near world class as young as 16 in 2012), and it seems as though she has finally broken through into the spotlight..

The Indooroopilly swimmer was a 2:22.10, almost three-seconds better than she was last year, to win the women’s 200 breaststroke in runaway fashion.

Although the world has gotten exceedingly fast in this event in the last three years, McKeown will likely only have to face that world with any significance when the Pan Pacs come around with the American and Japanese breaststrokers. If Australia’s coaches are smart, they’ll encourage her to save her biggest taper for that meet in the later part of the summer.

The defending champion Sally Foster took 2nd in 2:24.91, which also puts her in the world’s top 10 this year, and Tessa Wallace placed 3rd in 2:25.29.

Only McKeown’s time was under the SAL A standard, though, and it’s a bit scary to think that a time as good as a 2:24.9 might not earn Foster a roster position at Pan Pacs if not improved at the CG’s (2:24.68 is the standard).

16-year old Georgia Bohl, daughter of famed coach Michael Bohl, took 4th in 2:28.18 – which improves her lifetime best by about six-tenths of a second.

Women’s 100 Back – FINALS

After two-straight years of placing 2nd to Missy Franklin in the 100 backstroke, Emily Seebohm swam the fastest “trials” time of her career on Thursday, seemingly bent upon upending her American competitor this summer. Seebohm placed a 58.92 on the board int he 100 backstroke final, which breaks her own All-Comers Record of 59.17 done at last year’s Nationals.

Of course, last year’s World Championships didn’t really see the same level of times from Seebohm as we did the year before in London. That means that there’s no guarantees that being faster here means being faster this summer; however if Franklin and Pan Pacs are her true target, then she will have a long time to line things out and avoid another miss.

Joining her in Glasgow and the Gold Coast will be Belinda Hocking of Nunawading, who swam a 59.83, and Meagen Nay of St. Peter’s Western, who swam a 59.90. Neither was able to come close to Seebohm’s early speed, and yet neither could match her closing pace either.

Nay’s training partner, 19-year old Madison Wilson, was 4th in 1:00.61, and Hayley Baker from Melbourne Vicente was 5th in 1:01.66.

Men’s 100 Breast – FINALS

While earlier in the meet, we discussed that Christian Sprenger was getting back into the 200 breaststroke with great success this year, which hasn’t cost him anything in this 100 of which he was the 2012 Olympic Champion. After a mediocre semi-final swim, Sprenger put in a 58.87 in finals to break his own All-Comers record of 59.05 that he swam last year.

So sharp was Sprenger in this swim that he turned in 27.35 – which on its own would be a world leader in the 50 meter event. He’ll swim that event final on Saturday, with his two primary qualifications out of the way, so expect him to rip off an impressive time there.

His load could be pretty big at the CG’s and Pan Pacs. With his former running mate Brenton Rickard retired, Sprenger is swimming alone in the breaststroke pool and will be Australia’s only option for the medley relays this summer (unless they give 200 man Daniel Tranter a go in a fairly meaningless prelims swim).

The runner-up here, Jake Packard, didn’t clear the SAL “B” time with his 1:01.38, though it was a new lifetime best for the 19-year old. Buster Sykes was 3rd in 1:01.73, and Tommy Sucipto took 4th in 1:01.97. The 2nd-4th ranked guys are all 19 or 20 years old, though, so with Sprenger already at 28 years old, it looks at least as though the next generation is beginning to come up from behind to fill that hole after Sprenger’s retirement.

Men’s 800 Free – TIMED FINALS

David McKeon, already a 400 champion at the meet, was not about to let the non-qualifying nature of the event stop him from putting up a very good time. His 7:54.29 ran away from the field by 8 seconds, and beat the time with which Jarrod Poort won last year by 12 seconds.

Poort, like many other potential contenders in the 800, sat the race out: hoping to save their luck for Sunday’s 1500 freestyle qualifier. 19-year old Nudgee Brothers swimmer Jack McLoughlin took 2nd in 8:02.27.

Qualifying Status After Thursday

Note: we have pared down the definitions of these selection criteria to what will realistically happen at the meet. To read full selection criteria, click here. Note that at the Commonwealth Games, the winners of the 100 strokes and the 1-2-3-4 finishers of the 100 and 200 freestyles, not already qualified, take the same priority. For Pan Pacs, the freestylers have a higher priority. All will likely be taken with rosters of 26 men and 26 women available.

We’re about halfway through these Australian Championships, and the rosters are not filling up fast, even with the potential of three qualifiers per event. That means that thus far, there’s still much hope for the swimmers with “B” standards of getting their shot at the Commonwealth Games at least this summer.

Priority 1: “SAL A Times”

women
Emma McKeon (200 free, 100 fly, 800 free relay)
Bronte Barratt (200 free, 800 free relay)
Ellen Gandy (100 fly)
Alicia Coutts (100 fly, 400 medley relay)
Cate Campbell (50 free)
Bronte Campbell (50 free)
Melanie Schlanger (50 free)
Taylor McKeown (200 breast)
Emily Seebohm (100 back, 400 medley relay)
Belinda Hocking (100 back)
Meagen Nay (100 back)

men
David McKeon (200 free, 400 free, 800 free relay)
Mack Horton (400 free)
Jordan Harrison (400 free)
Christian Sprenger (100 breast, 200 breast, 400 medley relay)
Cameron McEvoy (200 free, 800 free relay)
Thomas Fraser-Holmes (200 free, 400 IM, 800 free relay)
Mitch Larkin (100 back, 400 medley relay)
Ben Treffers (100 back)

Priority 2: Relay Swimmers

women
Brittany Elmslie (200 free – for relay)
Meagen Nay (200 free – for relay)

men
Ned McKendry (200 free – for relay)

Priority 3: Top 3 Under “B” standard (Commonwealth Games only, if the roster has room, unless they are to go under the SAL “A” standard there, which earns them a swim at Pan Pacs).

women
Keryn McMaster (400 IM)
Ellen Gandy (400 IM)
Jessica Penngellly (400 IM)
Meagen Nay (200 free – individual at CWG, with opportunity to qualify for PP)
Sally Foster (200 breast)
Tessa Wallace (200 breast)

men
Daniel Tranter (200 breast)
Josh Beaver (100 back))
Travis Mahoney (400 IM)
Jared Gilliland (400 IM)
Grant Irvine (200 Fly)
Mitchell Pratt (200 Fly)

Semi-Finals & Relays

• Ben Treffers topped the 50 back semis in 24.82, but defending champion Daniel Arnamnart (25.32) seems to be still saving his best for Friday’s finals.
• Marieke D’Cruz (nee Guehrer) is the top seed in the women’s 50 fly with a 26.38, ahead of Perth City teenager Brianna Throssell (26.72). Alicia Coutts, winner of the 100 fly, sits tied for 3rd with Brittany Elmslie in 26.74. Ellen Gandy scratched this race after prelims.
• In the only Olympic semifinal of the day, James Magnussen recorded yet another sub-48 second 100 freestyle, with a 47.83 for the top seed. Cameron McEvoy sits 2nd in 48.14, and the rest of the field fell pretty far back. Tommasso D’Orsogna and Kenneth To are tied for 3rd in 49.03.
• The Miami Swimming Club won the 800 free relay in 7:13.03, which is a new Australian “Club relay” record. The splits included a 1:46.82 anchor from Thomas Fraser-Holmes and a 1:47.10 from one of the ‘darlings’ of this meet, Daniel Smith, who is a self-confessed recovering drug addict.
• TSS Aquatics won the women’s 800 free relay in 8:14.60. Nobody broke 2:02 in the entire field.

Multi-Class, Para-Swimming Finals

In the multi-class Para-Swimming finals, athletes are compared to the world record for the category in that event and assigned a score that determines the winner, so it’s important to keep in mind that the fastest time is not always the most impressive. A score of 1000 relates to equaling a World Record.

• S14 swimmer Daniel Fox put up another very good swim with a World-Record breaking 1:57.68 int he men’s 200 freestyle. Racing in front of his native Brisbane fan base, Fox’s swim won the Para Sport final, which are the Commonwealth Games qualifying finals. 18-year old Mitchell Kilduff was a lifetime best of 2:00.60, and Joshua Alford was also a best time of 2:02.72, to lock up spots at the Commonwealth Games.
• 15-year old Lake Patterson scared the World Record in the women’s 50 breast, with a 39.30 to win the women’s multi-class 50 breaststroke (980 points). She’s a relative newcomer to the Australian Para-swimming scene and is already making big waves. The top four in the race are all teenagers, including Taylor Corry from Nelson Bay, with a 969-point 32.26, and Maddison Elliott with a 964-point 37.51 for 3rd. Jacquie Freney continues to be a bit off at this meet, going only a 40.90 for 870 points and 5th place.
• Timothy Disken of PLC Aquatic won the men’s 50 breaststroke with a 916 point 30.68.
• In the men’s 400 free finals, Brenden Hall from Lawnton and Rowan Crothers from Yeronga Park battled back-and-forth. Hall is an established star of Australian para-swimming, and Crothers has been arguably the star of this meet. The two fought back-and-forth, both out of the S9 classification making this a true winner-take-all final, but in the last 50 Hall has just a little more to give. He wound up winning in 4:11.24 to Crothers’ 4:12.31. Hall was a little faster last year as the World Champion in this event, and the two swimmers now fly easily to the top of the world rankings in 2014.