Meg Harris Rips Lifetime Best In 200 Free At 2025 Queensland Championships

2025 QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Saturday, December 13th – Friday, December 19th
• Brisbane Aquatic Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results

On the heels of the unique Australia vs. The World competition, which concluded yesterday, the 2025 Queensland Championships kicked off today from the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.

That means we’re set to see a host of international talent continue to race down under, with this meet’s entries including Great Britain’s Duncan Scott and Angharad Evans, Korea’s Kim Woomin, Hwang Sunwoo and Lee Juho, New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt, the Netherlands’ Milou van Wijk and Nyls Korstanje, just to name a few.

Making her presence known right off the bat was Olympic champion Meg Harris.

The 23-year-old Rackley star busted out a time of 1:55.97 to reap gold in the women’s 200m freestyle, establishing a new lifetime best in the process.

The 5-time Olympic medalist split 26.45/29.23 (55.68)/29.90/30.39 to establish the best time of her young career.

Entering these championships, Harris’ personal best rested at the 1:56.29 notched at the 2021 Olympic Trials. That means she dipped under the 1:56-barrier for her first time ever, checking in as Australia’s 12th-best performer in history.

St. Peters Western dynamo Lani Pallister was next to the wall tonight in 1:56.87, about 2 seconds off her PB of 1:54.77 from this year’s World Championships.

19-year-old Hannah Allen rounded out the podium in 1:57.99, a personal best by just under 2 seconds.

Harris’ effort inserts her into slot #3 in the season’s world rankings.

Of note, Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan raced in the morning heats, grabbing the top seed in 1:57.77 before dropping out of the final.

National record holder Pallister also dove in for the final of the women’s 800m freestyle.

She struck gold in an outing of 8:18.31 to defeat the pack by over 10 seconds.

Open water Olympic medalist Moesha Johnson was the next-closest competitor, finishing in 8:29.16, and Brazil’s Maria Fernanda Costa also made the podium in 8:31.82.

Pallister now ranks #1 in the world, dethroning China’s freestyle ace Li Bingjie.

The men’s edition of the 200m freestyle saw 20-year-old Edward Sommerville of Brisbane Grammar beat out the 2020 Olympic silver medalist Duncan Scott of Great Britain.

Somerville stopped the clock at 1:45.38 to beat Scott by nearly a second, with the visitor securing silver in 1:46.26.

Sam Short put up a time of 1:46.46, good enough for bronze.

Sommerville’s performance was a hair off the time of 1:45.34 he registered for gold at last month’s Japan Open.

He owns a lifetime best of 1:44.93 in this event, a time he logged at the World Championship Trials to become Australia’s 4th-best performer in history. There in Singapore, he placed 17th in 1:46.72 but landed on the podium with a bronze in the men’s 4x200m free relay.

Maximillian Giuliani won the B-final in 1:47.28 and 2020 Olympic champion Tom Dean of Great Britain was behind him in 1:47.98.

30-year-old veteran Lee Juho put his nation on the board, courtesy of his winning time of 53.71 in the men’s 100m backstroke.

The Olympian managed to hold off 17-year-old Henry Allan of Bendigo East, with the teen finishing in 53.72 to claim the silver medal.

Enoch Robb also landed on the podium in 55.07 for bronze

Lee’s national record checks in at the 53.32 he produced in March of 2022 and he’s already been as quick as the 53.67 he turned in at the Korean National Team Trials to rank 4th in the world at the moment.

As for rising star Allan, his time this evening represents a new personal best, shaving .01 off the 53.73 he put up at this year’s Aussie Age Championships. He remains Australia’s 9th-fastest men’s 100m backstroke performer in history.

Korea also collected two medals in the men’s 1500m freestyle final, courtesy of teammates Kim Junwoo and Olympic medalist Kim Woomin.

The former, just 18 years of age, stopped the clock at a swift 14:58.68 as the only swimmer of the field to clear the 15-second barrier.

That’s a new personal best for the teen, overtaking his former career-swiftest outing of 15:01.94 from when he took silver in this event at the 2023 World Junior Championships.

He remains Korea’s #3 performer in history and holds that same slot in the season’s world rankings.

Woomin turned in a time of 15:19.04 as runner-up, although he’s already been as speedy as 15:03.43 this season from the Korean National Team Trials in November.

Benjamin Goedemans rounded out the odium in 15:19.58, just ahead of Olympian Elijah Winnington whose time of 15:20.14 rendered him the 4th-place finisher.

Additional Notes

• The women’s 200m breaststroke was on the subdued side, with the top performer represented by 21-year-old Griffith University athlete Ella Ramsay. Ramsay produced a result of 2:24.63 to hold a healthy advantage over Matilda Smith of Miami who was next to the wall in 2:25.64. British national record holder Angharad Evans secured bronze in 2:26.19.
• The men’s edition of the 200m breaststroke was also on the quiet side, with Olympic champion and former World Record holder Zac Stubblety-Cook checking in as the sole swimmer to delve under 2:12. ZSC touched in 2:09.37 for the gold, with 22-year-old Bailey Lello earning silver well behind in 2:12.32. Nudgee College athlete Finlay Schuster hit 2:12.41 for the bronze.
• The women’s 100m backstroke final as void of anyone dipping under the 1:00 threshold. GBR’s Lauren Cox, the 2025 European Short Course champion in this event, took gold in 1:00.25 in a narrow lead over 20-year-old World Championships multi-medalist Iona Anderson. Anderson put up 1:00.50 for runner-up honors and 18-year-old Jaclyn Barclay registered 1:00.72 for the bronze medal.