arena Swim of the Week: 17-Year-Old Iona Anderson Hits 57.16 100 Back (SCM) In Australia

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Australia has forged a strong legacy in women’s backstroke over the last decade, including Emily Seebohm and Kaylee McKeown having combined to win four of the last five long course world titles in the 200-meter event.

McKeown is also the reigning Olympic champion, long course world champion and short course world champion, while another Aussie, Minna Atherton, has been the SCM world record holder since 2019.

And now, potentially the next great Australian female backstroker has emerged in Iona Anderson.

Anderson, 17, set numerous records at the 2023 Hancock Prospecting Western Australia SC Championships last weekend in Perth, a competition that marks the conclusion of the Australian short course season.

Anderson’s top performance came in the 100 back, where she rocketed to a time of 57.16, breaking the Western Australian Record of 57.53 previously held by Holly Barratt (2017) along with the Western Australian All Comers Record (done on WA soil) of 57.52 set by Melbourne native Grace Loh (2012).

Anderson, who has been referred to as “WA’s Backstroke Queen” in local circles, also came within a tenth of Atherton’s Australian Age Record for 17 years of 57.07, set in 2017, and moves into eighth in the event all-time in Australia.

Split Comparison

All-Time Australian Performers, Women’s 100 Backstroke (SCM)

1. Minna Atherton, 54.89 – 2019 WR
2. Emily Seebohm, 55.31 – 2014
3. Kaylee McKeown, 55.49 – 2022
4. Mollie O’Callaghan, 55.62 – 2022
5. Madison Wilson, 56.37 – 2014
6. Marieke Guehrer, 56.97 – 2009
7. Rachel Goh, 56.99 – 2011
8. Iona Anderson, 57.16 – 2023
9. Grace Loh, 57.34 – 2012
10. Belinda Hocking, 57.38 – 2013

Anderson’s previous best time (that we can find on record) was 59.23, set at the same meet in 2021, as she missed last year’s edition to represent Australia at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii.

She continued her impressive run later in last week’s meet, winning the 200 back in a lifetime best of 2:06.37, breaking her own WA All-Time Record of 2:07.61 set in 2021 along with the 17-year-old Age Record of 2:07.66 set by Samantha Wilkins in 2011 (notably the record is slower than the 15-year-old record, where Anderson’s 2:07.61 ranks fourth, with Atherton #1 at 2:04.37).

Anderson competes for the Breakers Swim Club, based in Hillary, WA., and led by coach Harry Clark.

At the Australian World Championship Trials (LCM) in June, Anderson was third in the women’s 100 backstroke behind McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan, clocking 1:00.05 for a new personal best time. She also set new PBs en route to taking second in the 50 back (28.03) and sixth in the 200 back (2:14.74), having clocked 2:12.76 in the heats.

At last summer’s Junior Pan Pacs, Anderson won silver individually in the 100 back and added a bronze medal on the Aussie girls’ 400 medley relay.

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