Armbruster & Groves Among Returnees At 2023 QLD SC Championships

2023 QUEENSLAND SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Friday, August 11th – Sunday, August 13th
• Brisbane Aquatic Center
• SCM (25m)
• Results

The 2023 Queensland Short Course Championships concluded over the weekend with several notable swimmers diving back into the water after some time away.

We reported how Olympic medalist Chelsea Hodges made her post-surgery debut, winning both the women’s 50m and 100m breaststroke events at the Brisbane Aquatic Center.

• Aussie Chelse Hodges Makes Post-Surgery Return at QLD SC Championships

Olympic medalist Mitch Larkin was another Olympian who raced over the weekend after the 30-year-old Chandler ace opted out of this year’s Australian World Championships Trials.

In Queensland, Larkin took on the 100m and 200m backstroke events, posting gold medal-worthy results of 52.37 and 1:56.16, respectively.

Larkin owns a lifetime best of 49.03 in the 100m distance and 1:45.63 in the 200m distance with both times having been achieved in 2015. That was the same year Larkin became the long course world champion in both events.

All Comers Record holder Ben Armbruster was yet another returnee who competed at these short course championships.

The 21-year-old Bond University speedster is coming back after having taken care of a rib injury that sidelined him from the Aussie World Trials.

Armbruster won the men’s 50m fly here in 23.24 and collected a trio of silver medals. He clocked a time of 22.06 in the 50m free, 52.07 in the 100m fly and 23.83 in the 50m back in his post-rehabilitation appearance.

Finally, 2016 Olympic medalist Maddie Groves took to the Brisbane Aquatic Center for her first competition in nearly two years.

According to the Swimming Australia results database, the last time 28-year-old Groves raced was at the 2021 Sydney Open and Uni Nationals.

This weekend Groves posted a time of 27.00 in the 50m fly and 25.69 in the 50m free to place 3rd and 2nd, respectively.

Additional Notes:

• Olympian David Morgan logged a time of 21.92 to take the men’s 50m free ahead of the aforementioned Armbruster. 29-year-old Morgan also topped the men’s 100m fly podium in a time of 51.81. He owns the QLD All Coomers Record with his 49.52 performance from 2016.
• 21-year-old Southport Kayla Costa won the women’s 50m free, clocking a time of 25.31 ahead of Groves.
• Hannah Casey did damage across multiple events, including the girls’ 17-year-old 50m free. Casey of MCA hit a time of 25.67 to come within .02 of Emily Seebohm’s Queensland All Comers Record put on the books in 2009. The women’s 100m free for 17-year-olds also saw Casey get it done for gold, earning the top spot in a time of 54.73. Casey also reaped silver in the 200m free, posting 2:00.23 behind winner Amelia Weber of St. Peters Western who claimed gold in 1:58.88.
• A Queensland state record and All Comers Record bit the dust at the hands of Griffith’s Hayley Mackinder. The 16-year-old took her age group’s 100m breaststroke in a result of 1:07.33. That obliterated the state record of 1:07.66 Aisling Scott performed in 2009 as well as the QLD All Comers Record of 1:08.62 held by Sophie Martin since last year.
• 18-year-old Ed Somerville of Brisbane Grammar put up a time of 1:44.10 to win his age group’s 200m freestyle event.
• The men’s 50m back saw its QLD All Comers Record go down at the hands of Mark Nikolaev. The Somerset athlete stopped the clock at 23.32, slicing .22 off of Larkin’s time of 23.54 which stood as the record since 2016.