Chalmers Completes Freestyle Domination At Aussie SC Championships

2022 AUSTRALIAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The final night of competition at these 2022 Australian Short Course Championships did not disappoint, with Emma McKeon, Lani Pallister and Kyle Chalmers among the racers at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center.

28-year-old McKeon, the most decorated Australian Commonwealth Games athlete, scored a winning time of 23.61 in the women’s 50m free. That gave her the title over Meg Harris who touched just .23 behind in 23.84, while Marion teammate Madi Wilson rounded out the top 3 in 23.99.

For the men’s splash n’ dash, 24-year-old Kyle Chalmers sealed the deal in a time of 21.06, beating out visiting swimmer Justin Ress of the United States who touched in 21.29 for silver.

Chalmers owns the Australian national record in this SCM 50 free by way of the 20.68 he logged in Kazan during last year’s FINA World Cup Series.

American Grant House got it done for gold in the men’s 100m IM event, registering a mark of 51.73 to grab the victory. House, who trains under Michael Phelps’ former coach Bob Bowman, just became the 5th fastest American man ever in this event.

Top 5 All-Time U.S. Performers in Men’s SCM 100 IM

  1. Caeleb Dressel, 49.28 – 2020
  2. Ryan Lochte, 50.71 – 2012
  3. Michael Andrew, 51.16 – 2018
  4. Michael Phelps, 51.65 – 2011
  5. Grant House, 51.73 – 2022

Also making noise tonight was host nation freestyle ace Lani Pallister. She added another national record to her resume, producing a time of 8:07.37 to earn the gold in the women’s 800m free, adding this record to the 1500m national standard she scorched earlier in the meet.

American David Johnston also produced a super strong performeranc in the men’s 1500m free, becoming the nation’s 2nd fastest man ever in 14:22.77.

Look for additional posts on both Pallister’s and Johnston’s performances.

Additional Winners:

  • Miami’s Jenna Strauch was too tough to eat in the women’s 200m breast, getting to the wall in 2:21.57 for gold. Touching just .4 behind was teammate Mikayla Smith who snagged silver in 2:21.97,
  • Sam Williamson demonstrated his breaststroking prowess once again, taking the men’s 2breast in  2:07.11.
  • American Beata Nelson reaped another gold at these championships, clocking a time of 58.14 to dominate the women’s 100m IM in the only sub-1:00 time of the field.

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Sub13
2 years ago

Kyle’s not typically known as an SCM swimmer or a 50 swimmer but he did have the third fastest SCM 50 Free last year, fastest 100 free (WR) and second fastest 200. Interesting to see how he goes at worlds! Especially now he’s skipped the fly events.

Jackman
2 years ago

Jenna Strauch – too tough to eat.
Should try a marinade or slow cook

oxyswim
2 years ago

Grant actually trains exclusively in Herbie’s group at ASU. Used to train with Bob, but they made the switch last year.

Mike
2 years ago

McEvoy swam 21.4 not bad for being 11 months away from the sport

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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