2019 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATE LONG COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Saturday, January 19th – Thursday, January 24th (day 1 junior relays only)
- SA Aquatic & Leisure Center
- Prelims at 9am local/Finals at 5pm local
- LCM
- Meet Site
- Entry List
The 2019 South Australian State Long Course Championships kick off this weekend, representing one of three flagship events on the Swimming SA calendar. Held at the SA Aquatic & Leiesure Center, home pool of 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers, the 6-day affair begins with its first-ever Junior Dolphin Carnival & Junior Participation Event and Relay Championships.
Chalmers headlines the elite squad from Marion, with the 20-year-old taking on an array of events spanning his usual sprint freestyle, along with the 200m IM, 100m back, 200m fly and 400m/800m free, if he winds up keeping all of his entries.
His teammate/girlfriend Madi Wilson is also entered in the competition, continuing her trend of veering away from the backstroke discipline that placed her in an Olympic final back in Rio. Instead, Wilson is expected to contest the 50m/100m/200m free, while also taking on several relays.
Olympians Travis Mahoney and Brittany Elmslie, both of whom had a very quiet 2018, are ready to get this year started off on the right foot, along with Marion squadmate Josh Palmer.
Joining the South Australians this weekend is a stacked Japanese contingency, led by national record holder Katsumi Nakamura. The sprinter will go head-to-head with Chalmers in the 50m and 100m freestyle races, while Naito Ehara and Kosuke Matsui will also be in the mix across several events.
Backstroker Masaki Kaneko and freestyler Rika Omoto are also scheduled to take on the Australians at these championships.
It’s smart for Wilson to favor the sprint frees over backstroke. Her best shot at Tokyo is the 800 free relay which could be quite formidable by then with Titmus, McKeon, and the emergence of swimmers like Lani Pallister. Would you rather possibly swim an Olympic final with no chance of even sniffing the podium, or put yourself in a position to win a relay medal?