Kaylee McKeown Takes 200 IM/200 Back Double Gold In Queensland

2019 QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Saturday, December 14th – Friday, December 20th
• 12/14 – relays only; 12/18 – 12/20 age-groupers
• Brisbane Aquatic Center
• LCM
• Meet Site/Entry List
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 (Relays) Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap
• Live Results

The 2019 Queensland Championships rolled on today in Brisbane, with more quick swimming being thrown down by up-and-comers and veterans alike.

World Championships silver medalist in the 200m backstroke, Kaylee McKeown, made 2 appearances this evening, wrapping up gold across her specialty event as well as the 200m IM.

In the 200m back, the 18-year-old USC Spartan put up a slid time of 2:07.53 to represent the only swimmer of the field to dip under the 2:10 threshold. She took runner-up behind newly-minted World Record Regan Smith of the United States in Gwangju this summer in a time of 2:06.26, so tonight’s performance was just over a second off that mark.

In the 200m IM, McKeown produced the 2nd fastest time of her career, hitting the wall in a result of 2:11.02 to reap the top prize over visiting South Korean Olympian Kim Seoyeong.

McKeown edged out Seoyeong by about half a second, with the latter touching in 2:11.54 for the silver. McKeown’s personal best is the 2:09.94 she logged back in June at the Australian World Championships Trials, a time that represented her first outing ever under 2:10 in the event.

The men’s 200m IM race saw World Championships bronze medalist Lewis Clareburt of New Zealand get to the wall ahead of the competition, logging the only sub-2:00 time of the field. Clareburt notched 1:59.98 tonight after taking the top spot of the morning in 2:01.29.

Clareburt’s time falls just outside the Kiwi national record of 1:59.24 held by Bradlee Ashby since the 2017 World Championships.

Japanese maestro Yui Ohashi followed up her 4:32 400m IM stunner from earlier in the meet with a decisive win in the 200m fly this evening. Touching the wall in a time of 2:08.06, the 24-year-old won by well over a second, although a strong performance was put up by runner-up Elizabeth Dekkers.

Dekkers registered a silver medal-worthy outing of 2:09.34, whereas the 15-year-old produced a monster 2:08.51 in her age-specific race last night, making her the newly-minted Queensland state age record holder in the 200m fly.

The men’s 200m fly was won by Takumi Terada of Japan, who touched in 1:57.17. That edged out Theodoros Benehoutsos, who finished just .18 later in 1:57.35, while 20-year-old St. Peters Western athlete Charles Cox rounded out the top 3 in 1:57.68.

World Championships swimmer Clyde Lewis also tried the 200m fly on for size, getting to the wall in a time of 1:59.92 to produce the 3rd fastest time of the versatile St. Peters Western star’s career.

15-year-old Mollie O’Callaghan was back to her winning ways, doubling up on her 100m free victory with a gold in the 50m free for her age group. The St. Peters Western teen touched in 25.41 to crush a new personal best in the 50m free, overtaking her previous career-fastest of 25.85 logged in April of this year. She is now the 7th fastest 15-year-old Aussie female in history.

In the 12-year-old boys’ set, Saxon Scheffler turned some heads with his winning time of 25.52. His outing marked the first time ever he’d been under the 26-second threshold, laying waste to his previous PB of 26.37 from just this past June.

Young Scheffler’s 25.52 time tonight registered as a QLD All Comers Record for 12-year-olds, re-writing the 25.78 time Thomas Kai put on the books 2 years ago.

16-year-old Joshua Edwards-Smith soared to the wall in the open men’s 200m back, winning the race in 1:57.78, lowering his own Aussie Age Record in the process. Splits for the teen’s outing included 57.82/59.96 to give him a new lifetime best. His previous career-fastest was represented by the 1:57.82 Age Record he crushed at the Aussie Age Championships earlier this year. You can read more about his swim here.

Thomas Hauck of All Saints continued his Queensland record-breaking siege, clocking a new mark in the men’s 16-year-old 100m back. Hitting a time of 55.79, the teen shaved .14 off of his 55.93 morning swim. That AM effort had already overtaken the previous QLD age record of 55.99 that Leon MacAlister put on the books in 2017.

Splitting 27.18/28.61, Hauck’s new lifetime best of 55.79 now checks the teen in as the 4th Aussie 16-year-old in history.

Additional Notes:

• World Junior Champion Lani Pallister took the women’s 200m free for 17-year-olds in a time of 2:01.42.
• Rackley’s Thomas Neill topped the 200m free for men’s 17-year-olds with his winning mark of 1:48.01. Neill also took on the men’s 1500 free where he took his age group in a time of 15:11.28, getting to the wall almost an entire minute ahead of the competition.
• Katsumi Nakamura of Japan took the men’s 50m free in 22.59 over Aussie Louis Townsend‘s time of 22.62. Kiwi teenager Michael Pickett also landed on the podium with the 17-year-old logging 22.87 for bronze.
• The women’s open 50 free saw visiting Japanese athlete Runa Imai take the victory in 25.21.
• TSS Aquatics’ 15-year-old Flynn McGregor came out on top of his age group’s 100m breast race, registering a winning effort of 1:04.90.
• Japan’s Miyu Namba topped the women’s 800m free in 8:33.07 in her 17-year-old age race.
• The open women’s 800m free saw Kiah Melverton get it done for gold in 8:26.63 to out-touch Kareena Lee‘s 8:27.90. Rounidn gout hte otp 3 was Japan’s Waka Kobori, the two-time World University Games gold medalist who touched in 8:27.92 tonight.
• Jack McLoughlin completed a trifecta of freestyle wins, adding tonight’s 1500m free (14:58.90) to his 200m and 400m victories already here in Brisbane. McLough’s PB in this event is the 14:47.09 he produced at last year’s Commonwealth Games when he became the gold medalist.