Kyle Chalmers Snags 100 Free Victory On Night 2 Of Aussie SC Championships

2022 AUSTRALIAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, August 24th – Saturday, August 27th
• Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center
• Short Course World Championships Selection Meet
• Australian SC World Championships Selection Criteria
• SCM (25m)
• Entry List
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results
• Race Replay Videos

Day two of the 2022 Australian Short Course Championships brought the heat, as Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown fired off the second fastest 200m backstroke time of her career.

McKeown, who took both 100m back and 200m back golds in Tokyo, produced a winning 2back outing of 1:59.48 to come within striking distance of her own World Record. Although that remains at 1:58.94, the Griffith University star’s time tonight checks in as the 5th fastest swim in history.

Read more about Kaylee McKeown‘s 1:59.48 200m backstroke here.

Also making some noise in the men’s 100m free was Kyle Chalmers, the man who already took the 200m free on night one of these Championships.

Chalmers fired off a time of 45.55 to beat the field by a second, with American Justin Ress snagging silver in 46.57 while fellow Aussie Matt Temple rounded out the top 3 in 46.80.

For Chalmers, the Marion swimmer owns the World Record in this 1free event with the 44.84 he logged during the 2021 FINA World Swimming Cup. That result took down the longstanding mark of 44.94 Frenchman Amaury Leveaux held since 2008.

As a consolation, Chalmers’ time tonight indeed took down the All Comers Record. The former mark stood at the 46.14 Chinese swimmer Ning Zetao put on the books at the 2017 Queensland Championships.

Brendon Smith worked magic in the men’s 400m IM, producing a gold medal-worthy time of 4:01.11. That nabbed the edge over David Schlicht who was only .33 behind in 4:01.44 while American David Johnston grabbed bronze in 4:02.84.

Smith owns the #2 Australian time ever in this 4IM event with his personal best of 3:59.33 from 2021. Smith, who earned 400m IM bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, is still reaching for the Aussie national record. That bar was set by Thomas Fraser Holmes at 3;57.91 in 2015.

Emma McKeon was her usual speedy self, taking the women’s 100m free against a stacked domestic field. The 28-year-old topped the podium in a blistering 51.03, while Madi Wilson and Mollie O’Callaghan were the runners-up in times of 51.40 and 51.50, respectively.

McKeon represents the 2nd fastest woman in history in this event, with her career-best 50.58 sitting only behind Aussie teammate Cate Campbell’s 50.25 on the list of all-time best performances.

Additional Notes

• 18-year-old Newmarket racer Elizabeth Dekkers scored a winning time of 2:05.65 to overtake Laura Taylor in the women’s 200m fly. After leading through about the 125m mark, Taylor settled for silver 2:05.91.
• American Trenton Julian was the fastest 200m flyer on the men’s side, beating the field by nearly 4 seconds with a time of 1:50.71. Julian is the 2nd fastest American in history, owning a personal best of 1:50.01 from last December.
• Yesterday’s 100m breast victor Chelsea Hodges proved too quick to beat in the 50m tonight, clocking 29.99 for the win. Sam Williamson earned the gold in the men’s 50m breast race in 26.27.
• Olympian Bradley Woodward won the men’s 200m back tonight in 1:51.14.
• The women’s 400m IM saw Kayla Hardy get it done for gold in 4:32.84.