Maddy Gough Breaks Through With SCM 1500 Free Aussie National Record

2020 QUEENSLAND SC PREP MEET

• Saturday, August 28th – Sunday, August 29th
• Brisbane Aquatic Center, Chandler, QLD, AUS
• SCM (25m)
• Day 1 Recap
• Entries
• Live Results

While competing day 2 of the 2020 Queensland Short Course Prep Meet, 21-year-old Maddy Gough busted out a new Australian national record in the women’s 1500m freestyle.

Heading into this short course meet with a personal best of 15:49.91 in this grueling event, Gough broke through with a mark of 15:38.01 to stand atop the podium tonight in Brisbane. Her outing here blows that previous PB to bits while overtaking retired swimmer Jess Ashwood‘s previous Australian standard of 15:43.83 that’s been on the books since 2015.

Of note, the seed time listed by Swimming Queensland for Gough was situated at 15:37.63. However, that mark in itself would stand as the Aussie national record and we cannot find that time associated with Gough across any database. We have reached out to Swimming Australia for clarification.

Taking her 15:38.01 as the record, Gough’s splits are presented below.

Looking at the top performers all-time in the short course version of this women’s 1500m free, TSS Aquatics’ Gough now checks-in at slot #8.

Top Women’s 1500m Freestyle Performers All-Time – SCM

1. 15:18.01, Sarah Koehler (GER) 2019
2. 15:19.71, Mireia Belmonte (ESP) 2014
3. 15:22.68, Lauren Boyle (NZL) 2014
4. 15:28.65, Lotte Friis (DEN) 2010
5. 15:32.90 Kate Ziegler (USA) 2007
6. 15:35.82, Simona Quadarella (ITA) 2019
7. 15:37.78, Erika Garcia (ESP) 2010
8. 15:38.01, Maddy Gough (AUS) 2020

Gough’s 15:38.01 would translate into a LCM time of 16:02. That’s right on par with the 15:59.40 outing she posted en route to finishing in 5th place at last year’s FINA World Aquatic Championships.