On the first night of the Australian Swimming Grand Prix in Townsville Emma McKeon came away with victories in both the 100 butterfly and the 200 freestyle.
On the second evening of competition McKeon made it clear that she was not satisfied with the time of 1:57.76 which she recorded in the 200 freestyle on Friday evening. The 21 year old set out to better that mark in the first half of tonight’s 400 freestyle hitting the wall at the 200 meter mark in a time of 1:56.15.
Her time was not far off her season’s best of 1:55.88 which she put up at the Australian Swimming Championships in April and currently ranks third in the world.
“I didn’t feel like I went out after it fast enough last night and thought ‘let’s have another crack tonight’ and I’m delighted with that time, I’m very happy,” said McKeon.
“We have just come off a solid training camp in Cairns and I am really enjoying my move to new coach Michael Bohl, it’s fun and I’m really enjoy my swimming.”
Jessica Ashwood, who was extremely impressive on Friday evening setting a new national record in the women’s 1500 freestyle, collected the gold in the 400 freestyle touching in a time of 4:08.55. Ashwood’s season’s best of 4:05.30 currently sits in the sixth place position in the world rankings.
Bronte Barratt finished second in a time of 4:12.02 followed by Leah Neale who hit the wall in a time of 4:15.63.
McKeon used the second half of the race as a swim down and ultimately finished eighth in a time of 4:50.47.
19 year old Mack Horton currently sits atop of the world rankings in the men’s 800 freestyle having posted a time of 7:47.36 at the Australian Swimming Championships. Horton took that same event in Townsville putting up an extremely well split race turning at the halfway mark in a time of 3:59.80 and finishing the last 400 meters in a time of 3:59.81.
Horton ultimately won the event in a new Grand Prix record time of 7:59.61.
Nathan Capp of New Zealand finished second in a time of 8:02.89 followed by Thomas Fraser-Holmes who posted a 8:05.29.
Horton was not the only athlete to take down a competition record on Saturday evening. Madeline Groves took gold in the women’s 200 butterfly setting a new competition record in the process, finishing in a time of 2:08.43.
Groves posted the world’s top time of 2:05.41 at the Australian Swimming Championships.
Brianna Throssell finished second in a time of 2:10.47 followed by Sehyeon An of Korea who posted a 2:14.03.
The Campbell sisters went one two in the women’s 100 freestyle. Cate Campbell took the event in a time of 53.14 followed by Bronte Campbell who hit the wall in a time of 53.50. Madison Wilson finished third in a time of 54.57.
The gold and silver medalists from the men’s 200 backstroke at the 2014 Commonwealth Games finished first and second in the the same event in Townsville. Mitch Larkin took the event in a time of 1:57.04 followed by Joshua Beaver who finished in a time of 2:02.44.
Jorden Merrilees finished third in a time of 2:04.37.
Emily Seebohm, who currently ranks first in the world in the 100 and 200 backstroke, was the only woman to dip under the one minute mark in the 100 backstroke winning the event in a time of 59.59. Madison Wilson finished second in a time of 1:00.70 followed by Kaylee McKeown who touched in a time of 1:02.54.
Fraser-Holmes collected the gold in the men’s 200 IM hitting the wall in a time of 2:01.30.
Cameron McEvoy won the men’s 200 freestyle touching in a time of 1:47.73 well off his season’s best of 1:45.94. McEvoy was followed by Olympic legend Grant Hackett who posted a 1:49.23 and Thomas Fraser-Holmes who finished in a time of 1:49.96.
Fraser-Holmes also collected the gold in the men’s 200 IM hitting the wall in a time of 2:01.30. He was followed by Kazimir Boskovic who posted a 2:02.51 and Kenneth To who recorded a 2:02.54.
The race for the gold in the men’s 50 freestyle was a tight one. Matthew Abood took the event in a time of 22.81 followed by Will Copeland who recorded a time of 22.84. Tommaso D’Orsogna finished third in a time of 23.07.
Tessa Wallace won the women’s 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:24.51 followed by Georgia Bohl who posted a 2:27.33. Abbey Harkin took the bronze in a time of 2:41.19.
Jayden Hadler took the men’s 100 butterfly in a time of 52.62. Daniel Lester collected the silver in a time of 53.31 followed by Tommaso D’Orsogna who hit the wall in a time of 54.00.
It is looking less and less like Christian Sprenger will be ready to contend at the World Championships in Kazan. Sprenger’s season’s best of 1:00.67 does not rank in the top 25.
The man who posted the world’s second fastest time of 58.87 in 2014 won the men’s 100 breaststroke in a very pedestrian time of 1:02.47. That is the slowest time he has put up in a competition where he was deemed healthy since 2011.
Sprenger was followed by Matthew Treloar who recorded a 1:02.95 and Jake Packard who posted a 1:03.05.
Keryn McMaster took the women’s 400 IM in a time of 4:42.08 finishing over five seconds ahead of Tessa Wallace who touched in a time of 4:47.24. Tianni Gilmour collected the bronze in a time of 4:48.96.
The medal winners in the Multi Class events were as follows:
Men’s 50m Freestyle Multi Class
1 Daniel Fox, 24, Chandler QLD, 25.69
2 Matthew Levy, 28, Cranbrook EE NSW, 29.68
3 Braedan Jason, 17, Alexandra Headlands QLD, 25.47
Women’s 400m Freestyle Multi Class
1 Taylor Corry, 20, Nelson Bay QLD, 4:46.61
2 Monique Murphy, 21, Melbourne Vicentre VIC, 4:43.59
3 Lakeisha Patterson, Kawana Waters QLD, 5:04.43
Men’s 200m Individual Medley Multi Class
1 Jesse Aungles, 20, Marion SA, 2:32.41
2 Brenden Hall, 22, Lawnton QLD, 2:32.41
3 Timothy Hodge, 14, The Hills NSW, 2:28.48
Men’s 150m Individual Medley
1 Grant Patterson , 26, Central Cairns QLD, 3:14.05
2 Ahmed Kelly, 23, Melbourne Vicentre VIC, 3:14.69
Men’s 100m Butterfly Multi Class
1 Timothy Antalfy, 28, Hunters Hill NSW, 57.71
2 Brenden Hall, 22, Lawnton QLD, 1:03.59
3 Matthew Levy, 28, Cranbrook EE NSW, 1:14.39
Women’s 100m Backstroke Multi Class
1 Ellie Cole, 23, Castle Hill NSW, 1:10.82
2 Taylor Corry, 20, Nelson Bay QLD, 1:10.82
3 Tiffany Thomas-Kane, 13, Ravenswood NSW, 1:35.00
Men’s 100m Breaststroke Multi Class
1 Blake Cochrane, 24, Southern Cross QLD, 1:19.34
2 Richard Eliason, 27, Ginninderra NSW, 1:11.95
3 Ahmed Kelly, 23, Melbourne Vicentre VIC, 2:02.98
Women’s 100m Freestyle Multi Class
1 Taylor Corry, 20, Nelson Bay QLD, 1:02.36
2 Ellie Cole, 23, Castle Hill NSW, 1:03.53
3 Maddison Elliott, NU Swim NSW, 1:08.85
Men’s 200m Freestyle Multi Class
1 Daniel Fox, 24, Chandler QLD, 2:00.40
2 Joshua Alford, 20, Tuggeranong Vikings NSW, 2:02.52
3 Brenden Hall, 22, Lawnton QLD, 2:05.74
Men’s 50m Backstroke Multi Class
1 Ahmed Kelly, 23, Melbourne Vicentre VIC, 1:03.53
Full results can be found here.
