McKeown Rips Another Sub-58 100 Backstroke, O’Callaghan Takes 200 Free In Queensland

2023 QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Saturday, December 9th – Friday, December 15th
• Brisbane Aquatic Center
• LCM (50m)
• Swimming Australia 2024 World Championships Qualifying Criteria
• Meet Central
• Draft Entries
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results

The 2023 Queensland Championships saw day two unfold from Brisbane Aquatic Center with the meet representing the last-chance opportunity for swimmers to qualify for the 2024 World Championships.

As we’ve reported, head coach Rohan Taylor doubts the maximum roster size for Doha will top out at 20 due to the timing of the competition, which means we may see some up-and-coming athletes step up and qualify for a chance to race on their first international Worlds stage.

The first event on the night was the women’s 200m freestyle with World Record holder Mollie O’Callaghan producing a smooth time of 1:54.36 to grab the gold.

The 19-year-old St. Peters Western star opened in 56.24 and closed in 58.12 to get the job done, establishing a new Queensland All Comers Record in the process. Her time overtook the previous mark of 1:54.55 Emma McKeon put on the books in 2019. McKeon wasn’t entered in this 2free event.

Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus was next to the wall in a result of 1:55.99 to beat out Kaylee McKeown of Griffith who turned in a time of 1:56.14.

For 22-year-old McKeown, the multi-World Record holder just earned a new lifetime best in this event, slicing over half a second off her 1:56.88 from this year’s Australian National Championships. She appears very serious about chasing a potential slot on the women’s 4x200m free relay for the Paris Olympic Games.

McKeown was back in the water later on in the session to take on the 100m back. As is her norm, she produced another head-turning performance of 57.79 to grab the gold by well over a second.

McKeown split 28.38/29.41 to come within .46 of her own World Record with tonight’s performance checking in as the 7th-best outing of her prolific career.

Breakers’ 18-year-old Iona Anderson also got under the QT needed for Doha by registering a silver medal-worthy time of 59.43. The West Australian had only ever been under the 1:00 barrier one other time, carrying a personal best of 59.88 into this competition.

O’Callaghan doubled up on her 200m free performance with a bronze in this 1back, hitting 59.53 to also land on the podium.

The men’s 200m free saw 20-year-old Maximillian Giuliani of Miami continue his remarkable breakout year.

It was at the Berlin stop of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup where Giuliani clocked his first-ever international podium placement time, grabbing 200m free gold in a then-personal best of 1:46.18.

He took that time down to a new PB of 1:45.42 at the Budapest stop on the tour and tonight was within striking distance with another successful result of 1:45.67. That got Giuliani to the wall .11 ahead of Rackley’s Olympian Tommy Neill, with Neill scoring silver in 1:45.78 while Elijah Winnington rounded out the top 3 in 1:46.36.

Neill’s time tonight fell just .08 shy of his best-ever 1:45.70 logged at the 2021 Olympic Trials, giving us a glimpse into his return to form after a couple of low-key years.

On another stop along her post-injury return, 26-year-old Jenna Strauch took the women’s 200m breaststroke event in a time of 2:23.94. Strauch has already been as swift as 2:22.83 in Budapest to rank #3 in the world at the moment.

Chandler’s Ella Ramsay notched 2:24.28 behind Strauch, ripping a big-time lifetime best in the process of earning silver. Ramsay’s previous career-quickest rested at the 2:27.41 put up at the Pro Swim Championships this past July.

19-year-old Ramsay now checks in as the 14th-quickest performer worldwide on the season.

Additional Notes

• Former World Record holder Zac Stubblety-Cook was entered in today’s 200m breast but wound up not swimming. In his absence, it was visiting Japanese Olympian Daiya Seto who topped the podium, scoring 2:09.88 as the sole racer under the 2:10 threshold. Matt Wilson, another former World Record holder, hit 2:10.92 as the silver medalist and Nunawading’s William Petric posted 2:12.51 as the bronze medalist. Seto has been as fast as 2:08.98 in this event from 2019.
• Another Japanese swimmer in Yu Nishizono did damage in the boys’ 12-year-old 200m breast. He logged a winning effort of 2:29.98 and beat out the Queensland Record of 2:34.86, although it won’t qualify as he is a non-Australian.
• Bradley Woodward won the men’s 100m backstroke in a result of 53.60. Isaac Cooper notched 55.27 in the morning heats to snag the 3rd seed but wound up dropping the final. Woodward clocked a 200m back lifetime best of 1:55.56 recently at the Japan Open so look for him to steal the spotlight later on in this competition.
• The girls’ 16-year-old 100m free saw St. Peters Western Jaclyn Barclay get to the wall first in 55.70, just .05 off her PB from earlier this year. With a stable full of senior sprint freestylers, the rising stars are also ready to backfill to continue the green and gold’s dominance in this arena.
• Titmus dove in for a 2nd event of the 800m freestyle where she turned in a time of 8:25.40. We already reported that the Dean Boxall-trained star is opting out of the 2024 World Championships to focus on Paris 2024.
• Matt Galea of SOPAC snagged the victory in the men’s 1500m free in 15:17.45.