Meg Harris Scorches 52.60 Best Time In 100 Freestyle During Australian Open Prelims

2024 AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, April 17th – Saturday, April 20th
• Prelims at 10am local (8pm previous night ET), Finals at 6pm local (4am ET)
• Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, Queensland, Australia
• LCM (50m)
• Non-Olympic Qualifying Event
• Women’s Races to Watch / Men’s Races to Watch
• Meet Central
• Final Start List
• Live Results (also available via Meet Mobile: “2024 Australian Open Championships”)
• Australian Channel 9 Livestream / YouTube Livestream
• Day 1 Prelims Live Recap

Australia’s Meg Harris just put up the fastest 100m freestyle of her career during the prelims at the Australian Open Championships.

The Rackley-trained sprinter clocked a time of 52.60 to demolish her previous lifetime best of 52.92. Her old best time was set nearly three years ago at the 2021 Australian Olympic Trials, where she placed 4th. She went on to win two medals at the Tokyo Olympics: a gold in the 4×100 free relay and a bronze in the 4×200 free relay.

The six-time World Champion opened today’s swim in 25.32 before closing in 27.28 over the final 50 meters. Her swim represents the second time that she’s posted a sub-53 outing, with the other being her previous best time.

The 22-year-old left coach Peter Bishop at the beginning of this season to train under Damien Jones, and the new training environment looks to be paying off just months before the Olympic Trials.

Harris has elevated herself from the 8th fastest Australian in history to the 6th fastest.

Top 10 Australian 100m Freestylers In History:

1. 51.96 — Emma McKeon, 2021 Tokyo Olympics
2. 52.03 — Cate Campbell, 2018 Tokyo Pan Pacific Championships
3. 52.08 — Mollie O’Callaghan, 2023 Fukuoka World Chanpionships
4. 52.27 — Bronte Campbell, 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games
5. 52.28 — Shayna Jack, 2023 Fukuoka World Championships
6. 52.60 — Meg Harris, 2024 Gold Coast Australian Open
7. 52.62 — Libby Trickett, 2009 Rome World Championships
8. 52.76 — Madison Wilson, 2021 Adelaide Australian Olympic Trials
9. 53.38 — Melanie Schlanger, 2012 London Olympics
10. 53.54 — Brittany Elmslie, 2016 Adelaide Australian Olympic Trials

Harris now ranks 3rd in the world so far this season, only trailing Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey (52.02) and 2024 World Champion Marrit Steenbergen (52.26) of the Netherlands. Here are the official results from the prelims session:

Top 10 Qualifiers For The Final:

1. Meg Harris (RACKL) – 52.60
2. Mollie O’Callaghan (STPET) – 52.94
3. Shayna Jack (STPET) – 53.31
4. Emma McKeon (GUSC) – 53.58
5. Cate Campbell (CHAND) – 53.86
6. Brianna Throssell (STPET) – 53.96
7. Milla Jansen (BOND) – 54.10
8. Bronte Campbell (CRUIZ) – 54.13
9. Neza Klancar (SVN) – 54.39
10. Alexandria Perkins (USCS) – 54.56

As of right now, she ranks as the fastest Australian this year, but tonight’s final is filled with four additional individual Olympic/World Champions in this very same event. Emma McKeon, who qualified 4th at 53.58, won the 2021 Olympic Title with the second fastest performance of all-time (51.96). Cate Campbell (2013 World Champion), Bronte Campbell (2015 World Champion), and Mollie O’Callaghan (2022 & 2023 World Champion) will also line-up for tonight’s stacked final. The final in a few hours time will feature FIVE of the top ten performers in global history.

Updated Australian 100m Freestyle Rankings For The 2023-2024 Season:

• #3 in the World — Meg Harris — 52.60, 2024 Australian Open
• #4 in the World — Shayna Jack — 52.76, 2023 Queensland Championships
• #5 in the World — Mollie O’Callaghan — 52.82, 2024 NSW Championships
• #7 in the World — Emma McKeon — 53.00, 2024 Victoria Open
• #13 in the World — Cate Campbell — 53.23, 2023 Queensland Championships
• #16 in the World — Bronte Campbell — 53.30, 2024 South Australian States