Multiple Swimmers Crack Top 10 Rankings At Final Day Of Victorian Open

• Friday, January 22nd – Sunday, January 24th
• Prelims 9am local (5pm night before Eastern); Finals 6pm local (2am Eastern)
• Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Center
• Meet Information
• Meet Preview
• Heat Sheets
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap

The final day of the 2016 Victorian Open Championships saw some huge swims from Australia’s top athletes.

Australian golden boy Mitch Larkin grabbed a big win tonight in the 100 back with 52.85, a second and a half ahead of the field. That time would be fast enough to crack the top 10 world rankings, if Larkin already wasn’t at the top of the list with a 52.11 from the FINA World Cup in Dubai.

Georgia Bohl posted a top five ranked 50 breaststroke, swimming 30.92 to move up to fourth in the non-Olympic event. She also moves into the all-time Australian top 10 in the event, sitting seventh in between Leisel Jones and Sally Hunter. In this season’s world rankings, she is now just three quarters of a second from #1 Jamaican breaststroke star Alia Atkinson. 

Reigning Australian champion in this event Emma McKeon finished the 200 freestyle in 1:56.29, just two tenths off her best time this year, a 1:56.09 that ranks her third in the world. Bronte Barratt was close behind with 1:56.66, a swim which moves her up to eighth in the rankings.

Blair Evans and Alicia Coutts battled for the win in the 200 IM, but a strong initial 100 gave Coutts the speed she needed to hit a winning 2:12.05, a time that moves her up to sixth in the world. Evans finished in 2:12.58, good for a 13th ranking.

James Magnussen continued to score well in his comeback meet with a win in the 50 free, dropping nearly half a second off his prelim time for 22.51. His Ravenswood teammate William Copeland grabbed second place just behind in 22.57.

Magnussen’s most impressive swim of the night did not result in a win, however. His Ravenswood team (alongside Copeland, Elliot Long, and Mitchel Falvey) took third in the 400 free relay, but Magnussen’s 49.32 lead-off leg was the fastest split out of the event, and it beats out his 49.35 from earlier this weekend. The swim wasn’t quite enough to crack the world top 25 rankings (that takes 49.20), but it’s very solid for a swimmer who admits he is “rusty” at this meet.

17-year-old Matthew Wilson just missed the Australian National Age Group Record to win the 200 breaststroke. His 2:13.37 was just a quarter of a second away from Simon Cowley‘s 2:13.13 from 1998. Second in the event went to Lennard Bremer in 2:14.26, and Scottish Olympic silver medalist Michael Jamieson finished well behind in fourth with 2:17.23.

Madi Wilson took the win in the 50 back, a 28.17 that puts her at 8th in the world.

Great Britain’s Daniel Jarvis won the 1500 free with a 15:10.87 to move up to 11th in the world rankings.

“Western Australian Junior Athlete of the Year” Brianna Throssell moved up to 14th in the world with a 2:09.49 to win the 200 fly.

Eighteen-year-old Moesha Johnson dominated the women’s 1500 free, finishing in 16:40.36 to second-place fifteen-year-old Molly Batchelor‘s 17:07.75.

Chris Wright took the win in the 100 fly with 53.12, while Travis Mahoney won the 400 IM in 4:20.56.