Neill Follows Up 400 Free WJR By Becoming 3rd Fastest Aussie Ever In 800

2020 QUEENSLAND SC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Friday, September 25th – Sunday, September 27th
• Brisbane Aquatic Centre
• SCM (25m)
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Entries
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap
• Live Results

On the heels of establishing a new World Junior Record tonight in the men’s 400m freestyle, 18-year-old Thomas Neill closed out the session with another big-time effort. Contesting the men’s 800m free, remarkably in the same session, Neill stopped the clock in a time of 7:36.10 to make Australian history.

Entering this 3-day meet in Brisbane, Neill had only raced the SCM 800 free on one other occasion, marked by the 8:13.31 he produced in 2018. Flash forward to tonight, however, and Neill’s effort now ranks him among the world’s best. His effort falls just .10 outside of the current World Junior Record of 7:36.00, a time Germany’s Sven Schwarz established in November of 2019.

You can view the WJR splits of Schwarz below and compare them to Neill’s 800m free breakdown of the following: 54.25/56.57/57.14/57.38/57.42/57.81/58.03/57.50 = 7:36.10

As a testament to how impactful Neill’s time is tonight, especially in light of the fact he doubled up with the 400m free WJR earlier in the same session, his time in the 800m overtakes legendary Grant Hackett‘s Aussie Age Record in the event. That stood at 7:38.73 from Hackett’s swim over 2 years ago in 1998.

From an all-time Aussie point-of-view, Neill now ranks as the 3rd fastest, all ages, in history for the nation. He also checks-in as the 14th fastest performer in history worldwide.

All-Time Aussie Performers Men’s SCM 800 Free

1. 7:23.42 Grant Hackett 80 Melbourne Vicentre July’08 Melbourne
2. 7:34.90 Kieren Perkins 73 Commercial Jul’93 Sydney
3. 7:36.10 Thomas Neill 2020
4. 7:38.37 Daniel Kowalski 75 Mel Vic Sep’95 Adelaide
5. 7:39.31 Jack McLoughlin 95 Chandler Oct’18 Melbourne