O’Callaghan, Cooper & Pallister Nab Wins On Day 5 Of 2023 Queensland Championships

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/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap
• Live Results

We entered day 5 of the 2023 Queensland Championships with several stars putting their stamps on the annual competition.

World Record holder Mollie O’Callaghan topped the women’s 50m backstroke podium, producing a time of 27.43 to beat the field by over a second.

The 19-year-old St. Peters Western swimmer was just .05 off of her best-ever effort of 27.38 in the event, a time she registered at the NSW Championships in March.

Of note, Minna Atherton was also in the women’s 50m back final in her comeback competition since bowing out of the World Championships Trials due to injuries. Atherton touched in 29.81 for 9th.

O’Callaghan ranks 4th in the world now in the women’s 50m back.

The 50m back race for 16-year-olds saw Jaclyn Barclay get to the wall first in a mark of 28.07.  She owns a PB of 27.94 from April of this year but tonight’s performance registers the SPW’s 2nd-best outing. This was after the teen already nabbed a big-time PB in the 200m back (2:08.76) during last night’s finals.

Barclay also dove in for the girls’ 200m free for 16-year-olds where she earned another gold in 1:59.96. That, too, checked in as a lifetime best, beating her 2:01.98 put up at this same competition last year.

Aussie national record holder Isaac Cooper wound up on top of the men’s 50m back, posting an effort of 24.98 as the sole swimmer under 25 seconds.

Behind Cooper was Bradley Woodward who secured silver in 25.3 while Somerset’s Mark Nikolaev rounded out the podium in 25.37. Nikolaev was quicker in the prelims, producing a morning swim of 24.95.

Rackley’s World Championships gold medalist Sam Short tried the 800m free on for size this evening and won the event convincingly. The 20-year-old logged a gold medal-worthy 7:47.35 to beat Elijah Winnington by over 2 seconds.

23-year-old Winnington touched in 7:49.98 for silver and SOPAC’s Matt Galea bagged bronze in 8:03.82.

In Fukuoka, Short earned silver in this 800m free, hitting a new Aussie and Oceanian record of 7:37.76 in the process. He topped the men’s 400m free podium there while also capturing bronze in the 1500m event.

Short is now the #2 performer in the world in the 800m free.

Lani Pallister put on a show in the women’s 1500m free, turning in the only time of the field under 16:00.

21-year-old Pallister posted 15:49.94 for the victory, with Kiah Melverton and Ariarne Titmus left to race for the minor medals. Melverton grabbed the silver in 16:10.56 and Titmus gathered bronze in 16:13.46.

Pallister placed 5th in this event at this year’s World Championships, registering a time of 15:49.17 in Fukuoka. Tonight’s effort was less than a second off of that performance and she now frog-hops China’s Li Bingjie to rank #2 in the world on the season.

Additional Results

• Enoch Robb of All Saints posted a solid effort of 52.56 to take the boys’ 100m fly for 18-year-olds. This marks just the 2nd time the teen has been in the 52-second zone, with tonight’s outing overtaking his previous best-ever result of 52.88 from this year’s World Junior Championships.
• The girls’ 100m freestyle for 12-year-olds saw the event’s Queensland All Comers Record bite the dust at the hands of Japan’s Misuzu Chiba. Chiba stopped the clock in 58.04, slicing .42 off of the previous record of 58.46 Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey put on the books in 2009.