2018 OCEANIA SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- June 25-29, 2018
- Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
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- Day 4 Results
The final day of pool swimming at the 2018 Oceania Swimming Championships in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea wrapped up on Friday, with the open water 10k race still to be contested on Saturday. Highlighting the final night of action was New Zealand’s Jonathan Rutter and Hawaii’s Grace Monahan, both of whom won their fourth individual gold medal of the meet.
Rutter, 22, used a 34.93 breaststroke split to break free from the field in the men’s 200 IM and run to victory in a time of 2:04.07, getting under his previous best of 2:04.22 set at the 2017 U.S. Open. He closed the session out with a 1:03.40 BR split as the Kiwi’s defeated Australia in the men’s 400 medley relay, posting a time of 3:45.64 to the Aussies’ 3:48.07. He was joined by Andrew Jeffcoat (57.06), Wilrich Coetzee (54.71) and Carter Swift (50.47) on back, fly and free respectively. For Australia, 15-year-old Joshua Edwards-Smith notably had a fast backstroke lead-off of 56.67, faster than he went to win the individual event (56.78).
Rutter finishes the meet with individual golds in the 100/200 breast and 200/400 IM, along with relay titles in the 400 free and medley relays for six golds. He also added silvers in the 50 breast and 800 free relay for eight total medals.
The 14-year-old Monahan also won four individual golds, but finished with an incredible 14 medals overall. After winning the 50 fly, 400 IM and 100 fly over the first three days, she added the 200 fly on day 4, clocking 2:15.38. While that was just over a second off her PB of 2:14.23, it was done shortly after winning bronze in the 200 IM (2:21.78), which was a best time.
She added a pair of bronzes in the mixed 400 free and women’s 400 medley relays on the night to give her a total of 14. Along with her four individual golds, she won silver in the 50 back, and had additional bronzes in the 200 free and 200 back, along with the mixed 200 free, mixed 400 medley, 800 free and 400 free relays.
OTHER WINNERS
- 5k open water champ Phoebe Hines of Australia won a second gold for the meet in the women’s 800 free, clocking 8:46.69 to top teammate Sharni Robinson (8:48.07).
- New Zealand went 1-2 in the men’s 50 free, with 20-year-old Daniel Caldwell (23.23) edging out the 19-year-old Swift (23.26). The two of them teamed up at the beginning of the session to help the Kiwis win the mixed 400 free relay, as NZL (3:35.36) took out AUS (3:37.20).
- 16-year-old Aussie Rebecca Jacobson finished off the 50-100-200 free sweep, claiming the 50 by .01 in a time of 26.05. New Zealand’s Rebecca Moynihan (26.06) and Paige Flynn (26.34), who joined Caldwell and Swift on the mixed 400 free relay, took 2nd and 3rd.
- 200 breast and 200 back gold medalists Lauren Gastevich of Australia and Gina McCarthy of New Zealand clashed in the women’s 200 IM, with the Aussies edging out the gold in a time of 2:19.76 to McCarthy’s 2:20.04.
- After a pair of close silvers in the 50 and 100 fly, New Zealand’s Coetzee finally got his hand on the wall first in the men’s 200 fly, holding off 16-year-old Australian Alex Quach (2:04.44) to win in 2:03.02.
- In addition to the mixed 400 free and men’s 400 medley relay wins, the Kiwi’s made it a perfect 3-for-3 on the night with a gold in the women’s 400 medley relay. Flynn’s 1:03.34 backstroke lead-off gave them a massive advantage they would never relinquish, with Moynihan closing things out with a quick 56.24 anchor.
