Sienna Toohey Leads Record-Breaking Charge At Aussie Age Championships

2025 AUSTRALIAN AGE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, April 10th – Friday, April 18th
• Brisbane Aquatic Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Live Results

The 2025 Australian Age Championships saw its able-bodied events kick off today from the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.

Right off the bat, a trio of records bit the dust as the nation’s rising stars try to break through just two months ahead of the World Trials taking place in June.

Already having made a name for herself with previous head-turning performances, 16-year-old Sienna Toohey impressed immediately with a near-lifetime best in the girls’ 100m breaststroke event.

Wayne Gould-trained Toohey of Albury Amateur Swimming Club stopped the clock at a time of 1:07.04, a result just .03 outside her PB of 1:07.01 notched as a 15-year-old at last year’s Olympic Trials.

Tonight, Toohey opened in 31.38 and closed in 35.66 to get the job done, beating the field by over 2 seconds.

Nunawadng’s Lily Koch posted 1:09.23 as the runner-up, followed by Isabelle Rae, also of Albury, who touched in 1:09.43. Of note, Miami’s Olympia Pope was also in the mix, with the University of North Carolina commit turning in a mark of 1:09.81.

While Toohey’s 1:07.01 last year overtook Olympic legend Leisel Jones‘ age group mark for 15-year-olds, her time tonight erased Jones’ mark for 16-year-old girls. That former record stood at 1:07.31 put on the books in 2009.

Additionally, Toohey’s remarkable swim overtook the longstanding All Comers Record of 1:07.05 that American Megan Quann logged nearly 25 years ago.

Toohey’s rise is coming at just the right time for Australian women’s breaststroking. The nation has struggled to find a consistent replacement for Jenna Strauch and Chelsea Hodges who both missed the 2023 championship season due to injuries.

After claiming medley relay silver last year in Paris, 28-year-old Strauch recently announced her decision to retire while Hodges surprisingly revealed her retirement ahead of last year’s Olympic Trials.

Ella Ramsay was the Aussie prelims breaststroker at the Olympic Games last year and Abbey Harkin may still be a viable contender.

We’ll see how the women’s breaststroke plays out at Trials but Toohey’s continued improvements are a step in the right direction for the Aussie medley relay hopes.

Post-race, Toohey said of her record-breaking performance, “Last year at Olympic Trials … I actually got to meet her (Leisel Jones) and she was so incredible lovely and she is definitely someone that I look up to.

“This week I’m just focusing on getting through it and hopefully making the (World Junior) team and then after this, I’ll focus on going to Trials in Adelaide and hopefully getting selected for the senior team for worlds.

“I’m super excited for the 50 breaststroke this week, especially because it has been added to the Olympics. The 50 is probably my strongest … so I’m stoked!

“At National Event Camp, it was really cool seeing how the older swimmers trained on a daily basis. Seeing that and being a part of it made me realise that I’ve got so much further to go on my swimming journey. Being in a room with all of them (Dolphins) was just mind blowing because there’s people here that have done what I want to achieve.”

Another record which went by the wayside this evening was at the hands of Christopher Montana in the boys’ 15-year-old 100m breaststroke.

Christopher Montana, courtesy of Nardia Mulkerrins (@photosbynardia)

Montana ripped a time of 1:02.70 to obliterate the previous Australian and All Comers records for that age category. The former was situated at 1:03.19 and the latter rested at 1:03.51, both put up by Olympian Matt Wilson 11 years ago.

Trinity Grammar’s Montana split 29.36/33.34 to crush the previous marks, which were also beaten by tonight’s runner-up Leny Grigor.

Grigor snagged silver in 1:03.13 and Lukas Dunn also landed on the podium in 1:04.61, good enough for bronze.

Entering this competition, Ben Tuxford-coached Montana’s lifetime best rested at the 1:06.04 established at this same meet last year, so he ripped that to shreds en route to grabbing the gold.

Montana had already introduced himself to the world via his monster performances at last year’s New South Wales State Open Championships.

During that short course meters competition, the teen scored a career-quickest result of 1:02.20 in the boys’ 100m breaststroke, destroying the previous age record of 1:03.25 that Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook put on the books in 2013.

As with Toohey, Montana’s performances are coming at a time when Australian men’s breaststoking is in need of a sprinter.

Sam Williamson has made big-time noise in the 50m sprint, however, the Olympian has been hit-and-miss in the 100m event. He busted out a swift 58.80 at last year’s Olympic Trials but in Paris produced a much slower 1:00.50 to miss the semi-finals.

Joshua Yong and Bailey Lello are contenders for a potential 100m breast World Championships bid, but Montana’s continued trajectory may put him in the running once LA 2028 comes around.

Lincoln Wearing, courtesy of Nardia Mulkerrins (@photosbynardia)

Finally tonight, Lincoln Wearing notched a new Australian Age Record and All Comers Record en route to winning the boys’ 800m free for 15-year-olds.

Chandler’s Wearing posted a time of 8:03.73, a result which dipped under the former benchmarks of 8:04.74 Olympic champion Mack Horton established 14 years ago.

Wearing’s previous personal best rested at the 8:05.58 he put up at last year’s Queensland Championships.

Additional Notes

• 16-year-old Henry Allan clocked a time of 51.06 to win the 100m free for 16-year-old boys. Allan set two Australian Age Records at last month’s NSW Open Championships.
• 17-year-old Hayley Mackinder produced a time of 2:26.55 to take her age group’s 200m breast. She’s coached by two-time Olympian Thomas Fraser-Holmes at the Griffith University training hub.