World Junior Champion Lani Pallister Clocks SCM 800 Free Aussie Record

2020 QUEENSLAND SC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Friday, September 25th – Sunday, September 27th
• Brisbane Aquatic Centre
• SCM (25m)
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Entries
• Live Results

While competing on day 1 of the 2020 Queensland Championships, 18-year-old Lani Pallister crushed a new senior Australian National Record in the women’s 800m freestyle.

In the timed final at Brisbane Aquatic Center, Cotton Tree’s Pallister punched a new lifetime best of 8:11.71 to become the nation’s first-ever female under 8:12 in this 8free event. Her time overtakes the previous Aussie NR of 8:12.32 Kylie Palmer put on the books over a decade ago in 2008.

Pallister’s time also establishes a new All Comers mark, surpassing the 8:12.65 Katie Goldman logged in 2010.

Although entered in this meet with a seed time of 8:12.53, Swimming Australia has Pallister’s short course 800 free best time prior to today as 8:13.26. That was a time she produced at the 2018 Australian Short Course National Championships.

Splits for the mom-trained Pallister for her 8:11.71 Aussie national record tonight are as follows:

Among the best-ever worldwide in this women’s short course meters 800 free event, Pallister’s 8:11.71 winning effort here ranks her among the top 25. Her outing bumps Hungary’s Ajna Kesely out of the 21st spot among the fastest performers all-time in the world.

After a breakout year in 2018 where Pallister struck gold multiple times at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships, she wreaked havoc on the podium at the 2019 World Junior Championships. Pallister topped the women’s 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle podiums there in Budapest, as well as snagged 200m free silver.