17-Year-Old Peiniger Beats Seebohm’s 200 IM Aussie Age Record

2019 VICTORIAN OPEN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Saturday, September 14th & Sunda, September 15th
• Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Center (MSAC), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• SCM
• Heats at 9 am local/Finals at 5 pm local
• Meet Site
• Psych Sheet
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Live Results

The annual Victorian Open Short Course Championships got underway at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre today, September 14th. The competition is set to include 59 events over 2 days, with a mix of both up-and-comers and established veterans taking to the MSAC pool.

Not wasting any time was 17-year-old Gabriella Peiniger of MLC Aquatics, with the teen grabbing 3 gold medals on just the 1st day. Peiniger kicked off her Vic Open campaign by touching the wall first in the women’s 50m fly, producing a time of 26.47, following that up with a monster 200m IM victory in a mark of 2:06.52.

Peiniger wrapped up day 1 with a gold medal-worthy effort of 1:56.90 in the 200m free to represent just 1 of 2 swimmers under the 2:00 mark in the final. Finishing runner-up was Elyse Woods of MVC, with the 20-year-old hitting the wall in 1:58.73.

For Peiniger, the teen is a two-time silver medalist at this year’s World Junior Championships, having swum in the prelims of the Aussie women’s 4x100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relays.

Her times here check-in among the best-ever for Aussie 17-year-olds, with her 50m fly time ranking 7th all-time for her age, while her 200m free time also ranks 7th on the all-time rankings.

For her 200m IM, Peiniger’s 2:06.52 crushed the field here by almost 7 seconds and now ranks as the fastest time ever for an Aussie 17-year-old. Her sub-2:07 outing obliterates the 2:14.95 time she put up at this same competition last year and now takes over Olympic medalist Emily Seebohm‘s age record of 2:08.09 that’s been on the books since 2009.

Below is where Peiniger now ranks, according to the Swimming Australia database:

Aussie Girls 17 Years 200 Metres Freestyle – All-Time Rankings
1:55.11 Kylie Palmer Albany Creek Melbourne Australian SC 29.08.07
1:55.82 Gemma Cooney Brisbane Grammar Adelaide Australian SC 26.10.17
1:55.84 Kaylee McKeown USC Spartans Melbourne Australian SC 25.10.18
1:55.90 Emma McKeon Wests Illawarra Sydney New South Wales SC 12.08.11
1:56.00 Angie Bainbridge Hunter Melbourne Australian SC 29.08.07
1:56.40 Brittany Castelluzzo Tea Tree Gully Melbourne Victorian Age SC 25.10.18
1:56.90 Gabriella Peiniger Vic Open 2019

Aussie Girls 17 Years 50 Metres Butterfly – All-Time Rankings
25.99 Emily Seebohm Brothers Brisbane Queensland SC 29.08.09
26.15 Emma McKeon Wests Illawarra Singapore FINA World Cup 04.11.11
26.21 Danni Miatke Carey Aquatic Melbourne Australian SC 07.08.05
26.29 Ellese Zalewski Melb. Vicentre Hobart Australian SC 08.08.09
26.33 Yolane Kukla Arena Perth Western Australian SC 11.07.13
26.37 Christina Licciardi Melb. Vicentre Sydney Australian SC 22.08.13
26.47 Gabriella Peiniger Vic Open 2019

Aussie Girls 17 Years 200 Metres Individual Medley – All-Time Rankings
2:06.52 Gabriella Peiniger Vic Open 2019
2:08.09 Emily Seebohm Brothers Hobart Australian SC 08.08.09
2:10.42 Ellen Fullerton Miami Brisbane Australian SC 14.07.10
2:10.58 Lara Carroll Fremantle Port Indianapolis FINA World Cup 07.10.04
2:10.64 Samantha Wilkins Haileybury Adelaide Australian SC 30.06.11
2:10.77 Calypso Sheridan Brisbane Grammar Brisbane Australian SC 03.11.16

Additional Winners on Day 1 of Vic Open:

• Olivia Lefoe took the women’s 200m back in a time of 2:09.24 to represent the only swimmer under 2:10.
• Nunawading’s Brendon Smith produced a time of 3:46.95 to take the men’s 400m free.
• 19-year-old Nathan Foote took the men’s 100m back in 54.34.
• Kotuku Ngawati put up a winning time of 25.44 in the women’s 50m free.
• Melbourne Vicentre’s Daniel Cave snapped the men’s 200m breast title in a mark of 2:10.24 to just out-touch David Schlicht‘s runner-up time of 2:10.45. Schlicht later won the men’s 400IM by almost 7 seconds, clocking 4:10.59.
• Yunhui Kim got her hand on the wall first in the women’s 200m fly in 2:12.84.
• Jack Gerrard proved too quick for the men’s 100m fly field, with the 24-year-old notching 48.40 for the win.
• World Championships finalist Matthew Temple clocked a time of 52.36 to win the men’s 100m fly with ease.
• Another World Championships swimmer, Jess Hansen, produced a mar of 1:05.89 to take the women’s 100m breast by over 2 seconds.