Emma McKeon, Alicia Coutts Close Out NSW C’Ships With Mega Swims

2016 NSW STATE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Friday, March 4th – Sunday, March 6th
• Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center (SOPAC)
• Prelims at 9am local (5pm Eastern night before)/Finals at 6pm local Thurs/Fri (2am Eastern), 5:30pm local Sat (1:30am Eastern)
• Entry Lists
• Timeline of Events
• Meet Preview/Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Results

The intense 3-day action in Sydney wrapped up with stellar swims from both Aussies and visiting athletes, highlighted by a new Commonwealth Record by St. Peters and Western’s Emma McKeon.

Women’s Events

Although not an Olympic event, on-the-rise Aussie breaststroker Georgia Bohl showed some mega speed in the women’s 50m distance, stopping the clock at a mark of 30.88. The only sub-31-second competitor of the field, Bohl improved upon her previous season-based of 30.92 and maintains her 4th-place position in the world rankings. Bohl’s outing today also ranks as the 6th-fastest Australian woman ever in the event.

28-year-old Alicia Coutts topped off her monster of a meet with an impressive victory in the 200m IM. Touching in 2:09.99, her sub-2:10 performance now ranks as the 2nd-swiftest in the world this season. Coutts sits only behind Hungary’s Iron Lady, Katinka Hosszu.

Of the multiple notable races by the Redlands swimmer, which included a 26.57 50 fly for 3rd and a 57.53 3rd place finish in the 100 fly, Coutts said, “I’m back! I’ve been training really, really hard. I wanted to make sure I had given it everything in the lead up to Nationals to give myself every chance to make the team. I want to finish on a positive note. If what I’ve done is not enough to be selected to the team, I know I have given it everything I could have done. But after swimming this weekend, it’s given me a lot more confidence in myself.”

The swim of the night, however, belonged to 21-year-old Emma McKeon, who rocked a shiny new Commonwealth Record in the 200m freestyle with her time of 1:55.53, the 3rd-fastest in the world this season.

Splitting 56.49/59.04, McKeon knocked .04 of a second off of her own Commonwealth Record of 1:55.57 from 2014 and fell just shy of the All Comers Record of 1:55.52 held by Laure Manaudou from all the way back in 2007. More analysis of McKeon’s swim will be reported within a separate post.

Not to be overlooked was the fact that McKeon’s St. Peters and Western teammate Bronte Barratt also scored a 1:55-mark, stopping the clock in 1:55.95. That’s Barratt’s 3rd-best time of her career, which is saying a lot considering she’s 27 years old and has the 2012 Olympic Games, as well as several World Championship appearances under her belt.

McKeon and Barratt now own the world’s 3rd and 4th-ranked swims in the event so far this season. Just as a point of comparison, the top 3 women competing at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Orlando touched in times of 1:55.73 (Katie Ledecky), 1:57.67 (Missy Franklin) and 1:58.18 (Allison Schmitt), although it’s worth noting that Australian Olympic Trials are held in April, as opposed to USA’s being held in late June.

Additional Women Winners:

• Korea’s Sehyun An won the 200m butterfly in a time of 2:09.34.
• Madi Wilson took the women’s 50m backstroke in 28.49, about two tenths faster than her morning swim.

Men’s Meet

Although he didn’t have a huge 100m outing, 17-year-old Matthew Wilson threw down a killer 200m breaststroke, touching in 2:11.34 for the win by less than a tenth and to register the young star’s 2nd-best time ever. 2:11.23 is what Wilson cranked out at the 2015 FINA World Junior Championships for silver, so today’s swim was just .11 of a second off of that impressive race.

Splitting 1:03.50/1:07.84, Wilson scored a new Australian National Age Group Record for 17-year-olds, obliterating the previous record of 2:13.13 held by Aquadot’s Simon Cowley all the way back from 1998. Again just for perspective, the U.S. NAG Record for the two-year age group of 17-18 year-olds is held by Kevin Cordes at 2:10.92.

Not laying down the explosive 50 freestyle that most Aussie swim enthusiasts were hoping for, James Magnussen still won the men’s splash n’ dash in a time of 22.42, just .01 ahead of Ravenswood teammate William Copeland‘s 22.43.

Where Maggie did ignite a spark, however, was as lead-off of his squad’s 400 freestyle relay. 48.85 is what the 24-year-old managed to split on his relay’s opening 100, marking the 1st time Maggie has been sub-49 since his return to competition. Having touched in times ranging from the 49.32 and 49.35 mark at the Victorian Open to the 49.22 he clocked to earn 3rd at this meet, 48.85 is a nice ending to Magnussen’s last meet prior to April’s Trials.

Also impressive in the 400 freestyle relay, however, was young gun Kyle Chalmers‘ anchor leg of 48.05 to help guide Marion Swim Club to a silver medal finish. Earlier in the met, 17-year-old Chalmers earned silver behind McEvoy in the individual 100 freestyle with a time of 48.68.

Additional Men’s Winners:

• Chris Wright took the men’s 100m butterfly in a time of 52.92, a tenth slower than his 52.80 morning swim.
• Travis Mahoney was the men’s 400m IM winner, registering a time of 4:22.91.
• Double World Champion Mitch Larkin registered a 53.14 to easily win the men’s 100m backstroke event.