The first evening of the Oceania Championships in Auckland, New Zealand saw some exciting racing with the young stars from Australia battling more experienced athletes from New Zealand for the top prize. In the end the Kiwi’s collected six gold on the evening compared to the Aussies five.
Australian teammates 15 year old Kyle Chalmers and 18 year old Brianna Trossell took the individual honours in the 50 butterfly. Chalmers won the men’s event in a time of 24.35 while Trossell won the women’s event in a time of 26.51.
The men’s 200 freestyle was an exciting race between Matthew Stanley and Steven Kent who will be teammates on New Zeland’s 4 x 200 freestyle relay in Glasgow. Heading into the final 50 meters Kent had a lead of two one-hundredths of a second, but Stanley came home in the final length just a touch faster, winning the event in a time of 1:49.76. Kent finished second in a time of 1:49.84.
In the women’s event 17 year old Ami Matsuo of Australia took the event in a time of 2:00.19 holding off Samantha Lucie-Smith of New Zealand who finished second hitting the wall in a time of 2:00.70.
16 year old Nicholas Groenewald of Australia dominated the men’s 100 backstroke winning in a time of 56.68. Goenewald was followed by the only two individuals outside of Australia and New Zealand to win medals on the evening.
Makou Alvarez of Hawaii took the silver in a time of 59.14 followed by William Clark of Fiji who finished in a time of 1:00.93.
Laura Quilter of New Zealand took the women’s 100 backstroke in a time of 1:02.13 followed closely by her New Zealand teammate Caroline Baddock who finished second in a time of 1:02.26.
The top spot on the podium for the 200 butterfly event was taken over by the Kiwi’s. Shaun Burnett took the men’s event in a time of 1:59.23 while Samantha Lee won the women’s event in a time of 2:13.39.
Nathan Capp took the men’s 1500 freestyle in a time of 15:38.72.
The two relays provided an incredible amount of excitement. In the mixed 200 freestyle relay the Aussies eked out the win taking the event in a time of 1:37.40 followed by New Zealand who finished in a time of 1:37.53.
But in the final event of the evening, with both nations having won five gold medals to that point, the New Zealand 4 x 100 medley relay team got the best of their Australian counterparts winning the event in a time of 3:55.46. The Aussies finished second with a time of 3:55.68.
Full results can be found here