Kyle Chalmers Wins 5th Gold; Thorpe’s Record Still Stands

Saturday was the final day of the 2013 Australian Age Championships in Adelaide, South Australia, and with the spectacular meet that 14-year old Kyle Chalmers has had, there was a lot of anticipation about his 200 free final.

That’s because there he would be chasing a legendary Ian Thorpe record from 1997, where he was a 1:50.0. As it turns out, Thorpe really was that good; Chalmers got his 5th event victory of the meet, but couldn’t add a 4th Age Record as he swam to a 1:53.48. That’s still faster than you’ll see by just about any 14-year old (for example, it’s barely ahead of Tom Kremer’s U.S. National Age Group Record).

Springwood’s Matthew Wilson was 2nd in 1:56.22, and Jacob Taylor was 3rd in 1:57.76.

In the girls’ race, Shayna Jack came within half-a-second of Ellese Zalewski’s National Age Record, but she too came up just short with a 2:00.99. That is, however, still a lifetime best for her as she roars toward the Australian senior championships in a few weeks, and yet another big-time 200 free from the young Australian women.

In the 17-18 girls’ 100 free, Olympian Yolane Kukla took the victory in 55.34, followed closely by Southport’s Alexandra Purcell in 55.77. Kotuku Ngawati was 3rd in 56.18, giving the Australians a stiff 18 & under  400 free relay.

In the boys’ edition of the same event, Alexander Graham added a 4th event victory, winning in 49.43. He was one of two swimmers under 50 seconds in the race, alongside another great Southport Olympic swimmer Luke Percy who was 49.71. Percy was the runaway winner of the 50.

Regan Leong, perhaps a tiny bit surprisingly, didn’t join them under that mark; she was 3rd in 50.28. Blake Jones was 4th in 50.37.

In the boys’ 17-18 200 butterfly, Tigersharks swimmer Mitchell Pratt won in 1:57.66. He is the fastest Australian in this event so far in 2013; though he already held that status, this time is almost a second faster than he was at the New South Wales Championships in March.

Full, live results available here.

Other Notable Winners:

• Zac Stubblety-Cook from East Brisbane won the 14-year old boys’ 200 breaststroke in 2:21.81, followed by Springwoods’ Matthew Wilson in 2:22.33. That was within a second of the National Age Record for the winner.
• Sian Whittaker, backstroker extraordinnaire, won the girls’ 15-year olds 200 IM in 2:17.70. Not surprisingly, she won that race with a big back-half. As compared to runner-up Taylor Green (2:19.31), the backstroke leg accounted for more than the entirety of the margin of victory. Alanna Bowles took 3rd in 2:19.34.
• Nic Groenewald won his 3rd event of the meet with a 2:07.03, followed by Mitchell Davenport-Wright in 2:07.87. Groenewald was on record pace, but lost it on the last 50 meters as Davenport-Wright almost ran him down.
• In the girls’ 100 fly, Jemma Schlicht (who swept the 50 and 100 frees already in this meet) won in 59.39: the only swimmer under a minute.
• In the boys’ 100 fly, Perth City’s Damian Fyfe also wrapped his meet with another win as well, taking his 3rd with a 55.55. Dom Richardson was 2nd in 56.05. In some small regard, a bit of the age group power is shifting west to Perth, which is good to see.

Girls 15 100 fly
Boys 15 100 fly