2015 Georgina Hope Foundation Australian Age Swimming Championships
- Dates: Monday, April 13 – Monday, April 20, 2015
- Times: prelims 9 am, finals 6 pm
- Location: Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC), Sydney
- Live Results: Available
- Championship Central
Barely a week after he broke the Australian age group record in the 200 breast with 2:13.33 in prelims at Australian National Championships, 16-year-old Matthew Wilson (SOPAC) was back in action, lowering his time for yet another new record. Wilson cracked the 2:13 barrier for the first time, winning the boys’ 16 200 breast in 2:12.83.
Wilson missed the podium by one place at the senior national meet, and in post-race interviews, he admitted, “It would be nice to get on the podium at Opens (National Championships) next year but I’ll see how I go, I’ll see my progress.” His 2:12.82 would have put him second in last week’s senior nationals meet.
Kyle Chalmers (Marion) and Shayna Jack (Chandler) both put the finishing touches on their respective triple crowns of freestyle events; having already won the 50 and the 100, they both added 200 titles during Thursday’s finals.
For Jack, it was the fourth girls’ 16s gold medal of the championships. In addition to the 100 free on Monday, 50 free on Tuesday, she had also won the 100 back on Wednesday. In the 200 free, her winning time of 1:59.28 was a personal best by .2. “It’s been six months since I did a PB so I’m happy with that,” Jack said. “It’s the third time I’ve been under two minutes so I can’t complain.
While Jack dominated the 200 from start to finish, second-seeded Tamsin Cook (West Coast) gave her a run for it, pulling within a second of the leader at the 150 after having been down 1.3 at the 100. Cook finished second in 2:00.63, just a tad off her seed time. Elyse Woods from Melbourne Vicentre was third in 2:02.64.
Chalmers also scored a new personal best with his winning time of 1:49.04. Focused more on the sprint events at last week’s national championships, this was a much tougher event for the 16-year-old. He conceded, “That [the 200m] was a lot harder than the other races I have done here in the last two weeks. I enjoy doing it but after a couple of weeks racing I am a bit tired and probably wasn’t racing my best.”
Still, he was entered with a 1:52, so the sub-1:50 puts him at a whole new level. Chalmers was 1.4 seconds faster than last year’s event winner. Jack Cartwright from St Peters Western came in second in 1:53.22 while Cameron Usher from TSS Aquatics was third in 1:53.45.
All live results available here.
Other Noteworthy Day Four Results
- Elijah Winnington of Palm Beach Currumbin won his fifth medal on Thursday, crushing the field in the 400 free with a best-by-two-seconds 4:00.25. That moves him ahead of Mack Horton, and up to number two behind Ian Thorpe, on the all-time list for Australian 14-year-old boys. Aaron Mansfield of Kawana Waters was second in 4:09.15 and West Coast’s Raife Sillence, third, in 4:12.96.
- Ariarne Titmus of Launceston rocketed to the number three position on the all-time list for 14-year-old list girls with her 5.8-second drop in the 400 free. Titmus won the event with 4:13.53, six seconds ahead of second-place Bethan Mounfield of Fleurieu (4:19.17).
- The top five finishers in the girls’ 16 200 breast all came in under last year’s winning time of 2:38, and the top 8 were all sub-2:40s. Calypso Sheridan (Brisbane Grammar) led the way with 2:31.35, taking 3.7 seconds off her previous best. Mikayla Smith (Nunawading) finished second with a PB of 2:32.27.
- 17-year-old Clyde Lewis of Brothers dropped nearly 3 seconds to win the boys’ 17-18 200 IM with 2:02.66, making him the third-fastest in history. Theodoros Benehoutsos (Melbourne Vicentre) just out-touched James Traiforos (Trinity Grammar), 2:04.10 to 2:04.12, for second.
- Oliver Nash (Melbourne Vicentre) slashed 5.5 seconds from his seed time to win the boys’ 12-13 200 fly with the second-fastest ever recorded for a 13-year-old, 2:09.37. Nash missed the age group record by a scant .18, but jumped in front of Elijah Winnington by .26.
- In the boys’ 14 50 free, the top 8 all came to the wall in under 25 seconds, and the four fastest were all under last year’s winning time. Top-seeded Simon Geldenhuys of Whyalla got the win in 24.27, a PB by .5.