McKeon Posts Another 53-Range 100 Free, Pallister With 15:54 1500 Free To Close Vic Open

2024 VICTORIAN OPEN LONG COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Friday, February 23rd – Sunday, February 25th
• Melbourne Sports Centres Outdoor Pool (MSAC)
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Live Results
• Livestream

The final day of the 2024 Victorian Open Long Course Championships unfolded today in Melbourne, giving us a glimpse into where several Aussie stars are at with Aussie Nationals taking place in April and Olympic Trials set for June.

Kaylee McKeown fans were disappointed that the 22-year-old wound up not racing today after having been entered in both the women’s 50m back and 200m IM.

Already here at MSAC, McKeown put up a series of impressive performances including a time of 58.19 in the 100m back, 1:07.01 in the 100m breast, 54.35 in the 100m free and 4:06.85 in the 400m free. The latter was quite head-turning, with McKeown entering the sub-4:10 zone for the first time in her career for this off-event.

Australia’s most decorated Olympian of all time Emma McKeon was in the water for this 3rd day, logging yet another imposing result in sprint freestyle.

29-year-old McKeon raced in the heats of the women’s 200m free with the purpose of time-trialing the opening 100m.

McKeon’s split checked in at 53.02, comprised of a 25.42 opener and 27.60 on the back half. That was nearly identical to the 53.00 she posted in the individual 100m freestyle event on night one which positioned her as 4th in the world this season.

With McKeon out of the 200m free final, it was Griffith teammate Lani Pallister who wound up topping the podium.

21-year-old Pallister blasted a time of 1:56.63, far and away the best of the field as the sole competitor under 2:01.

Pallister split 57.08/59.55 to turn in the 5th-fastest time of her career and rank her just outside the season’s top 15 performers worldwide. Her personal best remains at the 1:56.03 notched at last year’s World Championships Trials.

Pallister will be among those vying at least for a coveted spot on the women’s 4x200m free relay for Paris. She was a member of the prelims line up for the event at the 2023 World Championships, registering a 2nd leg of 1:56.83.

Of note, Japan’s Rikako Ikee, who’s been training at Griffith since last October, was entered in the 200m free but wound up not racing today.

Pallister also took on the 1500m free final which saw her produce a winning effort of 15:54.52, the 4th-best outing of her career. She now takes over as the 5th-quickest performer on the season and her time would have captured silver at this year’s World Championships.

William Yang dove back in after taking the men’s 100m free earlier in the competition. Still coming back to form since undergoing back surgery last year, Yang took the 50m free gold this evening in 22.28.

The 25-year-old was lightly quicker in the morning, notching 22.14, a new personal best. His result overtook his prior PB of 22.31 from 2019.

That, paired with his 48.52 100m free result, is promising for what he may be able to produce come June’s Olympic Trials.

With 2024 World Championships silver medalist Cameron McEvoy on track to take the top spot in the 50m free at Trials, Yang enters the conversation regarding who may make a run at slot #2 for Paris. The QT of 21.88 is now within striking distance for Yang given the fact he’s within .26 at this in-season meet.

However, he’ll need to fend off the likes of Thomas Nowakowski who put up a time of 21.89 at last year’s World Championships Trials, as well as Isaac Cooper who placed 5th in Doha with a time of 21.77.

Flynn Southam and Kyle Chalmers are also among those who could vie for the 50m free Olympic roster spot.

Coming back to this Vic Open, Cody Simpson was another standout performer on this final day, winning the men’s 100m fly by nearly a second.

27-year-old Simpson touched in 52.02 to separate himself from Japan’s Kosuke Tsukamoto and Korea’s Kim Jihun, who finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Tsukamoto hit 52.84 while Kim logged 53.04.

As for Simpson, his 52.02 (24.39/27.63) represents his best of the season and among the top 10 performances of his career. In June he’ll be chasing the Australian Qualification Time of 51.17, as well as a top 2 finish, needed to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Additional Winners

• 18-year-old Johann Zymanski topped the men’s 1500m free podium in 15:36.47.
• The women’s 200m fly saw 21-year-old Lucy Dring get it done for gold in 2:13.33.
• Lily Koch of Nunawading, just 15 years of age, notched a mark of 32.61 to top the women’s 50m breast podium. Her faster morning swim of 32.53 ranks her 9th among all Aussies aged 15, all-time.
• As exhibition swimmers, former world record holder Matt Wilson and Joshua Yong hit the quickest times of the men’s 200m breast field. Wilson touched in 2:11.31 while Yong was also under the 2:12 threshold in 2:11.96.
• Isabella Boyd won the women’s 200m IM by over 4 seconds, clocking 2:13.73.
• The men’s 400m IM saw William Petric produce a time of 4:18.38 for the gold. He owns a lifetime best of 4:14.48 from last December and will need to be even quicker than that at Trials where a minimum time of 4:12.50 is needed to make the Olympic squad.
• Olivia Lefoe took the women’s 50m back in 28.91 while Zac Dell won the men’s 100m back race in 55.54 this evening.