2018 QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Saturday, December 15th – Friday, December 21st
- 12/15 – relays only; 12/20 & 12/21 – age groupers
- Brisbane Aquatic Center
- LCM
- Meet Site
- SwimSwam Meet Preview
- Entry List
- Live Stream
- Live Results
The 2018 Queensland Championships continued today in Brisbane with a World Junior Record going down, courtesy of 18-year-old Elijah Winnington. The Bond swimmer crushed a new lifetime best mark of 1:46.13 to take QLD gold, as well as overtake the previous WJR of 1:46.40 set by Russia’s Ivan Girev at last year’s World Junior Championships.
With his effort this evening, which you can read more about here, Winnington took the men’s 17-18 age group 200 free title, in addition to the open title he already won in 1:46.64 earlier in this competition.
The women’s 50m freestyle tonight saw 20-year-old Shayna Jack of St. Peters Western produce the fastest effort, taking gold in a mark of 24.68. She’s been as fast as 24.47, her personal best from this year’s Pan Pac prelims. She wound up winning the B final in Tokyo in a slower 24.70.
Emma McKeon scored the silver just .02 behind Jack this evening, clocking 24.70. The Griffith University Olympic gold medalist earned the Pan Pacs bronze in Tokyo in 24.34.
Rounding out the top 3 in this speedy event was Bronte Campbell, making her post-Commonwealth Breaks meet debut here in Brisbane. C2 already had a solid showing yesterday, taking 3rd in the 100m in 53.98 and followed that up with another respectable performance of 25.19 to take bronze in this 50m free final.
China’s Ning Zetao already made his presence known at this meet with his solid 100m free victory last night in 48.43. But, the 25-year-old 2015 World Champion wasn’t done, taking the 50m free in a mark of 22.40. That held off runner-up Tzen Wei Teong of Singapore, who represented the only other competitor of the field to dip under 23 seconds, stopping the clock in 22.93.
Tzen Wei Teong set his nation’s record just last month, hitting 22.06 at the Singapore stop of the 2018 FINA World Cup Series.
Producing a new personal best in the women’s 200m IM was 22-year-old Kiah Melverton, winner of the 400m freestyle already here at these QLD Championships. Tonight, Melverton powered her way to a gold medal-garnering effort of 2:16.12 to surpass her previous 200 IM PB of 2:17.86 from way back in 2015.
Trinity’s Keryn Clark touched in 2:18.51 for runner-up status, while New Zealand’s Hannah Bates wrangled up bronze in 2:19.26. Of note, Jack was also in the race, finishing 4th in 2:19.70, while Olympian Leah Neale took 6th in 2:23.74.
The men’s 200m IM saw Matthew Wilson battle to the wall with Clyde Lewis, with the pair separated by just .01 when all was said and done. Wilson split 26.00/32.90/33.13/28.22 to finish on top in 2:00.25, while Lewis split 25.44/29.95/36.01/28.86 to touch in 2:00.26. With Wilson being a breaststroke specialist, Lewis had to make up as much ground as possible on the 3 other legs, but Wilson turned it on too hotly in that 3rd lap and kept it under control for the win.
19-year-old Commonwealth Games bronze medalist in the 400m IM, Lewis Clareburt of New Zealand, took bronze in tonight’s 200m IM race in 2:01.77.
In age group news, 15-year-old Thomas Hauck took down a Queensland Record in his age group’s 100m backstroke tonight. After establishing himself as the swimmer to beat with his 57.62 AM effort, the All Saints swimmer cranked out a winning effort of 56.78 to keep the field about 2 seconds back.
Splitting 27.68/29.10, teen Hauck’s time if 56.78 crushed the previous QLD Record of 57.52 held by Robert Gerlach since 2010.
Additional Winners:
- Youth Olympic Games champion Kaylee McKeown was tonight’s 200m freestyle winner for the women’s 17-18 age group, pulling out the victory in 2:01.11.
- 23-year-old USC Spartans’ Mikkayla Sheridan topped the podium in the women’s 200m back in 2:13.42.
- Mingara’s Bradley Woodward earned top status in the 200m back for the men in 1:59.13.
- Korea’s An Sehyeon doubled up on her 100m fly win here with a victory in the 200m fly, beating Aussie Laura Taylor in the process. Sehyeon took the gold in 2:11.53, while Taylor touched in 2:12.83 for silver.
- Just one man was under minutes in the 200m fly, as Charles Cox won in 1:59.55. Clareburt earned silver in 2:00.09 for his 2nd medal of the session.