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Titmus Hits 1:54.66 200 Free To Cap Off Stellar NSW Championships

2022 NEW SOUTH WALES STATE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2022 New South Wales State Open Championships concluded today with Ariarne Titmus producing another impressive performance.

Grabbing the gold in the women’s 200m free, 21-year-old Titmus stopped the clock in a time of 1:54.66. That result beat the field by well over a second, with 17-year-old Olympian Mollie O’Callaghan next in line in 1:56.29 and Kiah Melverton also on the podium in 1:56.89.

As for Titmus, the Dean Boxall-trained star opened in 56.14 and brought it home in 58.52 with her 1:54.66 representing the 5th fastest time of her career. Titmus owns the Aussie national record in the 1:53.09 she ripped at last year’s Olympic Trials.

In Tokyo, Titmus topped the podium in a remarkable 1:53.55. Her time here still would have captured bronze, beating Canada’s Penny Oleksiak 1:54.70.

Also of note, rising star O’Callaghan’s 1:56.29 checks in as her 2nd fastest time to date, sitting only behind the 1:55.11 posted in Tokyo.

25-year-old Kiah Melverton followed up her 400m free best time from yesterday with another career-fastest result here for bronze. Never before having been under 1:57, 25-year-old Melverton posted a mark of 1:56.89 to continue her promising momentum into the World Championships Trials.

Big gun Kaylee McKeown topped the podium two more times before this meet was done, with the 20-year-old taking both the 200m IM and the 50m back.

In the former, the Griffith athlete earned a time of 2:10.64 while she clocked 27.61 in the latter. She owns personal bests of 2:08.19 and 27.16, respectively.

The reigning 200m breaststroke Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook was also in the water, taking on his bread-and-butter event. After posting a morning result of 2:09.01 to claim the top seed, the 23-year-old produced a mark of 2:08.38 to ultimately win the gold.

Splitting 1:03.05/1:05.33, ZSC represented the only man to dip under 2:10. Former World Record holder Matt Wilson was the next-closest competitor, hitting 2:10.76 for silver.

ZSC has already been as fast as 2:07.00 as recently as December when he crushed that mark at the Queensland Championships.

Additional Winners:

  • Mitch Larkin got it done in the men’s 100m back, producing an effort of 54.64 to get to the wall narrowly ahead of Joshua Edwards-Smith. Edwards-Smith was just .06 shy of gold, hitting 54.70 to round out the top 3.
  • Olympian Se-Bom Lee scored a time of 4:15.91 in the 400m IM to beat out Tokyo bronze medalist in the event, Brendon Smith. Smith posted 4:16.45 tonight as runner-up.
  • 17-year-old Elizabeth Dekkers reaped gold in the 200m fly, her signature event, putting up a solid 2:08.85. That’s not terribly far from her career-quickest of 2:07.25, a time she logged at last year’s Aussie Age Championships.
  • Olympian Matt Temple was the fastest 100m flyer on the men’s side with his 51.83 while Chelsea Hodges ripped a mark of 30.17 in the 50m breast. Hodges’ time shaved .03 off of her own previous PB of 30.20.
  • Freestyle ace Lani Pallister produced a mark of 16:03.95 to win the women’s 1500m freestyle tonight. That represents the 19-year-old’s 2nd fastest time to date, resting only behind her PB of 15:58.86 from the 2019 FINA World Junior Championships.

											
										

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Verram
2 years ago

Any news on Cameron McEvoy? Has he retired ? Glad to see Mitch Larkin back in the pool though

Simpyvonsimp
2 years ago

Hopefully no walls were harmed this time

jeff
2 years ago

Titmus was 1:53.50 in Tokyo but close enough

Grey
Reply to  jeff
2 years ago

Speaking of the 1:53 Trials and Tokyo times, has Titmus ever explained why she had platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections in both her shoulder and HIP (???) for a shoulder tendon injury in the lead-up to Tokyo, per recent SW reporting? The hip injection makes no medical sense, PRP and its resulting growth factor have to go to the injury site for healing. Surely there are a lot of swimmers with shoulder issues who would like to know how an orthobiological PRP injection into a hip (if that is what occurred) plays into rehab of a shoulder issue.

Troyy
Reply to  Grey
2 years ago

You’re a bit late this time.

Verram
Reply to  Grey
2 years ago

Can you show us the article because what you are suggesting is quite defamatory so you better show proof of your insinuations .. are you American by any chance ? I wouldn’t be surprised

Troyy
Reply to  Verram
2 years ago

deleted

Last edited 2 years ago by Troyy
Troyy
Reply to  Verram
2 years ago

The article wasn’t defamatory at all. Just google “platelet rich plasma ariarne titmus”.

Verram
Reply to  Troyy
2 years ago

Talking about “Grey” and the need for an explanation from titmus ?

Yozhik
2 years ago

What has happened to McIntosh in the 400FR prelim? After impressive 3:01 after 300m she finished with 4:28.29.
Or it is just a wrong reporting?

Team Regan
Reply to  Yozhik
2 years ago

She may have taken the last lap easy and just have gone all out 300. Sometimes coaches will have you do that, so you can save energy for the finals if you are already on pace

Yozhik
Reply to  Team Regan
2 years ago

Good if it is so, but 1:27 for 100 is VERY easy risking to miss final. On the other hand the field was very weak where the second final qualifier was 4:22 only.

CanSwim13
Reply to  Team Regan
2 years ago

Yeah looking at splits, she paced the first 300 and then shut it down for the last 100m

Awsi Dooger
Reply to  Yozhik
2 years ago

The coaching change has taken a toll

ScovaNotiaSwimmer
Reply to  Yozhik
2 years ago

Looks like she’s off to Florida now, so no finals swim tonight. Maybe just working on her pacing this morning and not worried about getting a new PR right now.

Kelsey
Reply to  ScovaNotiaSwimmer
2 years ago

Maybe they wanted to guage where they think she’s at in the 400 but not give too much away

There's no doubt that he's tightening up
2 years ago

Emily Se-Bom Lee is the Aussie Michael Andrew Wilson

Yozhik
2 years ago

How fast things are going on in W200FR now. Not long time ago it was one of the most stagnated discipline in competitive swimming. Missy Franklin was #4 all time performer with her 1:54.83 after wrapped in high-tech suit Pellegrini, Schmitt and Muffat. And today Titmus’ strong 1:54.66 cannot even get to the list of best performances (25 entries). It’s not easy to adjust that fast to new standards saying: “Well, not bad at all”. 🙂

jamesjabc
Reply to  Yozhik
2 years ago

She matched her own time that won silver at 2019 worlds but now in season. The tales of her decline were exaggerated, it seems.

Yozhik
Reply to  jamesjabc
2 years ago

Nobody is talking about Titmus’ decline and I’m pretty sure nobody wants it. Just sharing my feelings that the result many swimmers were only dreaming about just recently is still great now but nothing extraordinary and in no way can be indicator of the form sufficient for the major podium.

Stephen
Reply to  Yozhik
2 years ago

We are 2 months away from when it matters……..she seemed to know what to do at the Olympics.

Last edited 2 years ago by Stephen
Texas Tap Water
Reply to  Yozhik
2 years ago

More Yozhik attacking Titmus, because she beat his God in World Championship and Olympics.

Yozhik
2 years ago

Four swimmers under 1:57 in W200FR! I wish American team was that deep at the beginning of the season.

Jason
Reply to  Yozhik
2 years ago

Yes, very happy with our depth in this event. Looking forward to seeing Mollie’s development, she’s still very young. And Ariarne is young too, may still peak yet.

Robbos
Reply to  Jason
2 years ago

Me too looking forward to Mollie’s development, especially in the 200 free, but also a strong contender in the 100 free & the backstroke events.

Paul
Reply to  Yozhik
2 years ago

Olympics: 1 China, 2 USA, 3 Australia…

Negative Nora (they/them)
2 years ago

Weird swim from ZSC. O’Callaghan Freestyle looking much better than her backstroke. Melverton continuing to drop and drop.

The unoriginal Tim
Reply to  Negative Nora (they/them)
2 years ago

What was wierd about ZSCs swim?

Negative Nora (they/them)
Reply to  The unoriginal Tim
2 years ago

Just took it out a little bit slower than usual but came back about the same as he usually does. I think no matter how fast he takes it out, he’ll always have the final 100 he needs.

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Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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