Australian Commonwealth Games Trials: Day One Finals: Mackenzie Upsets Lenton in a Close Tussle for 200 freestyle Title.

By Stephen J. Thomas

MELBOURNE, Australia, January 30. LIBBY Lenton was looking the goods coming into tonight’s 200 freestyle final, but it was the determination and experience of middle-distance specialist Linda Mackenzie that took the race.

As expected, Lenton, with her sprint background, took the race out fast – .16 under the world record split in 26.98. As the race unfolded Lenton held a clear lead on the field but had dropped well behind world record pace (+1.45 at the 150) and it was clear she was not going to steam away from the field on this occasion. However, it was the 22-year-old Mackenzie (pictured) who came home easily the strongest in the final 50, touching in a PR of 1:58.49 to edge out Lenton in 1:58.53.

Notably, it was Mackenzie’s third consecutive title in this event. Sixteen-year-old rising star Bronte Barrett clocked an eye-catching 1:59.38 PR to take third place. Six of the eight finalists made it under the two-minute barrier. Jodie Henry, the world record-holder over the two-lap race, just missed the final finishing ninth in the prelims after being encouraged to swim the race as a "warm-up" by new coach John Fowlie.

Brooke Hanson showed she is back on track after a disrupted preparation, matching Mackenzie’s effort to take her third consecutive title in the 200 individual medley. Hanson produced her signature strong second half to convincingly beat world champs bronze medalist Lara Carroll in a PR 2:13.09 to 2:14.06. Outstanding 17-year-old prospect Stephanie Rice came home strongly just behind Carroll to record 2:14.09 and move to fourth fastest all-time Aussie performer. Another Queensland 17-year-old Lorna Tonks clocked 2:15.85 to win the "B" final, moving her to ninth fastest on the all-time list.

West Aussie Travis Nederpelt swam a very controlled race to take the lead under the flags in the final of the men’s 200 butterfly, recording a PR of 1:56.84 – his best time for two years and his second consecutive title over the four laps. The effort moved Nederpelt to second fastest all-time Aussie performer over the gruelling race. Early leader Andrew Richards tired in the final stages to allow his AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) training partner Josh Krogh to edge past at the wall for second. It was a personal triumph for the 23-year-old Krogh who had been in the doldrums for some time. He slashed almost one full second of his previous best set way back in 2001, to touch in 1:57.41 with Richards in 1:57.52. Queensland 18-year-old Nick D’Arcy clocked an excellent 1:58.08 to be next to the wall.

The men’s 400 freestyle has been one of the races to watch at the Nationals for almost a decade with that great duo of Thorpe and Hackett dominating the Aussie and global scene. But not tonight! Thorpe has skipped this event to concentrate of the 100-200 double and Hackett is recovering from shoulder surgery. It was left to Thorpe’s club mate Craig Stevens to take out the event in a solid 3:50.33 – a time that would have ranked 25th globally in 2005. Promising teenager Nick Ffrost produced a good swim to take the silver in a PR of 3:51.93 from AIS teammate Brendon Hughes 3:53.59.

In the semi-finals tonight:

World record-holder Jade Edmistone failed to lower her world record of 30.31, set this morning in the prelims, but still produced the second fastest time in history this evening with a 30.37 effort. The 23-year-old Edmistone has now produced seven of the top ten times in history in the event.

An ominous sign for the longer races was the performance of 200 breaststroke world record-holder Leisel Jones in posting the second fastest qualifying time of 30.85. Jones looks in sensational form and moved past world champs bronze medalist Brooke Hanson to second on the Aussie all-time list. Tarnee White (31.16) qualified third with Hanson fourth in 31.60.

Aussie dorsal king Matt Welsh was fastest in the 50 backstroke, clocking 26.00 despite a poor touch ahead of Ethan Rolff (26.01) and promising teens Andrew Lauterstein (26.04) and Daniel Arnamnart (26.13). Alice Mills (26.86) was sharpest in the semis of the 50 fly, finishing ahead of AIS training partner Felicity Galvez (26.91) and world champ Danni Miatke (27.08).

Finals Results

Women’s 200m freestyle
1. Linda MacKenzie 1:58.49
2. Lisbeth Lenton 1:58.53
3. Bronte Barratt 1:59.38
4. Kelly Stubbins 1:59.61
5. Shayne Reese 1:59.80
6. Ashleigh McCleery 1:59.87
7. Melanie Schlanger 2:00.01
8. Elka Graham 2:00.30

Men’s 400m freestyle
1. Craig Stevens 3:50.33
2. Nick Ffrost 3:51.93
3. Brendon Hughes 3:53.59
4. Ephraim Hannant 3:53.97
5. Kurtis MacGillivary 3:54.83
6. Hayden Jackson 3:56.34
7. Ky Hurst 3:58.06
8. Andrew Thompson 4:00.29

Women’s 200m individual medley
1. Brooke Hanson 2:13.09
2. Lara Carroll 2:14.06
3. Stephanie Rice 2:14.09
4. Jennifer Reilly 2:16.92
5. Ashleigh McCleery 2:17.22
6. Talia Goddard 2:18.71
7. Katie Bird 2:19.30
8. Kristy Morrison 2:19.81

Men’s 200m butterfly
1. Travis Nederpelt 1:56.84
2. Josh Krogh 1:57.41
3. Andrew Richards 1:57.52
4. Nick D’Arcy 1:58.08
5. Josh Minogue 2:00.52
6. Nic Donald 2:00.95
7. Nick Cordner 2:01.39
8. Mitchell Lawless 2:04.09

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