Victorian Open Championships: Ellen Gandy Shines in Final Day

MELBOURNE, Australia, January 17. GREAT Britain's Ellen Gandy continued a great January training trip in Australia as she clocked a strong time in the women's 200 fly to close out the Victorian Open Championships. The long course meter meet was held in Melbourne this weekend.

Gandy popped the best time of the day with a sterling 2:08.13 in the women's 200 fly. If she was a local, she would have beat the Victorian record of 2:11.81 set by Samantha Hamill back in 2006. She nearly cleared her Allcomers record of 2:07.77 set earlier this month at the Victorian Age Group Championships. Nicole Mee finished second in 2:15.62, while Marni Burger took third in 2:17.00.

Andrew Lauterstein topped the men's 100 fly in 53.53, while Ryan Pini finished second in 53.76. Geoff Huegill claimed third in 54.32, just holding off Mitchell Patterson's 54.47.

Andrea Parculescu surfaced victorious in the women's 1500 free with a time of 17:13.64, while Tess Stevens placed second in 17:17.75. Rachael Mihatsch completed the top three in the distance event with a time of 17:26.33. Ryan Cochrane followed with an easy victory in the men's 1500 free. He touched in 15:35.19, while Shane Asbury touched a distant second in 15:52.29. Dylan Dunlop-Barrett wound up third overall in 15:58.97.

Sarah Katsoulis beat Natasha Waitzer by a full second in the women's 50 breast, 31.47 to 32.47. Samantha Marshall took third in 32.52. Jeremy Meyer claimed the men's 200 breast crown in 2:17.20, while Daniel Crook placed second in 2:19.70. Jeremy Saunders earned third in 2:22.66.

Bronte Barrett cleared 2:00 in the women's 200 free with a swift time of 1:59.87 for the win. Felicity Galvez posted a 2:00.39 for second, while Belinda Parslow garnered third-place honors with a 2:00.79. Ashley Callus clocked a strong time of 22.45 to win the men's 50 free, while Cameron Prosser pocketed second in 22.82. Matthew Abood and Joel Alati tied for third with matching 23.08s.

Alicia Coutts cruised in the women's 200 IM with a time of 2:13.40, while Erica Morningstar finished second in 2:16.39. Chelsea Carpenter rounded out the top three in 2:18.51. Asbury turned his silver from the men's 1500 free into gold in the men's 400 IM with a 4:29.95. Travis Mahoney finished second in 4:32.43, while Sam Ashby grabbed third in 4:35.80.

In an exciting finish, Grace Loh emerged with the women's 50 back title in 29.52. The top six swimmers all went 29 with Rachael Goh (29.57), Kelly Stubbins (29.65), Hayley Baker (29.69), Emily Nicol (29.84) and Amy Cockerton (29.91) all clearing 30 seconds. Benjamin Treffers won the men's 100 back in 55.39 with Ashley Delaney (56.33) and Tommaso D'Orsogna (57.48) completing the podium.

The 400 free relays concluded the meet. Shayne Reese, Belinda Parslow, Katsoulis and Belinda Bennett won the women's event in 3:50.04, while Prosser, Lloyd Townsing, Ryan Nolan and Patrick Murphy took the men's title in 3:25.08.

In multi-disability events, Ellie Cole was listed first in the women's 100 back with a 1:13.36, while Peter Leek earned a first-place listing in the men's 100 free with a 59.08. Jeremy Tidy picked up a first-place listing in the men's 100 back with a 1:05.95, while Cole doubled up with a 1:07.02 in the women's 100 free.

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