Australian Age Group Swimming Championships: Kyle Chalmers Downs Second Australian Age Group Record

BRISBANE, Australia, April 10. SOUTH Australian Kyle Chalmers has broken his second Australian age group record in as many nights at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre picking up gold in the 100m butterfly at the 2012 Australian Age Championships.

The 13-year-old from Norwood, coached by Peter Bishop, took almost a second off the previous mark held by Olympian Jayden Hadler to add to his 200m freestyle record from night one.

Crashing into the wall in 55.93, a time which should put him in contention for Trans-Tasman selection at the end of the meet, Chalmers took the overall record count to five so far, with the emerging star still to compete in his main event the 100m freestyle.

“I was pretty confident about winning it, it was just the record I was hoping to get and in the end I got it,” said Chalmers.

“It was Jayden Hadler's old record and he made the Australian team for the Olympics so that's a good sign. In training I've been focussing on my back end, making sure I keep up with fitness and strength work and that seems to be working.”

Chalmers was almost four seconds ahead of silver medallist and fellow South Australian Luke Zille (59.52) with Braiden Oates picking up bronze in 59.93.

The girl's 12/13yrs 100m butterfly saw Lucia Lassman pick up her first gold medal of the meet in a time of 1:00.95, with Tamsin Cook (1:03.27) winning her second silver of the championships and Chelsea Gubecka also back on the medal dais in 1:03.62.

In other events…
Girls 16yrs 400m Freestyle

A dual gold medallist in 2011, Leah Neale opened her Australian Age medal count with gold in the 16yrs 400m freestyle in a time of 4:10.99. The CYMS St Edmunds swimmer led by three body lengths at the half way mark and extended that lead over the second half of the race to win ahead of Amelia Gould (4:15.15) and New Zealand's Tabitha Baumann (4:15.21). Ebony Blackstone took bronze in 4:18.93.

Boys 16yrs 400m Freestyle
Gold Coast based Jordan Harrison had to work hard for his first gold medal of the championships, breaking away from the field with 100m to go, to finish in 3:56.44. The Denis Cotterell coached Harrison was too strong for Sean Maloney (3:57.56) from the ACT and Alexander Graham (3:59.42), who added a bronze to his gold from last night.

Girls 14yrs 200m Backstroke
Having dominated the 200m backstroke last year, Amy Forrester from Clayfield Aquatic made it back-to-back titles for the girl's 14yrs hitting the wall in a time of 2:14.05. Forrester's time was more than three seconds quicker than her winning time in the 12/13yrs age group last year, and just outside the Australian age record of 2:13.76 held by Hayley Baker. Forrester was followed into the wall by Sian Whittaker (2:18.03) and Emily Steer from Galston in 2:18.81.

Boys 14yrs 200m Backstroke
Nunawading juggernaut Nicholas Groenewald continued his strong meet with gold in the boy's 14yrs 200m backstroke. Fresh from a new Australian age record in the 200m IM last night, the Dean Bryant coached athlete won the event by four seconds in a time of 2:05.36. Groenewald's time was just outside the Australian age record (2:04.62) and too good for Tristan Ludlow (2:09.37) from Kingscliff and Damian Fyfe (2:10.38) from the City of Perth.

Girls 17/18yrs 100m Backstroke
World Short Course representative Kotuku Ngawati showed her experience to take gold in the 100m backstroke in a time of 1:02.20, from Queenslanders Madison Wilson (1:02.53) and Mikkayla Sheridan in 1:02.59.

Boys 17/18yrs 100m Backstroke
The corresponding boy's event saw Cameron McEvoy pick up a second gold medal of the meet, as the only swimmer to dip under the 56 second mark, hitting the wall in 55.74. McEvoy out swam fellow Olympic debutant Mitch Larkin (56.03), with visiting Kiwi Corey Main coming in third in 56.48, and Robert Gerlach rounding out the medals in 56.98.

Girls 15yrs 200m Butterfly
Waterworx swimmer Megan Gianotti showed her butterfly dominance to win the 200m fly by more than three body lengths in a new personal best time. The 15-year-old, who won the corresponding event last year in a time of 2:13.64, took a second off her 2011 time to secure gold in 2:12.61. Meg Bailey from Hunter NSW, took silver in 2:16.12 with Jasmine Mills third in 2:18.43.

Boys 15yrs 200m Butterfly
Auburn teenager Joachim Bardrum won his maiden gold medal of the Australian Age championships with a dominant display in the boy's 200m fly. Leading from start to finish, Bardrum had to hold on from a fast finishing Hamish McDougall to win in 2:05.35. McDougall took silver in 2:05.56 with Samuel Fowler third in 2:06.66.

Girls 16yrs 100m Breaststroke
Victorian Jessica Hansen won her first gold medal of the meet taking out the girl's 16yrs 100m breaststroke by more than a second in 1:09.57. Hansen was followed into the wall by fellow Victorian Lily Collins from Traralgon in 1:11.24, and Queensland's Tianni Gilmour (1:11.73).

Boys 16yrs 100m Breaststroke
Visiting Kiwi Erik Kahr took out the boy's 100m breaststroke in a time of 1:04.25 with Jesse King from Forster Aquatic sharing the gold in 1:04.34. Joshua Tierney took silver in 1:04.69 with Rory Franks hitting the wall in fourth in 1:05.34.

Girls 15yrs 100m Freestyle
Following on from her success last year, Commonwealth Youth Games multiple gold medallist Ami Matsuo has added another gold medal to her impressive haul after taking out the girl's 15yrs 100m freestyle final in 54.88. The time would have seen her finish eighth at the 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships last month. Matsuo went out fast from the start and extended her lead with 25m to go to claim the title ahead of Southport Olympic's Brittany McEvoy (57.17) and Ryde-Carlile's Sophie Taylor (56.97).

Boys 15yrs 100m Freestyle
Distance specialist Mack Horton established himself amongst the sprinters with an exciting win in the boy's 15yrs 100m freestyle in 51.34. This is Horton's second Age Championship title, after claiming the crown in the 1500m freestyle last night, despite being polar opposites, the 15-year-old posted competitive times in both events. A fast-finishing Horton managed to hold off the 2011 title holder Edward Marks who finished in 52.28, just 0.01 of a second in front of Cameron Jones (52.29) who picked up the bronze medal.

Girls 12-13yrs 200m IM
The girl's 12-13yrs 200m IM final gave Abbey Harkin (2:19.02) her second gold medal of the meet in as many nights. Harkin powered through the final 50m to win by almost two body lengths from Mooloolaba's Chelsea Gubecka (2:21.53). Gubecka's final freestyle lap was too strong for bronze medallist Ella Bond who stopped the clock in 2:22.94.

Boys 12-13yrs 200m IM
Thirteen-year-old Oliver Moody turned it up a notch for the final of the boy's 12-13yrs 200m IM to claim the 2012 title in 2:14.51, nearly three seconds clear of his closest rival Matthew Wilson (2:17.39). Moody made his move in the backstroke and fired home in the freestyle leaving Wilson and Alan Gibson (2:17.55) with silver and bronze.

Girls 16yrs 50m Freestyle
Ellen O'Rourke has taken the girl's 16yrs 50m freestyle title from this year's 100m freestyle champion Brianna Throssell when she touched the wall in 25.22. It all came down to the touch as O'Rourke, Alexandra Purcell and Throssell fought for bragging rights. Purcell clinched the silver medal, just 0.04 behind in 25.26 and Throssell picked up bronze in 25.47.

Boys 16yrs 50m Freestyle
Queensland's Regan Leong has claimed the sprint double after taking out the boy's 16yrs 50m freestyle ahead of 2011 champion, and fellow Queenslander Alex Press. Leong made a strategic stretch for the wall to take the title in 23.25 with Press a fraction behind in 23.28. Isaac Jones was close behind in 23.33 and will add a bronze medal to his silver from the 200m butterfly final last night.

Boys 14yrs 1500m Freestyle
Joshua Parish has claimed his first title in the boy's 14yrs 1500m freestyle final, finishing the race in a promising 16.14.63. Joel Pearson was next home taking the silver in 16:31.89. The battle for bronze came down to the last 50m with Callum Sherington picking up speed in the final stages to take third place with a time of 16:36.51.

Girls 17/18yrs 400m IM
Australian Crawl's Taylor McKeown upgraded from her silver medal in 2011 to Australian Age Champion in the girl's 17-18yrs 400m IM final. McKeown, who took out the girl's 100m breaststroke last night, got the edge over fastest qualifier Keryn McMaster (4:46.37) to come home in 4:45.03. Victorian Samantha Wilkins collected the bronze medal for the second year running with her time of 4:52.21.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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