Australian Short Course Championships: Emily Seebohm Lowers Australian Record

BRISBANE, Australia, July 15. THE second evening of swimming at the Australian Short Course Championships witnessed just the second national record of the year for the Aussies in the meet hosted by Brisbane.

Emily Seebohm turned in a national-record time in the women's 100 back with a winning 56.58. That performance eclipsed the 56.97 set by Marieke Guehrer during the 2009 FINA World Cup stop in Singapore. She also just missed the Commonwealth record of 56.56 set by South Africa's Chanelle Van Wyk last year. Belinda Hocking finished second in 57.67, while Rachel Goh and Guehrer tied for third with matching 58.00s.

"I was still in shock. It didn't sink in until I was up on the medal dais that I got the Australian record. I should have been more excited. I went into the (second) race just thinking about the IM, I totally forgot about the backstroke I switched off from it," Seebohm told Swimming Australia. "It's nice to have the 100m backstroke over and done with, a little bit of pressure is off, so that I can relax and have fun with the rest of it. It will be really exciting tomorrow night with the 100 free and 100 IM (finals)."

Seebohm also led the women's 100 free semifinal heats with a 53.48, while Guehrer qualified second in 53.54. Seebohm, who will compete in eight individual events this weekend, also led the way in the 100 IM semifinal with a 59.89. Her Commonwealth/Australian record of 58.50 in that event could be in jeopardy.

Jayden Hadler claimed the men's 400 IM title in 4:07.06, while Thomas Fraser-Holmes finished second in 4:07.50. Daniel Tranter touched third overall in 4:09.29. Leiston Pickett followed in the women's 50 breast to win in 30.37. Sarah Katsoulis placed second in 30.77, while Sara Marson completed the top three in 31.18.

Ashley Delaney walked home with the men's 100 back title in 51.41, while Hayden Stoeckel took second in 51.81. Daniel Arnamnart wound up third in the event with a 52.14. Christian Sprenger topped the men's 100 breast finale in 58.75, while Brenton Rickard took second in 59.14. Kenneth Toth snared third in 59.70.

Chris Wright snatched the men's 100 fly title in 51.17, while Daniel Lester touched second in 51.71. Adam Pine placed third overall in 51.82. Katie Goldman surfaced from the women's 800 free with a winning time of 8:12.65, just missing the Australian record of 8:12.32 set by Kylie Palmer in 2008. She did manage to set an Australian All-Comers record. Blair Evans finished second in 8:14.86, while Jessica Ashwood rounded out the podium with an 8:22.06.

In semifinal swims, Felicity Galvez led the way in the women's 50 fly with a 25.78, while Kyle Richardson topped the men's 50 free heats with a 21.81. Ashley Callus (21.82) and Matthew Abood (21.89) also finished among the top qualifiers in the semifinal.

In multi-disability events, Madeline Scott won the women's 50 fly with a 31.81, while Matthew Cowdrey was listed first in the men's 50 fly with a 26.61. Kayla Clarke was listed first in the women's 200 IM with a 2:36.74, while Peter Leek was listed first in the men's 200 IM with a 2:17.16.

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