James Magnussen Nearly Posts First Unshaved 47-Second 100 Free in Brisbane

BRISBANE, Australia, June 21. THE second pf three sessions of the Australian time trials featured some impressive swims by the Australian world championship team on the road to next month's world championships.

Some of the swimmers are racing certain events three times, similar to prelims, semifinals and finals in Barcelona. National team head coach Leigh Nugent told Australian media that the goal is not to post fast times but fix technical aspects of racing in time to be their best at worlds.

James Magnussen nearly cracked the 48-second barrier today in the men's 100 free with a 48.12, faster than the 48.50 he posted in yesterday's session. He nearly became the only person to swim a 47-second 100 free unshaved, with Magnussen (47.53) and Vlad Morozov (47.93) posting the sole swims under 48 in 2013. Nathan Adrian still holds the fastest unshaved 100 free of the year with his 48.07 from the Arena Grand Prix in Santa Clara.

The Campbell sisters, Cate and Bronte, continue to be two bright spots on the women's side of the competition. After posting a 53.38 in the 100 free in Friday evening's session, Cate chose to swim the 50 free on Saturday morning and posted a 24.77. It's just half a second slower than her best time of the year, a 24.27 from April that leads the world. Younger sister Bronte was right behind with a 24.87, closer to her best of 24.59 of 2013.

Ellen Gandy, who missed out on selection for the world championship team in her first year as an Australian, got faster in the 200 fly today. After posting a 2:10.69 yesterday, Gandy swam a 2:09.74, her fastest of the year and good enough to get into the top 20 in the world for 2013, bumping Kei Hoshiba out of the 20th-place spot.

Alicia Coutts, the world leader in the 200 IM with a 2:08.63, posted a 2:12.36 today to win the event. In Friday's session, Coutts posted a 58.39 in the 100 fly. Coutts will attempt another 100 fly/200 IM double in Barcelona, similar to what she did in Shanghai in 2011 where she won silver in the 100 fly and 200 IM.

Daniel Tranter showed some consistency in his 200 IM performances in the meet. On Friday, he swam a 1:59.54, and he won the event again with a 1:59.57. On Friday, he was joined by Kenneth To in the sub-2:00 club in the meet with a 1:59.81.

Click the link below for more results from the second session.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x