Welsh Just Misses Second World Mark at Aussie Short Course Champs

By Maggie Ellis

MELBOURNE, Sept. 3. NEWLY-CROWNED 50m backstroke world record-holder, Matt Welsh, clocked the second fastest time of his career to narrowly miss the world 200m backstroke world record on night two of the Telstra Australian Short Course Championships in Melbourne tonight.

Spurred on by his record breaking performance on night one, Welsh dominated the field in the 200m to win gold in 1.51.75, just missing his Australian record of 1.51.62 and 0.58 outside the world record held by the USA's Aaron Piersol.

Under world record pace with 50m to swim, Welsh left the field in his wake, four body-lengths clear of silver medal winner and fellow Telstra Dolphin Ethan Rolff, who touched in 1.56.01.

"I tried to imagine I was out there racing the world record-holder," said Welsh. "Coming home felt okay. It was pretty close."

Bronze went to Andrew Burns of Toongabbie in New South Wales in 1.56.32.

Commonwealth and Pan Pac champion Petria Thomas won gold in a close 50m butterfly final, taking out the race on the touch in 26.48 to defend her title. It is the second win for Thomas at these championships after taking out the 200m butterfly on night one. Tomorrow she will line up in the 400m freestyle.

"It's good to do different events every now and then," she said of the 400m. "I'm enjoying swimming freestyle at the moment, so thought I'd give it a go."

Thomas has now won 10 gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, Pan Pacs and the Australian Short Course – with the hope of more to come over the final two days.

The silver medal went to Commonwealth Games silver medallist Nicole Irving in 26.73, and bronze to Carey Aquatic's Jordana Webb in 26.97

Commonwealth and Pan Pac champion Geoff "Skippy" Huegill fought a close contest with fellow Telstra Dolphin Adam Pine in the men's 50m butterfly, nailing the finish to take gold in 51.45.

The win caps off Huegill's dominance over the distance in the last few months of racing, and speaking afterwards he said he was pleased to swim well. "It's pretty tough to pick yourself up again, so to swim a 51, I'm pretty happy with that."

Pine took silver in 51.57, and Victoria's Jason Cohen, fastest qualifier through the heats and semifinals, had to settle for the bronze in 53.12.

Brooke Hanson backed up her victory in the 50m breaststroke on night one with a hard fought win in the 200m in 2.24.45, pipping fellow Telstra Dolphin and Commonwealth champion Liesel Jones, who took silver in 2.25.04.

Hanson, the defending champion, said she knew Jones would be a tough competitor, and was very pleased to take her second win in two nights before a home crowd. "I love being home in Melbourne and seeing family and friends in the stands," she said.

The bubbly Nunawading swimmer will have an opportunity to take the breaststroke treble when she competes in the 100m later in the week.

The bronze medal went to Telstra Dolphin Kelli Waite of Yeronga Park in Queensland in 2.27.09.

Olympic gold medalist Ashley Callus stormed through the 50m freestyle to win the event for the first time in a quick 21.73. Back in Australia after campaigns in Manchester and Yokohama, Callus was very pleased with the win. "To get up and swim as fast as I have here, I'm very happy."

Asked about the differences between short course and long course racing, Callus replied the two had much common. "Short course or long course, every time you hit the wall you're hurting," he said.

Silver went to Nunawading's Andrew Dyson in 22.30, and bronze to Sydney University's Nathan Rickard in 21.73.

Queensland's Stephen Penfold led from start to finish to win gold and his first national title by two body-lengths in the men's 400m freestyle in 3.43.49, a race that has belonged in recent times to Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe.

The silver medal went to Joshua Krogh of the AIS in 3.47.50, and bronze to West Australian Travis Nederpelt in 3.49.07.

Manly's Elka Graham swam a strong race to take gold in the women's 100m freestyle in 54.10 ahead of Commonwealth and Pan Pac team-mate Alice Mills, who won the silver in 54.69.

Graham, the national champion over 200m long course, was pleased with the win in a race she does not usually contest. "It's pretty fun to win the 100m freestyle. I don't really consider myself a sprinter, more of a middle distance swimmer, so I'm pretty happy," she said after the race.

Bronze went to Carey Aquatic's Shayne Reese in 54.98.

Commonwealth and Pan Pac gold medalist, Dyana Calub, held on to win the women's 100m backstroke in 1.00.34 from fast finishing Telstra Dolphin teammate Kelly Tucker, who took silver in 1.00.45.

Calub described the last few weeks as "phenomenal," still on a high following the Australian women's medley relay team win in Yokohama over the highly fancied team from the United States.

Bronze went to promising West Australian Nicole Seah in 1.00.90.

Amanda Pascoe, Telstra Dolphin and Australian record holder in the event, comfortably won the women's 800m freestyle, finishing in 8.23.48 and 20m ahead of silver medalist and NSWIS stablemate Belinda Wilson, who touched in 8.38.18.

Bronze went to Queensland's Briody Murphy in 8.41.19.

In the men's 100m breaststroke semifinals, Commonwealth Games gold medalist Jim Piper broke the minute to secure lane four in tomorrow night's final in a time of 59.99, ahead of veteran and Pan Pac team-mate Phil Rogers who touched in 1.00.53.

Newcomer James Beasley of New South Wales took out his semifinal in 1.01.15, and will offer strong competition come the final on night three.

Lori Munz of Carey Aquatic set the fastest time in the women's 100m IM semifinals in 1.02.47 and will swim from lane four in tomorrow night's final, just pipping breaststroke champion Brooke Hanson who came second in the first semifinal in 1.02.47.

Munz just missed the Sydney Olympic team after being injured in a car crash two months before the Olympic trials.

Young Commonwealth and Pan Pac gold medallist Alice Mills took out the second semifinal in 1.03.12 ahead of Western Australia's Louise Tomlinson.

Olympian Rob Van Der Zant is the fastest qualifier for tomorrow night's final of the men's 100 IM, winning his semifinal comfortably in a time of 56.09. Alongside him will be Joshua Taylor of the AIS, South Australia's Liam Short, and 400m IM champion from night one Mitchell Bacon.

In the night's other final, Queensland?s Yeronga Park won the men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay in 7.16.39 ahead of City of Perth, which took silver in 7.19.01, and West Coast, which touched home in 7.19.43 for the bronze.


2002 Telstra Australian Short Course Championships

Melbourne, Australia.
September 2-5, 2002

25 meter pool

RESULTS
DAY TWO: September 3

Men's 100m Butterfly – Final

1 HUEGILL, Geoff
Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton SC Inc
QLD, AUS
51.45

2 PINE, Adam
Yeronga Park SC Inc
QLD, AUS
51.57

3 COHEN, Jason
Nunawading
VIC, AUS
53.12

4 SHARP, Robert
City of Perth
WA, AUS
53.50

5 DODD, Tim
Pittwater SC
NSW, AUS
54.11

6 KROGH, Joshua
Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton SC Inc
QLD, AUS
54.23

7 BROOKS, Paul
Macquarie Fields SC Inc.
NSW, AUS
54.77

8 FIELDING, Shane
Waterworx SC
QLD, AUS
54.89

Women's 200m Breaststroke – Final

1 HANSON, Brooke
Nunawading
VIC, AUS
2:24.45

2 JONES, Leisel
Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton SC Inc
QLD, AUS
2:25.04

3 WAITE, Kelli
Yeronga Park SC Inc
QLD, AUS
2:27.09

4 KASOULIS, Sarah
Carey Aquatic
VIC, AUS
2:28.04

5 REGAN, Katie
Redlands SC Inc
QLD, AUS
2:29.89

6 MUNZ, Lori
Carey Aquatic
VIC, AUS
2:31.77

7 RYCHVALSKY, Rebekah
Campbelltown ASC Inc.
NSW, AUS
2:31.88

8 SWANSON, Lara
Clovercrest
SA, AUS
2:32.61

Men's 400m Freestyle – Final

1PENFOLD, Stephen
Miami SC Inc
QLD, AUS
3:43.49

2 KROGH, Joshua
Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton SC Inc
QLD, AUS
3:47.50

3 NEDERPELT, Travis
City of Perth
WA, AUS
3:49.07

4 MACGILLIVARY, Kurtis

CAN
3:50.07

5 SANTACATERINA, Josh
Nepean SC Inc.
NSW, AUS
3:53.01

6 AFFLECK, Andrew
Gardens SC Inc
QLD, AUS
3:53.03

7 GLUCINA, Matthew
Victoria Park
WA, AUS
3:53.41

8 CLELAND, Grant
The Hills SC
NSW, AUS
3:54.70

Women's 100m Freestyle – Final

1 GRAHAM, Elka
Manly ASC
NSW, AUS
54.10

2 MILLS, Alice
Chandler SC Inc
QLD, AUS
54.69

3 REESE, Shayne
Carey Aquatic
VIC, AUS
54.98

4 THOMSON, Kirsten
Sydney University SC
NSW, AUS
55.17

5 RYAN, Sarah
Western Sharks
SA, AUS
55.23

6 HUNT, Cassie
Chandler SC Inc
QLD, AUS
55.88

7 MUNZ, Lori
Carey Aquatic
VIC, AUS
56.21

8 MITCHELL, Melissa
Campbelltown ASC Inc.
NSW, AUS
56.49

Men's 200m Backstroke – Final

1 WELSH, Matt
Melbourne Vicentre
VIC, AUS
1:51.75

2 ROLFF, Ethan
Kingscliff ASC
NSW, AUS
1:56.01

3 BURNS, Andrew
Toongabbie SC Inc.
NSW, AUS
1:56.32

4 LUCAS, Adam
West Coast
WA, AUS
1:57.31

5 ANDERSON, Ashley
CQ Aquajets SC Inc
QLD, AUS
1:59.13

6 BUSH, Mark
Southside Wesley
WA, AUS
1:59.20

7 BACON, Mitchell
Norwood
SA, AUS
1:59.63

8 BEATON, Adam
Swan Hills
WA, AUS
2:02.35

Women's 100m Backstroke – Final

1 CALUB, Dyana
Kingscliff ASC
NSW, AUS
1:00.34

2 TUCKER, Kelly
Manly ASC
NSW, AUS
1:00.45

3 SEAH, Nicole
Fremantle Port
WA, AUS
1:00.90

4 LEANE, Karina
Norwood
SA, AUS
1:00.95

5 GOH, Rachel
Melbourne Vicentre
VIC, AUS
1:01.09

6 MORGAN, Melissa
Burnside
SA, AUS
1:01.43

7 ADCOCK, Fran
Norwood
SA, AUS
1:01.81

8 ZIMMER, Tayliah
Warrnambool
VIC, AUS
1:02.23

Men's 50m Freestyle – Final

1 CALLUS, Ashley
Redlands SC Inc
QLD, AUS
21.73

2 DYSON, Andrew
Nunawading
VIC, AUS
22.30

3 RICKARD, Nathan
Sydney University
NSW, AUS
22.31

4 WALLS, Richard
Nunawading
VIC, AUS
22.53

5 CROOK, Nathan
Carey Aquatic
VIC, AUS
22.61

6 PIPER, Sean
Commercial SC Inc
QLD, AUS
22.67

7 FLOUCH, Casey
Commercial SC Inc
QLD, AUS
22.96

8 MCDONALD, Ray
Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton SC Inc
QLD, AUS
23.01

Women's 50m Butterfly – Final

1 THOMAS, Petria
Ginninderra SC
NSW, AUS
26.48

2 IRVING, Nicole
Pelican Waters Caloundra SC Inc
QLD, AUS
26.73

3 WEBB, Jordana
Carey Aquatic
VIC, AUS
26.97

4 GALVEZ, Felicity
Wilkinson SC
NSW, AUS
27.20

5 CHELLINGWORTH, Nichola
Southern Crawl
QLD, AUS
27.20

6 HOUGHTON, Melanie
Chandler SC Inc
QLD, AUS
27.37

7 GUEHRER, Marieke
River City SC
QLD, AUS
27.49

8 CORKRAN, Kate
Yeronga Park SC Inc
QLD, AUS
27.55

Women's 800m Freestyle – Timed Final

1 PASCOE, Amanda
Campbelltown ASC Inc.
NSW, AUS
8:23.48

2 WILSON, Belinda
Toongabbie SC Inc.
NSW, AUS
8:38.18

3 MURPHY, Briody
Chandler SC Inc
QLD, AUS
8:41.19

4 AFFLECK, Jessica
Gardens SC Inc
QLD, AUS
8:42.70

5 GORMAN, Melissa
Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton SC Inc
QLD, AUS
8:42.98

6 WALKER, Meagan
Elizabeth Aquatic
SA, AUS
8:46.94

7 SMITH, Tammie
Newman Churchlands
WA, AUS
8:47.87

8 HUNTER, Nicole
Tattersalls Aquatic
TAS, AUS
8:49.27

Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay – Final

1 YERONGA PARK QLD A

7:16.39
splits
DUNNE, Leon
1:47.75
BOARD, Brad
1:50.96
VAN DER ZANT, Rob
1:47.75
MEWING, Andrew
1:49.93

2 CITY OF PERTH WA A

7:19.01
splits
MATKOVICH, Antony
1:47.53
NEDERPELT, Jarrad
1:53.75
SHARP, Robert
1:48.00
NEDERPELT, Travis
1:49.73

3 WEST COAST WA A

7:19.43

4 NUNAWADING, VIC A

7:29.17

5 MLC AQUATIC, VIC A

7:42.83

6 TATTERSALL'S AQUATIC, TAS A

7:43.86

7 SLC AQUADOT, NSW A

7:44.25

SWAN HILLS WA A

DQ

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