Aussie Age Champs: 17-year-old Henry Allan Produces The Swim Of The Meet, winning the 50m backstroke in 24.51
Australian swimming’s latest wonder boy, 17-year-old Henry Allan, has tonight produced the swim of the meet at the Australian Age Championships on the Gold Coast, with a sizzling world class time of 24.51 in the 50m backstroke.
After tearing apart Australian records set by a backstroking who’s who earlier in the meet – including Aaron Peirsol, Mitch Larkin and Isaac Cooper – he has saved his best till last.
RACING UP THE RANKINGS: Henry Allan has left his mark on the 2026 Australian Age. PHOTO COURTESY: Bec Ohlwein/Swimming Australia
The super-talented Victorian high school student setting a new 50m backstroke All-Comers record of 24.84 in the morning heats.
Then returning at night to lower the time again in the final, but also breaking two-time Olympian and 2024 world champion Isaac Cooper’s Australian 17-year’s record.
It was also the second fastest time ever clocked by an Australian with Cooper holding the Australian open record at 24.12. Allan charging up the Australian and World rankings in quick time over the last 12 months.
50 Metres Backstroke:
World Record 23.55 Kliment Kolesnikov
Australian All-Time Top ten
24.12 Isaac Cooper
24.51 Henry Allan
24.54 Ben Treffers
24.63 Mitch Larkin
24.72 Robert Hurley
24.73 Ashley Delaney
24.83 Daniel Arnamnart
24.97 Zac Incerti
24.99 Matt Welsh
24.98 William Yang
Allan, coached by John Jordan in Bendigo East (150km north west of Melbourne in central Victoria) sat in 10th place before his 24.65 second-place finish in the US Open meet, pushed him up to fourth before this meet.
(The US Open meet was won by US World Short Course champion Shane Casas with Hungarian superstar, 200m backstroke gold medallist from Paris, Hubert Kos.)
Allan also currently sits third on the 2026 World Rankings behind Chinese legend, five-time Olympic medallist and two-time world champion Jiayu Xu (24,36) and Italian record holder and Paris Olympian Michele Lamberti (24.38) – son of Italy’s first world champion Giorgio Lamberti.
And ahead of reigning South African world champion in the 100m backstroke and silver medallist in the 50 and 200m backstroke Peter Coetze.
His time of 24.51 fast enough to have finished fourth in the 2025, 2024 and 2023 World Aquatics Championship – and third in 2019 – a nice string to his bow with the 50 form strokes on the program for the first time in LA28.
Allan opened up his Australian Age campaign with a National Age record in the boys’ 17/18yr 200m backstroke heat, clocking a time of 1:57.56 where he smashed Mitch Larkin’s old mark of 1:59.09 from 2011.
Later that day in the finals, he went even quicker and broke USA Olympian Aaron Peirsol’s All-comers record (1:57.35) that stood for almost 26 years.
Allan, then erased Cooper’s 17-years boys 100m backstroke All-Comers record, clocking 53.45 to sneak under Cooper’s mark of 53.49 by just 0.04secs.
And for good measure the 17-year-old unleashed a tidy 1:48.80 to win his age group’s 200m freestyle. And it’s only the beginning….Allan has set himself up for what could well be a Trials Meet to remember for the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre.
HIT RECORD: Leny Grigor claims his second National mark. Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)
ON SONG: Leny Grigor and Lukas Dunn. Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)
MEDLEY DUET: Leny Grigor and Lukas Dunn. Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)
In other highlights….Gold Coast powerhouse Leny Grigor (Somerset, QLD) timed his 16 Years 200IM to perfection to claim his second National record of the meet, touching first in 2:00.53, ahead of Lukas Dunn (Knox Pymble, NSW) 2:01.30 who also went under the old mark of 2:02.17, with Christopher Montana (Trinity Grammar, NSW) holding on for bronze in 2:03.39.
For Grigor (pictured above in a series of images taken by Delly Carr, Swimming Australia) it was his second big swim of the week after shattering the 16 Years Boys’ 400m IM National Age record set in 2010 by triple Olympian and world champion Mitch Larkin. From the old mark of 4:20.48 to Grigor’s 4:16.15, he has been on fire this week and showing the benefits of the specialist coaching from the likes of master coach Leigh Nugent.
MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN: Lucy Ma’s special claim on the Gold Coast. Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Meanwhile non-stop multi-talented duo, Lucy Ma (MLC Aquatic, VIC) and Molly Young (Carlile, NSW) both claimed their respective seventh gold medals of the meet. For Ma, her seventh gold was awarded after her performance in the 14 Years Girls’ 200m breaststroke, clocking 2:33.25, almost five seconds ahead of the field.
Western Sydney’s Zoe Durbridge (Norwest, NSW) in 2:37.74) claimed silver just ahead of Tess Izard (Yarra Plenty, VIC) in 2:38.45.Young picked up her seventh in the 13 Years Girls’ 800m freestyle with another dominating display. Young stopped the clock at 8:55.83, well ahead of her Carlile clubmate Mia Hoo (9:11.41) and St Peters Western’s Sieanna Teevan(9:25.98)
IN A LEAGUE OF HER OWN: Lilla Ribot-De-Bresac. Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
And Lilla Ribot-De-Bresac (Newmarket Racers, QLD) delivered with a classy 1:08.02 to take the 16 Years 100 breaststroke.
The grand-daughter of former high profile Australian Rugby League player and administrator, John Ribot De Bresac – the first Brisbane Broncos CEO John Ribot, architect of the Melbourne Storm NRL conglomerate and a member of the 1982 “Invincibles” Rugby League Kangaroo squad, won gold to claim the breaststroke triple.
And by doing so staking a claim for the 2026 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships to be held in Vancouver, Canada, August 17-20, with then team announced tonight.
Lilla saying: “I started at Newmarket when I was about eight and Lizzy Dekkers was training there. And she went on to swim at the Olympics in Paris and that’s pretty cool to think we shared the same pool.”
MIGHTY QUINN: Up close with Victorian young gun Quinn Richards. Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)
Quinn Richards (Camberwell Grammar Aquatic, VIC) underlined his name again for selectors with a second National record of the week.
Richards lowered the 14-year boys’ 50m breaststroke National age record of 29.52 (held by Somerset, QLD’s Koa Stotz) to his 29.28.
Sunshine Coaster Noah Ellison (Cooroy Dolphins, QLD) placed second in 29.83 with Singapore’s Zavier Tay(Warringah Aquatic, NSW) third in 29.91.
Earlier in the meet Richards became the first 14-year-old Australian to break 1:04 in the 100m breaststroke, clocking 1:03.65 to break Stotz’s previous mark of 1:04.21.
With North Queensland’s 13-Year-old Sunny Kito (Cairns Stingrays, QLD) adding the 1500m freestyle to his 200/400IM victories, clocking 17:04.28, from Luca Boersma (Miami, QLD) 17:16.56 and Elijah Lamont (Yarra Plenty, VIC) 17:22.02 third.
See full results: https://liveresults.swimming.org.au/sal/2026Age/