2018 Australian Trials: Day Three Prelims Recap

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Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA

After the first two night of finals at the 2018 Australian Trials, Australia’s top swimmers are again vying for a spot on the 2018 Commonwealth Games roster. You can see recaps of all the sessions, including the first two nights of finals, on the 2018 Australia Trials Event Page.

Events:

  • Men 100 Breast SB8 Para Prelims
  • Women 100 Breast SB9 Para Prelims
  • Women 100 Fly Prelims
  • Men 200 Back Prelims
  • Women 50 Breast Prelims
  • Men 50 Breast Prelims
  • Women 200 IM Prelims
  • Men 200 Free S14 Para Prelims
  • Men 200 IM Prelims
  • Men 100 Fly Prelims
  • Women 200 Back Prelims
  • Women 800 Free

Men 100 Breast SB8 Para Prelims

Timothy Disken led all qualifiers through the prelims of the SB8 100 breast prelims with a 1:15.19, about a second and a half off of his seed time of 1:13.24. He has nearly three seconds on the next closest qualifier, 17-year old Timothy Hodge.

Women 100 Breast SB9 Para Prelims

A pair of teenagers led the women’s SB9 100 breast hears, as 17-year old Paige Leonhardt was the top qualifier through prelims with a 1:20.50 just ahead of 14-year old Keira Stephens (1:20.81). Australian record holder Madeline Scott was third out of prelims with a 1:21.56, about 3.5 seconds off her record from 2016.

Women 100 Fly Prelims

Emma McKeon, who is still looking for her first win at this meet after qualifying in the 200 free and 200 fly, led all qualifiers out of prelims with a swift 57.94. McKeon is the Australian record holder in the event. She will be surrounded by Australians Brianna Throssell (58.28) and Madeline Groves (58.69), a qualifier in the 200 fly on the first night of the meet.

Men 200 Back Prelims

Bradley Woodward was the top seed out of the morning’s heats, edging out 100 back champ and Australian record holder Mitch Larkin by .05 with a 1:59.05. Larkin will go into tonight’s finals as the second seed with a 1:59.10. Joining those two under 2:00 this morning were Tristan Hollard (1:59.13), Joshua Beaver (1:59.21), and Jordan Merrilees (1:59.67).

Women 50 Breast Prelims

Leiston Pickett had the fastest time in the sprint breaststroke event this morning, posting a swift 30.77 that was .05 under her seed time. Pickett finished second in last night’s 100 breaststroke to earn a spot on Australia’s Commonwealth Games roster. In second was Jessica Hansen (31.00), while 100 breaststroke champ Georgia Bohl qualified third in 31.04.

Men 50 Breast Prelims

22-year old James Mckechnie had an amazing swim this morning to drop almost a full second from his seed of 28.00 to grab the middle lane in tonight’s final with a 27.02. That is just about a quarter second off of Christian Sprenger’s 2014 Australian record of 26.74. Behind him with a best time was 100 breast champion Jake Packard (27.29), while Tommy Sucipto finished in third (27.56).

Women 200 IM Prelims

Meg Bailey had a huge swim from this morning to earn the top seed out of this morning’s heats, dropping almost 2 seconds from her seed with a final time of 2:13.28. Just behinds her in second will be Blair Evans (2:13.88), while 200 breast champion Taylor McKeown qualified third in 2:14.73.

Men 200 Free S14 Para Prelims

Liam Schluter (1:59.45) and Jack Ireland (1:59.93) were the only two qualifiers from this morning who were under two minutes, finishing just ahead of Mitchell Kilduff (2:00.43) and Australian record holder Daniel Fox (2:00.68).

Men 200 IM Prelims

20-year old Clyde Lewis led all qualifiers through the heats of the 200 IM with a 2:00.46, more than 2 seconds off his seed time but still the fastest time of the field by more than a second. In second heading into finals will be Jared Gilliland (2:01.73) with Travis Mahoney just .01 behind for third (2:01.74).

Men 100 Fly Prelims

Brayden McCarthy dropped about two-tenths off of his seed time of 52.43 to earn the top spot heading into finals with a 52.22. Closet to him tonight will be 26-year old Grant Irvine, who qualified second in 52.51. Irvine was the top seed coming into this meet (51.00) and is the only other qualifier under 53 seconds. Top seed and 200 fly champ David Morgan qualified fourth in 53.05. While that is more than a second off his seed of 51.73, Morgan had a substantial drop from prelims to finals in the 200 fly so it is likely he will be in the mix for a top two spot in finals later today.

Women 200 Back Prelims

100 backstroke champion Emily Seebohm continued to show she is the queen of Australian backstroke, qualifying first in 2:11.33 for tonight’s final. She was the only Australian in the field under 2:12; the next closet was Hayley Baker (2:12.18) who finished second in the 100 backstroke on night one of the meet.

Women 800 Free Prelims

Leah Neale led the early heats of the women’s 800 free, swimming the fastest time in the morning with a 8:45.46. Just behind her was Moesha Johnson with a 8:46.76. The top eight seeds, including 400 free champ and new Australian record holder Ariarne Titmus, will swim in tonight’s final.

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