Aussie Olympian Matt Temple Smashes Own 100 Butterfly National Record at Japan Open
Tokyo Olympian Matt Temple has tonight rocketed into medal contention for next year’s Paris Games, smashing his own Australian record in the 100m butterfly in a time of 50.25 on the final night of the Japan Open in Tokyo.
JUST FOR THE RECORD; Matt Temple smashes his own Australian National Record in the 100m butterfly. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)
The 24-year-old unsung hero of the Australian Dolphins became the sixth fastest swimmer in history in a time that would have seen the boy from Marion, SA win silver in this year’s World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.
Temple took 0.20secs off his own National mark of 50.45, set when he won the 2021 Olympic Trials in Adelaide, going on to finish equal fifth in the Olympic final.
Temple, who trains and works as a tradie alongside his best mate, Olympic and World Champion Kyle Chalmers, under coach Peter Bishop, finished fourth in this year’s World Championship final – missing bronze by 0.35.
The quiet achiever and a mainstay of Australia’s relay teams since bursting onto the Tokyo Olympic team, has won just one individual international medal – the 2022 Commonwealth silver he shared with England’s James Guy and behind Canadian gold medallist and world championship silver medallist Josh Liendo.
Now the only swimmers to have swum faster than Temple are:
Caeleb Dressel (USA) 49.45
Kristof Milak (HUN) 49.68
*Michael Phelps (USA) 49.82
*Milo Cavic (Serbia) 49.85 and;
Maxime Grousset (FRA) 50.14
*Retired
It was Grouset who won the World Title from Liendo and American Dare Rose – in a final swum without the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Dressel, now on the comeback trail and who just this week won the 100m butterfly at the US Open Meet in 51.31 from Canadian pair Ilya Kharun 51.32 and Liendo (51.42) and Hungarian superstar Kristof Milak.
It capped off a successful tour for Temple who earlier in the meet finished second in the 50m butterfly (23.40) and 200m butterfly respectively (1:55.41 and just outside his best) taking out the B final of the 100m freestyle in 48.83.
TRIPLE TREAT: Bradley Woodward’s impressive backstroke sweep in Tokyo. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr Swimming Australia
Four-time Commonwealth Games medallist Bradley Woodward (Mingara, NSW) swept the backstroke treble, adding the 200 (in a personal best of 1:55.56) to his previous wins in the 50m (25.13) and 100m (53.72).
Woodward flew the flag for Adam Kable’s NSW contingent along with emerging middle distance hope Matthew Galea (SOPAC, NSW) adding the 800m (7:56.59) to his earlier 400m win in 3:48.72).
In other events former Tasmanian Matilda Smith (Miami, QLD) and coached Richard Scarce and a member of the Swimming Australia breaststroke camp in Japan, broke through for a well-earned personal best of 2:24.34 to place second in the 200m breaststroke.
While Kyle Chalmers added the 50m freestyle in an impressive 22.12 to add to his win in the 100m freestyle in 48.28, a result that will only help improve his front end speed for his 100m.