Australian Age Group Swimming Championships: Kyle Chalmers, 13, Sets Third Record With Blistering 100 Free

BRISBANE, Australia, April 12. SOUTH Australian star on the rise Kyle Chalmers has sprinted his way to a hat trick of records and titles on night four of the 2012 Australian Age Championships in Brisbane.

The 13-year-old was streets ahead of the boy's 12-13yrs 100m freestyle field, extending his lead all the way to the wall to stop the clock at 52.29, knocking over a second off the 2008 record and beating the gold medal winning time of the age group above.
Already over 6ft tall, the son of former Port Adelaide and Adelaide Crows footballer Brett Chalmers has been casting an imposing shadow over his competition all week. A keen footballer himself, Chalmers knows one day he will have to choose between his two sporting loves, but the Norwood based swimmer said that, results permitting, his loyalties lie with swimming.

“Footy training at the moment is only a couple of times a week, but I'm supposed to be playing in a rep (representative) team later this year, but I don't think I'm going to do it because I just don't have time… If I keep on track with these records my choice will be way easier and this success in swimming will help me out a lot when it comes time to choose,” Chalmers said.

The race for silver and bronze was much tighter with Oliver Moody out-touching Braiden Oates (55.34) in 55.73.

In the girl's 12-13yrs 100m freetysle it was Queensland's Shayna Jack who claimed top spot in the final. Jack outswam 100m butterfly champion Lucia Lassman (57.91) and Vivian Zhu (58.61) hitting the wall in 56.47.

In other events…

Girls 17-18yrs 100m Butterfly
Brittany Elmslie was too strong in the girl's 17-18yrs 100m butterfly final, touching first at the turn Elmslie maintained the fast pace she set to take her third title in a time of 1:00.44. Silver medallist Mikkayla Sheridan threatened late in the race but was unable to catch up to the London-bound swimmer touching just behind in 1:00.44. The bronze medal went to Cranbrook swimmer Jordan White in 1:01.23.

Boys 17-18yrs 100m Butterfly
The boy's 17-18yrs 100m butterfly final was too close to call as the boys came in to the wall, with the race eventually won from lane eight by Queenslander David Morgan in 54.00. Morgan took his first title after beating home Olympic debutant Cameron McEvoy who turned in third position but powered home to collect the silver. Despite a strong swim, Hugo Morris' time of 54.15 wasn't enough to defend his 2011 title.

Girls 14yrs 50m Freestyle
Jemma Schlicht (25.90) sprinted to victory in the girl's 14yrs 50m freestyle final to claim her second Australian Age title and fourth medal so far. Schlicht relegated Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey (25.93) to silver with 100m freestyle champion Brook Thornton (26.25) while Georgia Stadelmann (26.59) picked up the bronze.

Boys 14yrs 50m Freestyle
Vincent Dai has taken the sprint double after hitting the wall first in the boy's 14yrs 50m freestyle final in an impressive 24.24. West Australian Braga Verhage chased hard from lane five but had to settle for silver at the touch while Alex Chin took home the bronze medal in 24.62.

Girls 12-13yrs 200m Butterfly
Tamsin Cook collected her first Australian Age title in the girl's 12-13yrs 200m butterfly. Cook swam an impressive 2:17.76 to steal the gold from fastest qualifier Darian Murray. After setting a new personal best in the heats Murray took nearly three more seconds off this time to win the silver medal in 2:18.71. Chelsea Gubecka picked up the bronze medal a fraction behind in 2:18.77.

Boys 12-13yrs 200m Butterfly
It was a Queensland trifecta in the boy's 12-13yrs 200m butterfly final. Academy's Braiden Oates can finally add a gold medal to his silver and bronze won earlier in the meet. Oates gained half a body-length on the field in the final 50m to take the race in 2:15.61. Logan Viking's swimmer Damien Tronc won the silver in 2:16.93 ahead of bronze medallist Jacob Sedgmen in 2:17.02.

Girls 14yrs 400m Freestyle
Alanna Bowles (4:17.41) picked up her third Australian Age title following a convincing win in the girls 14yrs 400m freestyle final. Canberra swimmer Bonnie Zhang (4:19.96) stormed home for second ahead of the 2011 title holder Taylor Green (4:21.05)

Boys 14yrs 400m Freestyle
Damian Fyfe (4:01.58) will add the boy's 14yrs 400m freestyle title to his dual butterfly gold, taking out the race in 4:01.58.15. Age champion in the boy's 1500m freestyle Joshua Parish (4:02.23) claimed the silver medal over four seconds clear of Mitchel Davenport-Wright (4:06.46).

Girls 16yrs 200m Breaststroke
Victorian Jessica Hansen has bagged the breaststroke double with a convincing win in the 16yrs 200m breaststroke final. Hansen posted 2:29.33 to take the title over five seconds clear of silver medallist Tianni Gilmour in 2:35.04. Vicentre's Emily Zukic (2:36.00) managed to hold off fellow Victorian Lily Collins (2:36.39) for the bronze.

Boys 16yrs 200m Breaststroke
Joshua Tierney set the pace early in the boy's 16yrs 100m breaststroke final and finished nearly four seconds ahead of his closest rival Jesse King (2:20.84) in an impressive 2:16.95. King beat home fastest qualifier James McKechnie (2:21.29) to collect his second silver medal from the breaststroke events.

Girls 16yrs 200m Freestyle
West Australian Brianna Throssell secured the 100 and 200m freestyle double with measured performance over the four laps. Having won the 100m free earlier in the meet, and picking up bronze in the 50m, Throssell pulled away from Leah Neale over the final 25m to win in a time of 2:00.01. Neal took silver in 2:00.50 while Carla Buchanan from Acacia Bayside won bronze in 2:01.54.

Boys 16yrs 200m Freestyle
After winning bronze in the 400m freestyle earlier in the meet, Alexander Graham from St Kevins in Melbourne was too strong over the 200m free to take gold in a time of 1:49.84. Graham broke the one minute 50 mark for the first time in his career, while Regan Leong added to his medal tally winning silver in 1:51.22, from Jake Hodgetts and Jacob Hansford who tied for third in 1:51.85.

Girls 15yrs 100m Backstroke
Queenslander Lauren Rettie picked up the backstroke double taking out the girl's 15yrs 100m back in a time of 1:02.86. Having won the 200m back earlier in the meet, Rettie was a second quicker than Rebecca Booth (1:03.88) from Abbotsleigh, NSW with visitor Sabrina Kwok third to wall in 1:04.22. Lucy Soden from MLC Aquatic took bronze in 1:04.34.

Boys 15yrs 100m Backstroke
The boy's 15yrs backstroke saw visiting Kiwi Max Polianski (58.67) defeat Victoria's Sebastian Cumins (59.42) with Cameron Jones (QLD) hitting the wall in 59.43 and Edward Marks (NSW) 59.45 rounding out the medals.

Girls 17/18yrs 200m IM
World Short Course 100m IM silver medallist in 2010, Kotuku Ngawati was too strong in the girl's 200m IM to win by more than a body length from breaststroke champ Taylor McKeown. The Melbourne Vicentre based Ngawati pulled away for the final leg to in win in 2:13.50, with McKeown picking up her fourth medal of the meet in 2:15.74 and Samantha Wilkins third overall in 2:16.23.

Boys 17/18yrs 200m IM
Visiting Singaporean Jeremy Mathews was too quick for the Nudgee Brothers pair of Jared Gilliland and Buster Sykes in the boy's 200m IM. Mathews was first to the wall in 2:04.58, while Gilliland took the gold for the first Australian home in 2:05.29. Sykes was just half a second behind in 2:05.97 while Lennard Bremer from WA picked up bronze in 2:06.19.

Girls 15yrs 400m IM
Meg Bailey opened her 2012 gold medal account winning the girl's 15yrs 400m IM by more than two seconds ahead of Remy Fairweather (4:56.43) and fellow Queenslander Megan Gianotti who took bronze in 4:56.81.

Boys 15yrs 400m IM
Hayden Hinds-Sydenham picked up his first gold medal of the meet in the 400m IM, having won bronze earlier in the week. The SOPAC based swimmer hit the wall in 4:32.07 with Joachim Bardrum picking up silver in 4:34.21 from Melbourne Vicentre's Mack Horton in 4:34.77.

Girls 14yrs 100m Breaststroke
St Peters Western breaststroker Georgia Bohl won her first national age gold medal taking out the 100m breast by more than a second in a time of 1:09.19. Bohl's time was almost two seconds quicker than last year's title holder for the event, and just a second outside Leisel Jones' age group record in the event set in 2000. Karlene Pircher from Melbourne Vicentre took silver in 1:10.48 with Queenslander Molly Muir third in 1:12.35.

Boys 14yrs 100m Breaststroke
Nunawading juggernaut Nicholas Groenewald banked his third gold medal of the meet taking out the boy's 100m breaststroke in 1:08.00. Groenewald was pushed all the way to the wall by Joshua Zuill who was just 0.36 of a second behind in 1:08.36 with Nicholas Chang taking bronze in 1:08.67.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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