Honouring The Past And Embracing The Future at the 2020 Queensland State Championships

EMBRACING THE FUTURE: Centenary Rackley freestyler of the future Tom Neill just one of many emerging stars on show at the Queensland Championships. Photo Courtesy: Stephen Holland Photography.

The Queensland Swimming Championships has a proud and rich history in Australian swimming with established Olympians and those with dreams of joining them rubbing shoulders “at Chandler” over the next week of open and age group racing.

Chandler as it was born in 1981 officially morphed into the Sleeman Aquatic Centre and is now known as the Brisbane Aquatic Centre – but for those in swimming circles in Queensland it will always be Chandler.

PRIDE OF QUEENSLAND PAST AND PRESENT: Something to shout about at the 2020 Queensland State Championships… honouring former world champions and world record holders Kieren Perkins and Tracey Wickham and embracing the future stars like Tom Neill and Lani Pallister. Photo Courtesy: Swimming Queensland.

And 2020 – a year like no other – will see Swimming Queensland “Honour the Past and Embrace the Future” with their poignant front cover poster – featuring a favourite son and a favourite daughter – in Kieren Perkins and Tracey Wickham – and two of their emerging stars in Tom Neill and Lani Pallister.

Swimming Queensland’s Business Support Manager and a former Queensland World Champion and world record holder herself, Jade Edmistone said: “The program front cover is paying homage to the past and the fact that all these years on, Queensland is still producing amazing athletes with an exciting future ahead.

“We went with Kieren (400m and 1500m Free WR and World Champ) and Tracey (400 and 800m Free WR and World Champ) and linked them to the next wave with Thomas and Lani already showing exceptional talent in those same events.

EYES TO THE FUTURE: Lani Pallister in Australian record form at the recent Virtual National SC Meet. Photo Courtesy: Swimming Australia.

“We opted for the hero shot of Kieren and Tracey as respecting them as being the greatest in their time, with action shots of Thomas and Lani to represent they are in action now, on their way to potentially becoming the next generation of heroes.”

The unflappable Perkins of course was a two-time Olympic champion over 1500m freestyle in ’92 and ’96 and a former world record holder and world champion over 400m and a world record holder over 800m.

The teenage “phenom” Wickham held world records over 400 and 800m freestyle for a decade and won the 400 and 800m freestyle world championships in Berlin in 1978.

Their names, like so many great champions of the past are indelibly etched into the annals of the Queensland State Championships – the birthplace of so many Queensland and Australia’s greatest swimmers.

Many who have gone on to become world and Olympic champions – taking pride of place on the Swimming Queensland’s Wall of Champions.

From Queensland’s first Olympic swimming champion in David Theile in the 100m backstroke in Melbourne in ’56 and the first world champion in Stephen Holland in ’73 in the 1500m freestyle in Belgrade to Stephanie Rice a triple Olympic gold medallist in ’08 in Beijing and their current world champion in Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle in Gwangju in ’19.

TOMMY GUN: Tom Neill, identified by Swimming Queensland and Rackley Swimming as a future star. Photo Courtesy: Stephen Holland Photography.

For Neill and Pallister – they are following that celebrated 120-year history – and as 2020 has twisted and turned – again on the eve of an odd Olympic year of 2021 – moving on from the year that wasn’t and focusing very much on an exciting New Year that will be.

Pallister returned home from Budapest last year a triple World Junior champion over 400, 800 and 1500m and Neill a three-time individual medallist, winning two silver (400 and 1500m) and a bronze (800m).

They, along with a host of others, represent the future of Australia’s premier swimming State.

The 2020 Championships have thrown up a meet that has again attracted Olympic champions like Mack Horton who will come into Queensland this week post the COVID-19 lockdown that has seen his native Victoria isolated from the rest of Australia for the past eight months.

Horton has been based in his Melbourne Vicentre headquarters under coach Craig Jackson and escapes to race long course for the first time since last season.

Australia has always been a strong force in the men’s 400m freestyle with the 24-year-old Horton becoming Australia’s fourth Olympic champion over 400m and winning the country’s sixth Olympic gold – joining Brad Cooper (’72), Murray Rose (’56 and ’60) and Ian Thorpe (2000 and ’04). Horton will contest the 200m on the opening day and the 400m on day two.

Waiting in the wings will be Horton’s 2016 Rio Olympic team mate and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jack McLoughlin (Chandler) and two youngsters Elijah Winnington (St Peters Western) and Neill who has just been rewarded with one of four Rackley Athlete Support Scholarships – two boys in swimming’s dreamtime for Tokyo.

Winning ton is the previous and Neill is the current junior world record holder over 400m freestyle short course.

FULL MEDAL PACKET: World champion Ariarne Titmus will have a full program at this week’s Queensland State Championships. Photo Courtesy: Swimming Australia.

The women’s 400m freestyle is a similar story with Titmus, the reigning world champion and Commonwealth and Australian record holder headlining the field – one of only three swimmers in history to crack four minutes for 400m freestyle with Kiah Melverton (4:05.30) and Pallister (4:05.42) next in line.

The women’s 800m also sees a similar field with Titmus – the Australian record holder and seventh fastest on the all-time world list on top of the rankings in 8:15.70 followed by Melverton (8:22.24) and Pallister (8:22;l49) the 24^th and 25^th all time performers.

Add Melverton’s TSS training partner Maddy Gough (8:25.94) and Noosa’s Tokyo Olympic marathon qualifier Kareena Lee (8:27.90) and Australia has again produced a super-talented middle distance freestyle group – worthy of celebrating Swimming Queensland’s bright future.

Gough, Melverton, Pallister and Lee also top the 1500m rankings which also sees Titmus in a field that will become even more tantalising when they line up for the Olympic Trials in Adelaide next June – an event to be swum at the Olympics for the first time in Tokyo next year.

A future that will give Queensland’s past champions something very much to be proud of.

The seven-day Queensland State Championships are underway and will continue in earnest tomorrow, Sunday, December 13 with the first of six days of individual open and age events (Heats at 8:30am and finals at 6pm) after the opening day’s relay championships.

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