Oceania Swimming Championships: Australian Junior Teamers Win on Opening Day

A previous version of this story inadvertently reported on results from the prelims session that began the meet.

SAMOA, June 24. JUNIOR national team members from Australia dominated the awards podium on the first finals session of the Oceania Swimming Championships, held in long course meters, winning four of the eight events on the schedule.

Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini, a finalist in the 100 fly at the 2008 Olympics, won the opening event, the men's 50 fly, with a 24.64. James Roberts of Australia was the only other swimmer under 25 seconds with a 24.98. Amini Fonua of the Kingdom of Tonga was third in 25.02.

Samantha Lee of New Zealand was the winner of the women's 50 fly with a 27.69, finishing just ahead of Australia's Madeline Groves' 27.86. Amy Smith of Australia rounded out the podium with a 28.09. Notably, Sophia Batchelor of New Zealand also swam a 28.09, but in the B final of the event.

Andrew McMillan, a world championships competitor in the 200 free for New Zealand, won the event in Samoa with a 1:50.74. Second place went to Matthew Terry of Australia with a 1:51.79. Third place went to Jarrod Killey of Australia with a 1:52.88. Though he swam the third-fastest qualifying time in the preliminaries, Mitch Larkin of Australia swam a 1:52.18 to win the B final, a time that would have earned him a spot on the podium.

Australia took the top two places in the women's 200 free, with Amelia Evatt-Davey winning in 2:01.21 and Amy Allen finishing second in 2:02.65. New Zealand's Samantha Lucie-Smith was third in 2:03.26.

Braiden Camm and Bobby Jovanovich were responsible for another Australian 1-2 finish, this time in the men's 100 back final. Camm won with a 56.37, while Jovanovich was second in 58.09. Daren Choi of HWI was third in 58.15.

In the women's 100 backstroke, Jenni O'Neil of Australia won the event with a 1:02.47. Jessie Blundell of Australia finished second in 1:02.67, while countrywoman Sophia Batchelor, fresh from her B final victory in 50 fly, was third in 1:02.79.

The women's 200 butterfly saw Australians Madeline Groves and Amy Smith put up a pace that set them far ahead of the rest of the field. Groves won her first gold medal with a time of 2:12.49, while Smith finished just a few ticks behind in 2:12.98. Charlotte Webby of New Zealand rounded out the podium with a 2:15.47.

The men's 1500 freestyle concluded the first finals session, and Dylan Dunlop-Barrett of New Zealand won the gold with a 15:43.02. Countryman Terry Matthew was second in 15:45.04, and Ryan Phillip of Australia came in third with a 16:22.84.

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