Queensland Swimmers Put on Show During Day Two of Aussie State Teams Age Group Short Course Champs

Photo Courtesy: Swimming Australia Ltd.

CANBERRA, Australia, September 26. A further nine meet records fell this morning, seven of those to Queensland swimmers, as the second session of the 2014 State Teams Age Short Course Championships got underway at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

Queensland sent an early warning message to the other states; ‘Catch me if you can’, as they stormed out to a 200 point lead on day two with a total of 1,116.5 points. Sitting in second place after two sessions is New South Wales on 877.5 with Victoria currently third in 792.

The sunshine state’s assault in session two started in the first event as Queensland swimmer Imogen Watson set a new meet record in the girl’s 13/14 years 50m backstroke. Watson clocked a 28.28 to take first place ahead of fellow Queenslander and Junior Pan Pacs representative Minna Atherton in 28.30 and New South Wales swimmer Courtney Taylor in 28.83.

The records continued to fall with Victorian swimmer Julia Hawkins stopping the clock in an impressive 55.01 in the girl’s 13/14 years 100m freestyle to set a new meet record and successfully defend her title from 2013.

Queensland finished in second and third with Gemma Cooney touching in 56.56 followed by Laticia-Leigh Transom in 56.72.

In the girl’s 15/16 years 100m freestyle Shayna Jack backed up to take the sprint double and set a new meet record in the 100m free after taking first place in the 50 last night.

Jack showed off her trademark speedy start and held onto the win as they approached the wall, touching in a time of 54.02. Hadley Lindsay from Western Australia was second in 55.71 and Lushavel Stickland from Victoria was third in 56.31.

After setting a new meet record in the 200m individual medley last night, Matthew Wilson was back to his best this morning hitting the wall in 2:11.03 to smash the previous meet record by over five seconds and pick up some much needed points for New South Wales.

Queensland’s Zac Stubblety-Cook was second in 2:16.12 with Victorian swimmer Heath Macleod rounding out the top three in 2:17.54.

Junior Pan Pacific Championship representative Minna Atherton took over two seconds off the girl’s 13/14 years 200m backstroke meet record with a time of 2:08.68 this morning. Atherton was too quick for the rest of the field, with the next closest competitor Sienna McDonald hitting the wall nearly seven seconds behind in 2:15.52. Queensland’s Emma Siddle was third in 2:18.38.

The sixth meet record for the morning fell to Queensland swimmer Lucia Lassman when she hit the wall in a time of 59.28 in the girl’s 16/17 years 100m butterfly. Lassman just edged out Victorian Stephanie Whan (1:00.83) for the win with Mikaela Cornelissen taking third spot in 1:01.19.

In the corresponding boy’s event, Queenslander Dominic Richardson managed to successfully defend his title when he picked up the points for the win in the boy’s 16/17 years 100m butterfly and set a new meet record in the process. Richardson stormed to the wall in a time of 52.63 to eclipse his own previous record set in 2013 by almost one second. West Australian Damian Fyfe was relegated to second place in 54.31 and Joshua Smith touched for third in 55.71.

After finishing fourth in the 800m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games, Queenslander Alanna Bowles went into the girl’s 15/16 years 800m free as hot favourite and didn’t disappoint. Bowles surpassed her previous meet record to stop the clock at 8:23.66 to take first place and successfully defend her 2013 title. Coming into second place was fellow Queenslander Phoebe Hines in 8:37.63 with West Australian Tamsin Cook rounding out the top three in 8:41.37.

The combination of backstroker Amy Forrester, breaststroker Calypso Sheridan, butterflyer Lucia Lassman and freestyler Shayna Jack proved too strong in the girl’s 15/16 years 4x100m medley relay, getting out to an early lead and holding on all the way to the wall. The quartet stopped the clock at 4:04.16 to set a new meet record in the event and add to Queensland’s point score.

Team Victoria finished second in 4:06.89 with South Australia third in 4:13.73.

In other events…

Boy’s 14/15 years 50m Backstroke
Queensland’s Will Walsh stole the win in the boy’s 14/15 years 50m back with a time of 25.99. After winning the 50m freestyle yesterday, New South Wales swimmer William Yang had to settle for second place in 26.03 with Andrew Ryan third in 26.64.

Girl’s 15/16 years 50m Backstroke
Victoria added points to their tally through Mikaela Cornelissen in the girl’s 15/16 years 50m backstroke. Cornelissen finished first in a time of 28.42 to get the better of West Australian Andrea Ho in 28.62 and Queenslander Shayna Jack in 28.67.

Boy’s 16/17 years 50m Backstroke
With a win in the 50m freestyle and second place in the 50m butterfly last night, Braga Verhage continued his run of success in the sprint events, this time taking top spot in the boy’s 16/17 years 50m backstroke. Verhage hit the wall in 25.32 with Brayden McCarthy second in 25.42 and Damian Fyfe rounding out the top three in 25.56.

Boy’s 16/17 years 200m Breaststroke
West Australia took the top two spots in the boy’s 16/17 years 200m breaststroke with Alex Milligan (2:13.11) and George Harley (2:13.60) finishing first and second respectively while Samuel Williamson from Victoria was third in 2:14.92.

Girl’s 13/14 years 200m Individual Medley
Talented teenager Alanna Bowles showed off her versatility with a win in the girl’s 13/14 years 200m individual medley. Bowles recorded a 2:13.75 for victory ahead of New South Wales swimmer Abbey Harkin in 2:15.13 and South Australian Ella Bond in 2:15.50.

Boy’s 16/17 years 200m Individual Medley
New South Wales swimmer Ryan Leonard was too strong in the boy’s 16/17 years 200m individual medley taking the title in a time of 2:01.45. The points for second place went to Queensland with Clyde Lewis stopping the clock in 2:03.38 with Theodore Benehoutsous finishing third in 2:03.49.

Boy’s 14/15 years 100m Backstroke
With a second place finish in the 50m backstroke earlier in the morning, New South Wales swimmer William Yang was back in the water with a vengeance in the boy’s 14/15 years 100m backstroke taking the win with a 56.61. Yang’s teammate Leon Macalister finished in second spot with 57.06, just ahead of Will Walsh who was third in 57.82.

Girl’s 15/16 years 200m Backstroke
In the girl’s 15/16 years 200m Backstroke it was Queensland’s Amy Forrester who picked up the points for her state, finishing first in 2:09.04. In second place was New South Wales swimmer Monique Rae while Calypso Sheridan from Queensland was a touch behind for third in 2:12.34.

Boy’s 16/17 years 100m Backstroke
West Australian swimmer Braga Verhage picked up the backstroke double today taking the win in the 100m back in a time of 55.18 after winning the title in the 50 earlier this morning. Queensland’s Tom Jeffries was next to the wall in 55.56 with Adam Howgate third in 55.93.

Girl’s 13/14 years 100m Butterfly
Queensland’s Imogen Watson and South Australia’s Tess Bastian were in a tussle for the title in the girl’s 13/14 years 100m butterfly with Watson eventually stealing the win in 1:03.24 ahead of Bastian in 1:03.98. Third place went to Megan Bogatie from Queensland in 1:04.02.

Boy’s 14/15 years 100m Butterfly
In the boy’s 14/15 years 100m butterfly Cameron Usher got off to a flying start and couldn’t be caught, taking the win in a time of 56.57. New South Wales swimmer Christopher Hoare was second in 57.22 and Usher’s teammate Bryan Poon took third in 57.47.

Girl’s 13/14 years 4x100m Medley Relay
Queensland were too strong in the girl’s 13/14 years 4x100m medley relay, taking the win in a time of 4:10.85 nearly six seconds clear of their closest rival.
New South Wales were the next best placed team, hitting the wall in 4:16.70 ahead of Victoria in third 4:18.02.

Boy’s 14/15 years 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Team New South Wales picked up the points in the boy’s 14/15 years 4x100m freestyle relay taking the top spot in a time of 3:26.29. The time was too quick for Queensland who had to settle for second place in 3:29.11 with Victoria third in 3:34.94.

Boy’s 16/17 years 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Queensland capped off a strong second session in the pool with a win in the boy’s 16/17 years 4x100m freestyle relay. The team of Brayden McCarthy, Samuel Young, Dominic Richardson and Max Carleton took the win in a time of 3:18.78. South Australia secured second place in 3:21.73 and New South Wales rounded out the top three in 3:22.40.

The third session of the State Teams Age Short Course Championships will get underway at 4:30pm today at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

Live results are available at http://liveresults.swimming.org.au/sal/2014ST/

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworld.com.

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