Thomas Neill Claims Fourth National Title at Australian Age Championships

thomas-neill-australia-age-championships-2019

Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @SwimmingAUS

After steaming home from the inside track to claim gold in the Boys’ 16-year 200m Individual Medley, Rackley’s Thomas Neill has remarkably claimed his fourth national age title at the 2019 Hancock Prospecting Australian Age Swimming Championships.

Live Results

Amassing four gold and two silver medals across five nights and multiple disciplines – freestyle and the individual medley – the 16-year-old is proving he has the engine to go the distance. Clocking a time of 2:03.53 in the 200m IM, Neill took no passengers, finishing ahead of Thomas Hauck (All Saints GC) who scored silver in 2:04.59, and lane seven’s Will Sharp (Nunawading) who nabbed bronze in 2:05.13.

Lane seven made another appearance during the evening, with Jorja Otto (Bond) taking home the gold in the Girls’ 14-year 100m Backstroke from the same position. Charging to the wall in a time of 1:03.86, Otto beat out local hopeful Sophie Healy (Norwood) who touched in 1:03.98 for silver, and Madeleine Hardy (Trinity Grammar) who pinched bronze in 1:04.70.

Carlile’s Se-Bom Lee carried his momentum from previous nights into the fifth day of the competition, claiming the Boys’ 17-year 200m Backstroke in a time of 1:59.53. Outclassing his opposition, Lee was only 0.84 seconds off the Australian Age record and nearly three seconds clear of second place. Following behind Lee was Stuart Swinburn (Uni of NSW), who logged a time of 2:02.69 to secure silver, while Kyle Niesler (St Peters Western) came third in 2:03.22.

St Peter Western’s Jenna Forrester showed her skill and technique during the Girls’ 15-year 200m Freestyle. Taking the top honour from lane five in 2:00.36, it marked her third national age title after also snaring gold in the Girls’ 15-year 400m Freestyle and the Girls’ 15-year 400m Individual Medley. In a gallant effort, Wangaratta’s Maggie Skewes (2:01.91) pinched silver and Norwood’s Emily White received bronze (2:03.89).

Putting distance between their competition in the Boys’ 17-year 400m Freestyle, Csongor Cellie (Kawana Waters) and Silas Harris (Northcote) had a traditional showdown in lanes four and five. It was Cellie who managed to grit his teeth and hold on, prevailing in a time of 3:52.83 to Harris 3:53.00. Finishing in third was Nick Jennens (Manly) in 4:00.34.

With two bronze medals already hanging around her neck, Josephine Crimmins (Newmarket Racers) managed to score her first gold medal of the meet. The niece of Dolphin and former world record holder Tracey Wickham, Crimmins took the honours in the Girls’ 13-year 50m Freestyle with a time of 26.53. It was a tight tussle in the ‘splash and dash’ with Claveria Johnson-Tiumalu (St Peters Western) logging 26.58 to stand in second place on the podium and Collette Lyons (Kinross Wolaroi) placing third in 26.65.

Showing her talent over four disciplines in the Girls’ 14-year 400m Individual Medley, St Peters Western’s Ella Ramsay pulled away from the pack early to claim her third national age title of the meet. Cruising to the wall in 4:49.66 – a good six seconds ahead of her nearest opponent – Ramsay beat out fastest qualifier Elizabeth Dekkers (Newmarket Racers) who recorded a time of 4:56.39 and Trinity Grammar’s Anna Lee (4:57.74).

In the corresponding event for the 14-year-old boys, Nunawading teammates Evan Chee and William Petric went head to head in the middle lanes. With the crowd right behind them, Chee managed to claw his way ahead and achieve victory in 4:34.15. The spirited performance by Petric saw him hit the wall moments later in 4:35.45 to secure silver. Shaving 13 seconds off his qualifying time was Traralgon’s Jordyn Cargill, who scored bronze from lane two in 4:38.38.

Nothing was going to stop Gabriella Peiniger collecting her second title of the night, who after recording gold in the Girls’ 16-year 100m Butterfly, made it a double delight less than an hour later – triumphant in the Girls’ 16-year 200m Individual Medley. The MLC Aquatic product had tough competition from Manly’s Charli Brown who came second (2:15.48) and Kawana Waters’ Georgia Pendergast (2:16.58) who rounded out the top three.

Further Results:

Girls’ 13-year 400m Freestyle
Gold – Sienna Shepherd (Bayside) in 4:26.02
Silver – Sophie Martin (Brisbane Grammar) in 4:27.74
Bronze – Molly Walker (Southern Performance) in 4:28.48

Boys 14-year 100m Backstroke
Gold – Stone Ma (North-West Aquatic) in 58.92
Silver – Tane Bidois (Knox Pymble) in 59.25
Bronze – James Yu (Churchie) in 59.36

Boys’ 15-year 200m Freestyle
Gold – Maximillian Giuliani (The Hobart Aquatic) in 1:51.91
Silver – Samuel Short (Albany Creek) in 1:52.82
Bronze – Elliot Webber (Acacia Bayside) in 1:54.40

Girls’ 16-year 100m Butterfly
Gold – Gabriella Peiniger (MLC Aquatic) in 59.14
Silver – Kayla Hardy (Ginninderra) in 1:01.05
Bronze – Olivia Collins (St Peters Western) in 1:01.07

Boys’ 16-year 100m Butterfly
Gold – Kalani Skipps (TSS Aquatics) in 55.80
Silver – Troy Carlson (Sunshine Coast Grammar) in 55.87
Bronze – Charlie Hawk (Hunter) in 56.13

Girls’ 15-year 200m Breaststroke
Gold – Tara Kinder (DVE Aquatic) in 2:28.53
Silver – Emily Cobb (Acacia Bayside) in 2:34.72
Bronze – Nisha Kijkanakorn (Nunawading) in 2:37.05

Boys’ 15-year 200m Breaststroke
Gold – Hayden Wasiak (Chandler) in 2:22.19
Silver – Jack Dugandzic (Churchie) in 2:23.07
Bronze – Adriano Todoro (UWA West Coast) in 2:23.08

Girls’ 13-year 100m Breaststroke
Gold – Sophie Martin (Brisbane Grammar) in 1:13.48
Silver – Collette Lyons (Kinross Wolaroi) in 1:13.67
Bronze – Emma Rao (EC Waves) in 1:15.05

Boys’ 14-year 800m Freestyle
Gold – Robert Thorpe (Carlile) in 8:34.84
Silver – Bailey Krstevski (Wests Illawarra) in 8:37.37
Bronze – William Jordan (Brisbane Grammar) in 8:40.59

Boys’ 15-year 800m Freestyle
Gold – Samuel Short (Albany Creek) in 8:13.02
Silver – Joshua Staples (St Peters Western) in 8:19.91
Bronze – Ruben Rees (Miami) in 8:24.75

For all relay results, click here.

Day six action from the 2019 Hancock Prospecting Australian Age Swimming Championships kicks off tomorrow at 9am at the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre when swimmers take to the starting blocks for heats – finals take place at 6pm.

The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Swimming Australia. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contactAdvertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

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