Photo by Delly Carr<\/p>\n
ADELAIDE \u2013 Mitch Larkin has been on a roll this short course season, and the 21-year-old continued his great fall season with an Australian and Commonwealth record in the 100 backstroke on the first night of the Australian nationals. The meet is serving to select the squad for next month\u2019s short course world championships.<\/p>\n
Larkin blazed through the semifinals with a 49.44, erasing Bobby Hurley\u2019s 49.92 that had stood since last year as the fastest swim recorded by any citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations. That gives Larkin the Australian record in two out of the three backstroke distances, as he set the national record in the 200 back two weeks ago in Beijing with a 1:48.69.<\/p>\n
Larkin is exactly a second off Nick Thoman\u2019s world record of 48.94 from 2009, and could begin chipping away at that gap in tomorrow\u2019s final. No one else was close to Larkin in tonight\u2019s semifinal, with Ashley Delaney and Ben Treffers tying for second-fastest with times of 52.20. Hurley will race in the final as well, qualifying sixth with a 52.63.<\/p>\n
Hurley was part of the night\u2019s first championship final, the men\u2019s 200 free, and placed fifth with a 1:43.84. Cameron McEvoy took the title in 1:43.09, claiming Hurley\u2019s meet record of 1:44.24. Thomas Fraser-Holmes, the Pan Pac champion in the 200 free, elected to skip the meet but has the world\u2019s fastest time with a 1:41.92 from the Doha World Cup meet. David McKeon was second in tonight\u2019s race with a 1:43.43, while Daniel Smith and Kurt Herzog picked up likely spots for the 800 free relay with times of 1:43.50 and 1:43.58.<\/p>\n
With star Ellen Gandy sitting out the meet, Brianna Throssell had a clear path to winning the women\u2019s 200 fly with a 2:04.73 and sit sixth in the world standings. Jordan White was well back in second with a 2:08.88 and Nicole Mee took third with a 2:09.85.<\/p>\n
Keryn McMaster blasted through the meet record of 4:35.95 in the women\u2019s 400 IM with a 4:29.24 that puts her fifth in the world. Ellen Fullerton held McMaster\u2019s pace through the entire race but couldn\u2019t match the blistering final 50 meters and finished second with a 4:31.15. Jessica Pengelly was third in 4:37.06.<\/p>\n
Brittany Elmslie led off St. Peter\u2019s 800 free relay with a strong 1:54.72, putting her fifth in the world rankings. St. Peter\u2019s would win the event handily with a 7:52.90 to break the Australian All-Comers record (the fastest time done in Australia by a swimmer of any nationality) of 7:55.12 by Albany Creek in 2007. The Australian record still stands at a blistering 7:37.57.<\/p>\n
Two national records were threatened in other semifinal action tonight. Jake Packard gave Christian Sprenger\u2019s national record or 57.57 in the 100 breast a scare with a 58.07. Packard has broken through in a big way this year, transitioning from also-ran to Pan Pac finalist in a matter of months while Sprenger sat out to heal an injured shoulder. That\u2019s the eighth-fastest swim of the year. Tommy Sucipto also broke 59 seconds to qualify second with a 58.85.<\/p>\n
Madison Wilson nearly took down Emily Seebohm\u2019s national record of 56.58 in the 100 back, posting a 56.75 in semifinals. Wilson, who stepped in for Meagan Nay at the Commonwealth Games, also will have the Commonwealth record of 56.56 set in 2009 by South Africa\u2019s Channelle Van Wyk on her mind. She will face off in tomorrow\u2019s final against Seebohm, who cruised to a 57.36 in semis for the second seed.<\/p>\n
Jayden Hadler broke 51 seconds in the men\u2019s 100 fly semifinals with a 50.93 for the top seed, while Tommaso D\u2019Orsogna (51.07) and Nathaniel Romeo (51.40) qualified second and third.<\/p>\n
Leiston Pickett took the top seed in the women\u2019s 50 breast semifinals with a 30.21, with Georgia Bohl (30.32) and Sally Hunter (30.55) right behind.<\/p>\n