{"id":493490,"date":"2021-12-15T18:33:41","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T01:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=493490"},"modified":"2021-12-15T18:52:55","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T01:52:55","slug":"aussie-young-guns-isaac-cooper-flynn-southam-and-joshua-edwards-smith-let-the-good-times-roll-at-record-breaking-queensland-champs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/aussie-young-guns-isaac-cooper-flynn-southam-and-joshua-edwards-smith-let-the-good-times-roll-at-record-breaking-queensland-champs\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie Young Guns Isaac Cooper, Flynn Southam and Joshua Edwards-Smith Let The Good Times Roll At Record Breaking Queensland Champs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aussie Young Guns Isaac Cooper, Flynn Southam and Joshua Edwards-Smith Let The Good Times Roll At Recording Breaking Queensland Championships <\/strong><\/p>\n

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RACKING UP THE RECORDS: Chasing Mitch will bring out the best in Rackley Swim Team’s\u00a0 Isaac Cooper Photo Courtesy: Wade J Brennan Photography.<\/p><\/div>\n

A trio of Australian swimming\u2019s new faces Isaac Cooper, Flynn Southam<\/strong> and Joshua Edwards-Smith<\/strong> are leading the next generation of Australian men with record-breaking swims at the 2021 McDonalds Queensland Championships.<\/p>\n

Tokyo Olympic debutant, Cooper and Gold Coast-based former WA young gun Edwards-Smith have both broken records owned by Australia\u2019s premier backstroker, triple Olympian Mitch Larkin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And Southam has broken records this week belonging to Ian Thorpe, Cam McEvoy<\/strong> and Elijah Winnington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cooper (Rackley Swim Team), just 17, has had a whirlwind 2021 and admits he is still coming to terms with the fact that he has come from virtual obscurity via Bundaberg and Toowoomba to the Tokyo Games and a bronze medallist in the Mixed Medley Relay.<\/p>\n

And his rise continued last night when he continued on his record-breaking ways, clocking 24.62 to lower Larkin\u2019s 2015 Queensland Open record \u2013 clocking the second fastest time ever by an Australian.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Olympic journey still hasn\u2019t sunk in at all,\u201d admitted Cooper, \u201dwhen I\u2019m sitting around at home it still feels like a dream, and when I\u2019m walking around pool deck and a lot of my friends now are swimmers on the Australian team where as last year I\u2019d see all these guys walking by the pool and think wow look at them go and now I\u2019m one of them, it still feels really weird and doesn\u2019t feel real.\u201d<\/p>\n

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BREAKOUT YEAR: Isaac Cooper (Rackley Swim Team) is still pinching himself – from relative obscurity to Olympic bronze at 17. Photo Courtesy: Wade J Brennan Photography.<\/p><\/div>\n

Cooper came into his 17-years final last night for a race against the clock and chasing the Australian record of 24.54 \u2013 held by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Ben Treffers back in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking to go a little faster tonight wanting to crack that 24.54 and the Australian Open record but I couldn\u2019t quite do it..but I still managing a 0.10 pb and my coach Damien Jones said if you can go this fast when you are racing yourself, imagine how fast you will go when there is someone pushing you along.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a natural competitor, I love racing and being on the Australian team brings out the best in myself and being around elite athletes who are better than me really inspires me.\u201d<\/p>\n

And joining the record breakers is one of Queensland\u2019s newest recruits in former UWA West Coast young gun, 18-year-old Joshua Edwards-Smith (Griffith University) who lowered Larkin\u2019s Australian 18 years National Age record racing against the two-time Olympic medallist and world champion, who won five gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n

Edwards-Smith, now under the tutelage of master coach Michael Bohl also took down the 2012 Larkin mark, erasing clocking 1:57.09 and swimming right next to \u201cthe man\u201d who clocked a slick 1:55.97 under new coach Vince Raleigh<\/strong> at the Chandler club.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the meet the trio went head-to-head in the open 100m backstroke with Larkin showing all his class in winning the title in 53.80, from Cooper (54.55) and Edwards-Smith (54.98).<\/p>\n

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PUMPED: Bond Swimming’s Bull Shark Flynn Southam has been busting out the records all week at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre. Wade J Brennan Photography.Photo Courtesy:<\/p><\/div>\n

And then there is the boy from Bond, Flynn Southam<\/strong> who continues to shake \u2018em up and stir \u2018em around as he continues on his record-breaking ways.<\/p>\n

Last night, he took down Tokyo Olympian Winnington\u2019s Queensland 16 years record with his 1:48.72 (25.55; 53.46) again back-ending his race coming home in 55.26 \u2013 with his 4×50 splits looking like this \u2013 25.55; 27.91;27.92 and 27.34.<\/p>\n

In a week he built on after admitting he had a sluggish start, Southam improved his 100m freestyle personal best to 49.40 \u2013 faster than Thorpie and McEvoy at the same age; his 50m to 22.67 and his 100m backstroke to 56.01.<\/p>\n

Southam has grown in stature and grown in status and he is taking the next crop of young freestylers with him over the 50s and 100s, like Olympian and middle and distance boy, Thomas Neill<\/strong> (49.43), Maximillian Giuliani<\/strong> (49.66), Cooper (49.67) and Kai Taylor<\/strong> (49.88) \u2013 all teenagers filling the top five places in the 100m freestyle.<\/p>\n

And to think that just 0.03 came between between Southam (swimming out in lane seven) and Neill cost the Tokyo Olympic relay bronze medallist a rare freestyle sweep.<\/p>\n

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TOP THREE: Elijah Winnington (St P{eters Western), Tommy Neill (Rackley Swim Team) and Mitch Tinsley (Chandler) Photo Courtesy: Wade J Brennan Photography.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Damien Jones-<\/strong>coached Rackley Swim Team star adding the 200m in 1:47.28, the 400m in 3:50.20, the 800m last night in 7.57.52 and the 1500m the night before in 15:21.47.<\/p>\n

And while the men were dominant last night, the Mollie O\u2019Callaghan train kept on a golden track for a record number of Queensland State medals \u2013 adding her eighth gold of the meet in the 17 years 50m backstroke to her previous individual wins in the Open 100m and 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke; and the 17 years, 100m and 200m backstroke, the 50m and 200m freestyle and bronze last night in the 17-18 years 100m butterfly.<\/p>\n

With the 17-18 years 100\/400m freestyle remaining & the 17 years 50m ‘fly as well, O\u2019Callaghan has been the busiest & most successful swimmer on pool deck & that\u2019s not counting her 3 wins in the SPW\u00a0 relays.<\/p>\n

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IAN HANSON TALKS SWIMMING ON BRISBANE RADIO<\/a><\/p>\n