Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Championships started yesterday in Adelaide under a new Championship format. To brief you on the new format it goes like this:
- In the heat swims the athletes swim in seeded heats
- In the evening there are 3 finals:
- Female: Open (A Final); 19/20yrs (B Final); 17/18yrs (C Final)
- Male: Open (A Final); 20/21yrs (B Final); 18/19yrs (C Final)
At these Championships swimmers are trying to qualify for the following Australian Teams:
- 2019 World University Games
- 2019 World Junior Championships
- 2019 Para Swimming World Championships
Day 1
In a great opening finals session NSW swimmers did very well with the following outstanding results:
Men’s Open 100m Backstroke
William Yang (Ravenswood) was out of the blocks extremely fast and was leading after the first 50m. In a gutsy last 15m Will was only beaten by Mitch Larkin in a very tight finish. Will finished with Silver just 0.08 seconds away from gold. Will dropped a mighty 1.25secs off his entry time with his swim of 0:53.59…. a swim I’m sure will please his coach Bobby Hurley. Also, in the final Cameron Tysoe (Ginninderra) was placed 4th in a time of 0:54.54.
Men’s 18/19yrs 100m Backstroke
Lewis Blackburn (Ravenswood – Coach Mitch Falvey) won Gold in a time of 0:55.95 with Shaye Booth (Mingara – Coach Steve Critoph) finishing 4th in a time of 0:56.17…taking 0.80 off his entry time.
Men’s 18/19yrs 400m Freestyle
In a great PB swim of 3:57.76 Myles Bailey (Ravenswood – Coach Mitch Falvey) finished with Bronze. Also, swimming a great PB was Sam Harris (NU SWIM – Coach Paul Sharman) finishing 5th in a time of 3: 59.20.
Women’s 100m Freestyle
In a great swim Cate Campbell represented her new club Knox Pymble, winning in a very swift time of 0:52.35. With a strong second 50m (0:27.31) Cate has shown she is on target for a great swim at the upcoming trials in June. Having moved to Sydney in January to be coached by Simon Cusak I’m sure both would be pleased by these performances. In the same race Bronte Campbell finished in 5th place in a time of 0:53.81
Women’s 17/18yrs 100m Freestyle
Abbey Webb (Ginninderra – Coach Shannon Rollason) took Silver in a time of 0:55.67. Also, Natasha Ramsden (Abbotsleigh – Coach Amanda Isaac) finished 4th in a swift 0:56.10.
Men’s 100m Butterfly
Edward Marks (Carlile – Coach Adam Kable – SOP Hub) finished just out of the medals in 5th position in a time of 0:53.19 with Shaun Champion (Abbotsleigh) finishing 6th in 0:53.71.
Women’s 17/18yrs Breaststroke
In a great swim Emily Nobbs (Kinross Wolaroi – Coach Kim Taylor) finished with Silver in a new PB of 1:11.28.
Women’s 800m Freestyle
This event was swum as timed finals and I’m waiting on the age results that I’ll report on later.
Para Swimming
Hancock Prospecting Australian Championships is a selection event for the 2019 Para Swimming World Championship team. You can read Swimming Australia's 2019 Para Swimming World Championship Team Selection Policy here.
There were 4 events contested on the first night of the Para Swimming Finals with the following results:
Gold Tiffany Thomas-Kane (Monte) – 50m Breaststroke – 0:42.39 (NSE)
Bronze Matthew Levy (North Sydney – Coach Stephen Badger) 400m Freestyle – 4:49.78*
Bronze Ellie Cole (Knox Pymble – Coach Simon Cusak) 400m Freestyle – 4:46.78*
Bronze Ashley Van Rijswijk (Wagga Wagga) 50m Breaststroke – 0:36.56 (NSE)
*time swam is under the SAL A Qualifying time for the 2019 Para Swimming World Championships (does not guarantee selection); NSE – Non-Selection Event.
Look forward to bringing you more great results from the Championships! GO THE MIGHTY BLUES!
Jon Shaw, Swimming NSW Coaching Director
