The final session of 2021 NSW State Open brought together another series of races were some of the stars of Australian swimming went head to head. Also, on show were the up and coming NSW swimmers who have really taken to these championships and made the most of the opportunities presented.
The first final of the morning was the Women's 200m Butterfly that saw NSW swimmer Meg Bailey (Hunter – Olympic Park HUB) deflect the challenge from the northerners! Meg took the Gold medal in 2:10.39 with the Silver going to Alice Stuart (TSS Aquatic) 2:11.26 and the Bronze going to Brittany Castelluzzo (Tea Tree Gully) in 2:11.75.
The final of the Men's 100m Butterfly saw a quinella from NSW swimmers Edward Marks (Carlile – Olympic Park HUB) 52.90 and Shaun Champion (Abbotsleigh) 53.08 taking the Gold and Silver medals respectively. Taking the Bronze was David Morgan (TSS Aquatic) in 53.13. Just missing the podium was 4th place Alex Quach (Auburn – Olympic Park HUB) in 53.60.
The Mighty Blues swimmers off to a fast start!
The Men's 200m Breaststroke saw the withdrawal of the titleholder Matthew Wilson (SOPAC – Olympic Park HUB). Winning the Gold was Daniel Cave (Melbourne Vicentre) in 2:15.61. The Silver going to Samuel Williamson (Firbank Aquastars) in 2:16.85 and the Bronze going to James McKechnie (Starplex) in 2:18.09
The 100m Multi Class races saw some great racing. In the Men's, Ricky Betar S14 (Auburn) picked up the Bronze in a new PB of 52.87. Winning the event was Rowan Crothers S10 (Yeronga Park) in 52.80 with Braedan Jason S12 (USC Spartans) taking the Silver in 54.50. The Women's event saw two NSW swimmers winning the Gold and Silver medals. In first place was Jasmine Greenwood S10 (Bay & Basin) in 1:03.37 and the Silver going to Ellie Cole S9 (Knox Pymble) in 1:05.24. Picking up the Bronze medal was Emily Beecroft S9 (Traralgon) in 1:05.47
One of the highlight events of the morning was the Women's 200m Freestyle and it didn’t disappoint! In superb form Emma McKeon (Griffith University) took out the event in a very quick 1:55.56…her splits were 26.78/29.17/30.02/29.59. Coming in second was Madison Wilson (Marion) in 1:56.85 and picking up the Bronze was Kiah Melverton (TSS Aquatic) in 1:59.85.
The Men’s 50m event saw plenty of white water from the power exerted by the swimmers! In a blanket finish that saw the first four swimmers under 23 seconds, it was the St Peters Western swimmer Jack Cartwright who claimed the Gold in 22.33. The Silver went to Cameron McEvoy (TSS Aquatic) in 22.69 and the Bronze to Michael Pickett (New Zealand Federation) in 22.82
The Women's 200m IM saw a great swim by Kaylee McKeown (USC Spartans) winning the Gold in a smart time of 2:09.94. The Silver medal went to Tara Kinder (Melbourne Vicentre) in 2:15.70 and the Bronze to Tessa Wallace (USC Spartans) in 2:15.98. In 4th place was Mela Delmenico (City of Sydney) in 2:18.37
The Men's 400 IM saw Se-Bom Lee (Carlile) take the Gold medal in 4:23.83. The Silver medal went to Marco Soesanto (Surrey Park) in 4:29.98. The Bronze medal went to Hunter swimmer Charlie Hawke in 4:32.39
The Men's 100m Backstroke saw Mitch Larkin (St Peters Western) win the event in 0:54.14. The remaining field was packed with NSW swimmers – William Yang (Loreto Normanhurst) 55.03 picked up the Silver and Bradley Woodward (Mingara – Olympic Park HUB) the Bronze in 55.06
The Men's 100m Multi Class Breaststroke saw Blake Cochrane SB7 (USC Spartans) winning the Gold in 1:19.59. The NSW pair of Lachlan Hanratty SB14 (Revesby Workers) 1:16.87 and Tarren Dyer SB14 (Wollongong) 1:26.86 picked up the Silver and Bronze medals respectively.
The Women's 100m Multi Class 100m Breaststroke was won by Paige Leonhardt SB14 (Uni of Queensland) in 1:16.22. Taking the Silver was Tiffany Thomas Kane SB7 (Warringah) in 1:34.98 with the Bronze going to Keira Stephens SB9 (USC Spartans) in 1:18.90.
The final two individual events of the Championships were the Men's and Women's 1500m Freestyle. Winning the Gold medal was Alexander Grant (Moreton Bay) in 15:45.33. He was followed in by the NSW pair of Ryley Twiss (Hunter) 16:21.97 and Eden Horne (Carlile) in 16:23.77. The Women's 1500m saw the first 3 places go to swimmers from TSS Aquatic. Taking the Gold was Madeleine Gough in 16:04.56, the Silver went to Moesha Johnson in 16:16.93 and the Bronze went too Kiah Melverton in 16:20.47.
So after a great three days of swimming we look at a lot of positives that came out of the meet for the Mighty Blues swimmers. The emergence of some of our younger brigade was very pleasing to see…an opportunity to race is an opportunity to improve. Having heats in the evening and finals in the morning was a great way to get people to swim fast and fast they swam!
We look forward to the Australian MC, Age and Open Championships due to begin on Monday 5th April on the Gold Coast with great anticipation…for two age groups it will be their first Australian Championships!!
I look forward to bringing you lots of good news! GO THE MIGHTY BLUES!
Jon Shaw | Coaching Director | Swimming NSW Ltd.
