It was the promised freestyle showdown that spectators had been waiting for as athletes took to the pool for the Men’s 200m Freestyle.
Kyle Chalmers (Marion) claimed his second gold of the meet, dropping 2.10 seconds from his qualifying time to come in 1:47.45. Following close behind was Welson Sim (Malaysia) in 1:48.21 and Alexander Graham (Bond) in 1:48.38 for silver and bronze respectively.
Cate Campbell (Knox Pymble) cemented herself as a ‘true blue’ NSW swimmer coming in 24.41 in the Women’s 50m Freestyle for a hat-trick of freestyle gold after placing first in the 100m and 4x100m medley relay last night.
Post-race Campbell’s new club could be heard cheering loudly in the stands.
‘They’ve been so welcoming, and I think that’s really helped us feel at home in NSW because it is a little bit of foreign territory, but everyone’s been wonderful.’ Campbell said.
Adding another gold to her collection, Wollongong native Emma McKeon (Griffith University) came home in 57.84 in the Women’s 100m Butterfly, with Laura Taylor (TSS Aquatic) for silver in 59.91 and Yolane Kukla (Palm Beach Currumbin) again for bronze after taking the medal for the Women’s 50m Butterfly last night.
Paralympian Liam Schluter S14 (Kawana Waters) dropped 2.38 seconds off his preliminary time to claim gold in the Men’s 100m Freestyle Multi-Class, just ahead of Auburn team members Timothy Hodge S9 for silver and Ricky Betar S14 for bronze.
Down to the wire, Madi Wilson (Marion) came in 1:00.20 to become the new NSW State Champion in the Women’s 100m Backstroke. Followed closely behind by Kaylee McKeown (USC Spartans) in 1:00.39 for silver and Sian Whittaker (Melbourne Vicentre) in 1:02.44.
All three will head off tomorrow to the Backstroke portion of the National Event Camps currently being run by Swimming Australia, for a week of training in Brisbane under the watchful eye of David Lush.
Another Knox Pymble recruit, Ellie Cole S9 took home gold in the Women’s 100m Backstroke Multi-Class event, followed by Katja Dedekind S13 (USC Spartans) and Jasmine Greenwood S10 (Bay & Basin) for silver and bronze respectively.
Rounding out the second night of competition, University of NSW A were the 4x200m Freestyle Relays victors in the Women’s event, with Bond A claiming top honours for the Men’s event.
The final day of competition will kick off tomorrow with heats starting at 9:00am tomorrow morning, for the full list of results head to live.results and stay tuned to @nswswimming for all the action poolside.
