Already one Australian/All-Comers Record has fallen after just the first night of finals at the 2015 Australian Short Course Championships in Sydney.
22-year-old Jessica Ashwood won the women’s 1500m freestyle last night in a time of 15:43.83 to kick off the competition and was all smiles post-race. In the video interview of several Aussie athletes, the Chandler Swim Club swimmer was very pleased with her swims, but still points to her turns as something she can improve. Ashwood tackles the 800m freestyle in tonight’s finals session.
Also in the recap video from early performances, Emily Seebohm talks through her mindset headed into the tight field in the backstroke events. Reminiscing to a time when she was the younger swimmer hunting her mentors, Seebohm says in the video that she is the “older swimmer” that girls look up to now and she’s relishing that spot. After prelims, Seebohm sits in 4th in her lesser event, the women’s 100m freestyle, but is the top-seeded swimmer in the 200 backstroke with her early mark of 2:05.06.
Sprinter Cate Campbell is very focused after taking some time off after World Championships, clocking a swift 51.77 for the top seed out of prelims. She reiterates in the video that she and Bronte keep their relationship as “all business” when diving into the pool.
Finally, on-a-roll Mitch Larkin offers his thoughts, stating how his crazy-fast summer filled with two World Championship titles and remarkable World Cup streaks across both the 100m and 200m backstroke events, has given him confidence and trust in his abilities. After the first men’s backstroke prelims event, the 50m distance, Larkin sits as the top seed with his mark of 23.31 headed into tonight’s finals.