2019 Aussie World Trials Day 4 Finals Recap

2019 AUSTRALIAN WORLD SWIMMING TRIALS

• Sunday, June 9th – Friday, June 14th
• Brisbane Aquatic Centre
• LCM
• Meet Site
• Swimming Australia 2019 World Championships – Selection Policy
• Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap/Day 3 Finals Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Recap
• Live Results
• Live Stream

MEN’S 100 FREE – FINAL

• GOLD – Kyle Chalmers, 47.35 *Worlds QT
• SILVER – Clyde Lewis, 48.46
• BRONZE – Cameron McEvoy, 48.66

King Kyle Chalmers blasted the fastest 100m freestyle time of his career tonight, a monster 47.35 to take gold in a World Championships-qualifying outing. That takes over his previous PB of 47.48 from Aussie Nationals in April and also moves the 20-year-old Marion swimmer back on top of the world rankings throne for this season.

You can read about Chalmers’ statement-making performance in the separate post here.

Behind Chalmers tonight was 21-year-old St. Peters Western standout Clyde Lewis, the swimmer who already nailed World Championships qualification in the 200m free behind Chalmers in a new personal best of 1:45.88.

Lewis took gold in the men’s 400m IM on the Gold Coast at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, as well as bronze in the 200m IM, but he opted to focus on freestyle this meet and it paid off. Although his new lifetime best of 48.46 falls short of individual qualification on paper, the fact he’s already qualified in the 200m free may make Swimming Australia give Lewis the nod in this event as well.

At minimum, he’s made it onto the men’s 4x200m free relay, along with bronze medalist here Cameron McEvoy and 4th place finisher Alex Graham. 

McEvoy touched in 48.66, his fastest since the 48.44 from last year’s Commonwealth Games.

WOMEN’S 200 FLY – FINAL

• GOLD – Brianna Throssell, 2:07.39 *Worlds QT
• SILVER – Laura Taylor, 2:08.42
• BRONZE – Brittany Castelluzzo, 2:10.83

Olympic finalist in this women’s 200 fly event, Brianna Throssell of Western Australia, notched her name onto the World Championships roster in event #3, taking this women’s 200 fly tonight in a Gwangju-worthy time of 2:07.39.

Throssell had already nailed relay qualification with her 4th place finish in the women’s 200m free and silver in the 100m fly. Tonight she sealed the deal in a 2nd individual event with this solid 200m fly win.

Her time tonight positions her just inside the top 10 performers in the world this season.

As for Commonwealth Games silver medalist Laura Taylor, the 19-year-old TSS Aquatics standout missed out in this event, finishing in 2:08.42 for silver when a minimum of 2:07.82 was needed for Worlds. Taylor holds a PB of 2:06.80 from February of last year, a mark which made her the 8th fastest Aussie ever, but the magic just didn’t happen for her tonight.

MEN’S 200 IM – FINAL

• GOLD – Mitch Larkin, 1:55.72 *Worlds QT; New Aussie & Commonwealth Record
• SILVER – Thomas Fraser-Holmes, 1:58.76
• BRONZE – Jared Gilliland, 1:59.86

Just one man qualified for the World Championships in this 200m IM event, but he did it in a world-shaking way. 25-year-old St. Peters Western star Mitch Larkin followed up his massive 52.38 100m back gold medal-winning performance here with a ground-shaking 200m IM effort of 1:55.72 for his 2nd win.

His time tonight overtakes his previous Aussie National Record and Commonwealth Record. You can read more about Larkin’s historic swim here.

As for the rest of the pack tonight, the men came up short, with runner-up Thomas Fraser-Holmes hitting 1:58.76, a very respectable time for the 27-year-old, but outside the 1:57.81 QT.

WOMEN’S 400 IM – FINAL

• GOLD – Blair Evans, 4:40.40
• SILVER – Meg Bailey, 4:41.61
• BRONZE – Jenna Forrester, 4:44.39

Western Australia’s Blair Evans got the job done in terms of winning gold in this women’s 400m IM, but the veteran fell short of the Worlds QT tonight.

Hitting the wall in 4:40.40, Evans was unable to dip under the 4:40 threshold, as a 4:37.14 was needed to punch her ticket to Gwangju.

Behind her was Ohio State’s Meg Bailey who registered 4:41.61 for silver, while 15-year-old Jenn Forrester produced the fastest swim of her young career in 4:44.39 for bronze.

WOMEN’S 800 FREE – FINAL

• GOLD – Ariarne Titmus, 8:18.23 *Worlds QT
• SILVER – Kiah Melverton, 8:22.83 *Worlds QT
• BRONZE – Lani Pallister, 8:25.66

In a remarkable women’s 800m free race, the top 4 finishers all dipped under the 8:30.66 World Championships qualifying mark, led by freestyle ace Ariarne Titmus.

The 18-year-old holds the Aussie National Record in this event with the 8:17.07 she nailed at Pan Pacs to finish with the silver behind American legend Katie Ledecky. She was already 8:18.61 this year en route to taking the Aussie National title back in April and was on course with that performance here, nailing 8:18.23 for gold.

Titmus has already qualified for the 400m free in a new Aussie Record, as well as the 200m free, so this teen is well on her way to a packed schedule for GWangju when the 4x200m free relay is added in as well.

Behind Titmus tonight was TSS Aquatics swimmer Kiah Melverton, the 22-year-old who already punched her ticket to Gwangju behind Titmus in the 400m free as well. Tonight Melverton crossed the finish line in 8:22.83, a new personal best by just under 3 seconds. In fact, Melverton’s outing tonight enters her onto the all-time Aussie list in slot #4.

Rounding out the top 3 was 17-year-old Lani Pallister, the 3-time Junior Pan Pacs champion who laid waste to the Aussie Age Group medal board earlier this year at Age Championships. Pallister has a bright future ahead of her with her 8:25.66 bronze medal finish tonight, a time that would have qualified her for Worlds had she finished top 2.