Watch The Tight Titmus Versus Pallister 800 Free Battle Unfold

2018 AUSTRALIAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, October 25th – Saturday, October 27th
• Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre
• Heats at 10am local (9:30am Sat.)/Finals at 6:30pm local (4:30pm Sat.)
• SCM
• Qualifying meet for 2018 Short Course World Championships squad
• Aussie SC World C’ships Selection Criteria
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Entry List
• Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Prior to the start of the Australian Short Course World Championships, Commonwealth Games champion Ariarne Titmus admitted to still figuring out the world of short course racing, saying the shorter format forces her to work more on ‘skills’ than on her ‘swimming’.  Those skills were put to the test this evening, as it was teen versus teen in the women’s 800m freestyle final in Melbourne.

Titmus entered these Short Course Championships as the top seed, holding a time of 8:17.07. But the St. Peters Western 18-year-old was challenged from the get-go by 16-year-old Alexandra Headland athlete Lani Pallister, who stayed within striking distance the entire race. The Junior Pan Pacs champion was less than half a second behind Titmus entering the final 100, where Pallister just kicked herself into another gear to blast a final 50 of 29.36 to Titmus’ 29.98.

That final surge sealed the deal for Pallister, as she wound up edging Titmus in 8:13.26 to 8:13.41 for the gold.

The Australian National Record of 8:12.32 and All Comers Record of 8:12.65 are both within reach for either Pallister or Titmus, so keep an eye on them in Hangzhou to see how much further they can each raise the bar when racing one another in this event.

As originally reported:

A mild upset occurred in the women’s 800m freestyle, as multiple Commonwealth Games gold medalist Ariarne Titmus saw Junior Pan Pacs champion Lani Pallister power her way to gold in a winning time of 8:13.26. 16-year-old Pallister wreaked havoc in Fiji, sweeping the women’s 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyles.

The 16-year-old showed no fear here in Melbourne, keeping up with Titmus stroke-for-stroke until Pallister wound up passing the Tasmanian teen up right at the end. For her part, Titmus touched the wall just .25 back in 8:13.41, but both very comfortably dipped under the 8:25.85 QT.

The pair now sit as the 2nd and 3rd fastest swimmers in the world, situated only behind newly-minted World Junior Record holder Wang Jianjiahe of China.