2022 Aussie National Trials: Incerti Grabs Spot as Chalmers Excels in Fly

2022 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, May 18 – Sunday, May 22, 2022
• SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre, Oaklands Park, South Australia
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Entry List
• Live Results
• Live Stream (Amazon Prime)
• World Championships Qualifying Criteria

Amid the well-earned hype surrounding Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook‘s monster 2:05.95 200m breast World Record last night at the Australian Swimming Championships, another eye-catching performance transpired in the men’s 200m freestyle.

Entered as the #2 seed behind Elijah Winnington, 25-year-old Zac Incerti punched his ticket to this year’s World Championships with a gold medal-worthy performance.

The Marion swimmer soared to the wall in a time of 1:45.80 to top the podium, a result that represents the man’s first-ever outing under the 1:46 barrier.

Opening in 51.37 and bringing it home in 54.43, Kyle Chalmers‘ training mate easily beat his previous personal best of 1:46.18 from last year.

With his result here at the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre, Incerti checks in as the nation’s 10th fastest swimmer in history in the men’s 200m free.

All-Time Australian Performers, Men’s 200 Freestyle (LCM)

1. Ian Thorpe, 1:44.06 – 2021
2. Clyde Lewis, 1:44.90 – 2019
3. Thomas Fraser-Holmes, 1:45.08 – 2014
4. Alex Graham, 1:45.22 – 2021
5. Cameron McEvoy / Kenrick Monk, 1:45.46 – 2014 / 2009
6. –
7. Kyle Chalmers 1:45.48 – 2021
8. Elijah Winnington, 1:45.55 – 2021
9. Tommy Neill, 1:45.70 – 2021
10. Zac Incerti, 1:45.80 – 2022

Incerti now also ranks as the 10th swiftest performer in the world so far this season.

With his sub-1:46 outing, Incerti also adds to the possibility of Australia being able to duplicate its gold medal rendering men’s 4x200m freestyle performance from three years ago.

At those 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, the combination of Clyde Lewis, Kyle Chalmers, Alex Graham and Mack Horton combined to clock a formidable mark of 7:00.85 to capture a new Oceanic Record.

Olympic finalist Lewis has only committed to the Commonwealth Games so far this year, while Chalmers is focusing on the butterfly at this meet, having taken silver in the 100m and gold in the 50m here. Graham is not competing at this meet.

For the World Championships, that means that Incerti leads the charge of 800 free relay members, filling the void left by Chalmers. Incerti will likely team up with potential relay mates Elijah Winnington, who logged a time of 1:46.01, Olympic gold medalist Horton, who hit 1:46.70, and 16-year-old Flynn Southam, in Budapest.

Southam posted a near-lifetime best of 1:46.82 to snag a fourth-place finish and most likely seal his World Championships berth.