2017 QUEENSLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Saturday, December 9th (relays only) – Friday, December 15th
- Prelims at 8:30am local (5:30pm night before EST) & Finals at 6pm local (3am EST)
- Brisbane Aquatic Centre
- LCM
- Meet Central
- Entry List
- Day 1 Recap
- Day 2 Recap
- Live Results – Day 1 Club Relays Only
- Live Results
- Live Stream (Swimming QLD FB Page)
17-year-old Ariarne Titmus smashed a new Australian national record en route to gold in the women’s 400m freestyle at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre tonight. The teen cruised to a solid morning outing of 4:12.56 to take the 2nd seed at these Queensland Championships behind Olympian Jess Ashwood, only to hack off almost 10 seconds to register a winning effort of 4:02.86 this evening. That time checks-in not only as Titmus’ personal best, but the mark also overtakes Ashwood’s previous NR of 4:03.34 from 2015.
Titmus already turned heads this year by making her first senior international team at just 16. She scored new age records in both the 800m freestyle and 400m freestyle this past April to race her way onto the green and gold’s squad for Budapest, where she finished 4th overall in the 400m in a time of 4:04.26.
Tonight, the teen from Tasmania split 57.90/1:01.53/1:01.91/1:01.52 to outdo Ashwood’s old record and take the Queensland title by well over 6 seconds. Her time would have bumped her up to bronze place in Budapest, finishing only behind American legend Katie Ledecky and her Olympic teammate Leah Smith.
World rankings-wise, Titmus now sits as the #2 swimmer in the world, with her 4:02.86 stunner sitting only behind China’s Li Bingjie.
2017-2018 LCM WOMEN 400 FREE
LEDECKY
3.57.94
| 2 | Ariarne TITMUS | AUS | 3.59.66 | 08/11 |
| 3 | Bingjie LI | CHN | 4.01.75 | 09/01 |
| 4 | Leah SMITH | USA | 4.02.21 | 07/28 |
| 5 | Jianjiahe WANG | CHN | 4.03.14 | 03/03 |
Just as a point of reference, Ledecky’s fastest outing at the age of 17 was the 3:58.37 she produced at the 2014 Pan Pac Championships. That time still stands as the World Junior Record in the event. Even sitting 4 second away from that standard, Titmus’ time of 4:02.86 is positioned as what would have been Ledecky’s 5th fastest effort at the same age in a range for the American that spanned the aforementioned 3:58 to 4:08.49.
1.00.15 in the 100 back for Kaylee McKeown (other PB?)
In the next three days: 200 free, 200 im and 200 back for the 16 year-old to solidify her great in-season meet.
A marginal PB. What has been notable is the fact that, despite being a senior national team member, she has raced only in her age events rather than the Open. Will be curious whether she races at either Victoria or NSW and, if so, will she race Open or age ?
The women’s backstroke events at CG Trials look potentially very competitive. Whilst Seebohm looks at lock for one of the 3 available spots, the remaining two look particularly open. McKeown Jr has to be the favourite for one of the 200 but will need a significant PB in the 100. Wilson has the next best 100 PB but hasn’t been near breaking 59 since early 2016. Atherton has the… Read more »
It looks like this is a training meet for the younger McKeown. Besides the 400 im, she has swum “off-events” like the 400 free and the 100 breast, with good results.
Pretty clear the project to widen her schedule of races, and I think that she could become the best Australian Imer in a few years with, who knows?, interesting times worldwide.
Obviously her best shot remains the 200 back (already fourth at last Worlds)
The question that may arise with regards to McKeown Jr’s IM prospects is probably less the case that she may find herself in the postition of being AUS’s premier female IMer (not exactly a stupendous challenge) but rather … will it be to the detriment of her backstroke; especially if it is the case that she supercedes Seebohm in at least one of the 2 Olympic backstroke events over the next 2 years.
Speaking of women’s LCM 400 Free – what is Leah Smith up to? Is she training and if so where?
From what I understand from another publication and from her instagram, she moved to train at the University of Arizona to be with her long time coach Cory Chitwood.
Merry Titmus!!!
The words, “Tonight, the teen from Tasmania split…” really made my day. But I agree with all the other goofballs that the letters L, E, D, C, K & Y do not belong with any other letters in the alphabet.
As a journalistic rule how about never comparing young swimmers to Phelps or Ledecky- just to be on the safe side. Give these kids time to show their abilities.
I don’t know if deserves the title “Ledecky-esque”, but I am really impressed by Titmus’ progression.
Titmus’ PB in the 400 free before the Aussie Champs (April 2017) was 4.09.81. in the final Titmus swam a 4.04.82.
At Worlds (end of July) Titmus swam 4.04.26 (fourth in the final) and now (early December) 4.02.86.
Who had such a progression, as a teen-ager, in a few months?
Who was (and is) capable of hammering great in-season times (also 1.56.34 in 200 free from Titmus)?
Perhaps Swimswam’s staff didn’t exaggerate so much..
Cate Campbell’s 52.69 is pretty sharp, the men’s 100 free was a little slow by comparison, however Magnussen’s morning swim of 48.90 was pleasantly surprising.
Hopefully the boys are in heavy training, still positive we’ll see an Aus 1-2-3 at Gold Coast!!
Possible but think Duncan Scott may have something to say about that !
That won’t be easy this time – Glasgow was bloody poor in that regard
Not particularly surprising re C1; she is tradtionally fast “in season” and a sub 53 was very likely given her 53.10 heat swim. Solid start to LCM season at 53.81 from Jack.
Mare Nostrum were Magnussen’s “tapered” meets for the year with 48.7 being his best. Would be surprised if he gets more than 0.25 – 0.3 below that at any point. McEvoy has often been quick at this meet but maybe a different approach is being taken.
Feel like mcevoy hasn’t been the same since pre rio olympics
Good article, and that’s a fantastic time, especially when Titmus is not fully peaked, for an exciting up-and-coming talent. But using the term “Ledecky-esque,” at least this point, is overstating it.
I see your point, but ‘esque’ merely means in the style of, it doesn’t relate to an actual standard of performance. I see similarities that would lead one to make such a comment about Titmus – Big improvements pretty suddenly, likes to take it out hard etc
I disagree. She had a great swim but its not Ledecky-esque…Ledecky was already at 358 at her age. Plus the “huge” time drop is a little overstated…yes, she dropped 10 seconds in the finals, but overall it was about a 2 second drop from her best time. The title was trying to get ppl to click on the article…which theres nothing wrong with
Dee explained perfectly that ‘esque’ merely means in the style of, it doesn’t relate to an actual standard of performance.
its not “esque” either!
I meant more generally in regards to her improvents over that past year, rather than taking a swim in isolation (which imo is never a good idea). You can’t really compare a tapered PB at Worlds with her first real 400fr of a season at a state meet, you have to apply some context here.
She burst out of the woodwork last year with some pretty great time drops after moving her life from Tasmania (notoriously bad swimming facilities & opportunities) to Queensland for better training opportunities. To go a sizeable 4.02 PB (after taking 1.5s off her 200 PB) in her first real hit out of the season is mightily impressive and one would have to expect to see… Read more »