The first session of the 2014 State Teams Age Short Course Championships saw four meet records fall to three different states as the battle for bragging rights kicked off at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
Tasmania’s Jacob Vincent was the first to set a new State Teams standard when he hit the wall in a time of 3:53.29 in the boy’s 14/15 years 400m freestyle, knocking over two seconds off the previous record from 2012.
Vincent, who also holds the 15 years Australian Age title in the event, was too strong for the New South Wales duo of Nathan Robinson (3:58.70) and Callum Lowe-Griffiths (4:00.09) who finished second and third respectively.
In the corresponding girl’s event Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships debutante Alanna Bowles asserted her dominance, finishing over three seconds clear of her closest competitor in the girl’s 15/16 years 400m freestyle with a time of 4:05.98.
West Australian Tamsin Cook picked up the points for second place clocking 4:09.51 while Queenslander Phoebe Hines was third in 4:15.12.
The boy’s 16/17 years 50m butterfly saw Queensland’s Dominic Richardson and West Australia’s Braga Verhage in a tight tussle for the title with Richardson taking the win and setting a new meet record by the smallest of margins. Richardson stopped the clock in 23.71 with Verhage a fingernail behind in 23.72. New South Wales Swimmer Vincent Dai was third in 25.08.
The final record for the session came in the boy’s 14/15 years 200m individual medley with New South Wales swimmer Matthew Wilson successfully defending his title in a meet record time of 2:01.45. Queensland’s Rory Scott (2:06.95) was second with Liam Brodrick rounding out the top three in 2:07.00.
In other events…
Girl’s 13/14 years 50m Freestyle
It was the girl’s and boy’s splash and dash 50m freestyle events that kicked off proceedings at the 2014 State Teams Age Short Course Championships in Canberra.
Victoria picked up the first points on offer when Julia Hawkins recorded a 25.49 to take first place in the girl’s 13/14 years 50m freestyle. Second place went to Junior Pan Pacs representative Minna Atherton in 25.97 with New South Wales swimmer Natasha Ramsden third in 26.18.
Boy’s 14/15 years 50m Freestyle
New South Wales were next on the leader board when William Yang (23.05) picked up the win in the boy’s 14/15 years 50m freestyle ahead of Andrew Ryanfrom Queensland in 23.83 and fellow new South Welshman Christopher Hoare in 23.92.
Girl’s 15/16 years 50m Freestyle
Junior Pan Pacs medallist Shayna Jack was too strong in the girl’s 15/16 years 50m freestyle, hitting the wall first in a time of 25.25. Victorian Elyse Woodswas second in 25.63 with West Australian Hadley Lindsay third in 25.77.
Boy’s 16/17 years 50m Freestyle
Braga Verhage opened his State Teams campaign with a win in the boy’s 16/17 years 50m freestyle, clocking a 22.43 to get the better of Brayden McCarthy(22.56) and Vincent Dai (22.62)
Girl’s 13/14 years 400m Freestyle
The girl’s 13/14 years 400m freestyle saw the Australian Age champion in the event Mikayla Messer prove too fast for the rest of the field as she took top spot in a time of 4:17.42. Messer finished over three seconds ahead of Tasmania’s Ariane Titmus in 4:20.73 and Bethany Mounfield from South Australia in 4:20.90.
Boy’s 16/17 years 400m Freestyle
Queensland swimmers Reece Brennan (3:51.53) and Max Carleton (3:56.90) took the top two spots in the boy’s 16/17 years 400m freestyle with Brody McGowan from Western Australia taking third place in 3:56.93.
Girl’s 13/14 years 50m Butterfly
The girl’s 13/14 years 50m butterfly saw Gemma Cooney from Queensland hit the wall first in a time of 27.99. Cooney’s teammate Imogen Watson was second in 28.28 and New South Wales swimmer Courtney Taylor was third in 28.63.
Boy’s 14/15 years 50m Butterfly
Four-time Australian Age Champion from 2014 Matthew Wilson collected his first points for New South Wales in the boy’s 14/15 years 50m butterfly, hitting the wall first in 24.99, while Queensland teammates Cameron Usher (25.94) and Bryan Poon (26.02) finished second and third respectively.
Girl’s 15/16 years 50m Butterfly
The girl’s 15/16 years 50m butterfly was a fight to the finish with Queensland’s Lucia Lassman (26.79) just edging out Victoria’s Stephanie Whan (26.94) andMikaela Cornelissen (26.96) for first place.
Girl’s 13/14 years 200m IM
In the girl’s 13/14 years 200m individual medley, rising star Minna Atherton upgraded to gold from her silver winning swim earlier in the evening, touching in a time of 2:17.52. Queensland’s Megan Bogatie was second in 2:19.70 and Sienna McDonald third in 2:20.74.
Girl’s 16 and under 4x200m Freestyle
The Queensland quartet of Shayna Jack, Kayla Hoey, Sarah Johnson and Alanna Bowles put on a dominant display in the girl’s 16 and under 4x200m freestyle relay, hitting the wall in 8:01.23, almost seven seconds clear of their closest competitor.
Victorians Jessica Adams, Elli Warren, Elyse Woods and Lushavel Stickland were second in 8:08.07 while the New South Wales team of Rachel Wood, Vivian Zhu, Chloe Yoo and Monique Rae were third in 8:14.74.
Boy’s 17 and under 4x200m Freestyle
In the boy’s 17 and under 4x200m freestyle relay, Queensland once again took the win, with the team of Dominic Richardson, Samuel Young, Reece Brennan and Max Carleton clocking a 7:18.94 to finish first over six seconds clear.
Second place went to New South Wales swimmers Cameron Slaughter, Ryan Leonard, Hayden Hinds-Sydenham and Caleb Hansford in 7:25.09 with Victoria’s Mitchell Davenport-Wright, Theo Benehoustsos, Caiden Gill and Ryan Pinchbeck third in 7:30.63.
The second session of the 2014 State Teams Age Short Course in Canberra will begin at 9:30am tomorrow morning with live results available herehttp://liveresults.swimming.org.au/sal/2014ST/
I liked your desciption of Alanna Bowles, calling her a “debutante”, Braden! 😉