Commonwealth Gold medalist Leiston Pickett highlighted the championships over the weekend taking out the women’s 200 breast in 2.26.71. She then followed suit a few events later to win the 50 breaststroke in 30.74. She then followed on from her early breaststroke wins to take the treble by winning the women’s 100 in 1.06.41 followed again by Aisling Scott, with Courtney Daniels taking third.
The Queensland State Short Course Championships began with a mixed bag events of sprint medley and distances events. Douglas Oliver took out the 100IM in 55.29 followed closely by Buster Sykes and Andrew Kennedy, while Ellen Fullerton won the women’s event in 1.00.76, with Aisling Scott and Carla Buchanan rounding out the top 3. The men’s 1500 followed, with Nathan Robinson winning in 15.12.39 followed by Sho Nishimoto and Max Osborn. Alanna Bowles captured the women’s 800 in 8.22.96 with Chelsea Gubecka and Kiah Melverton finishing second and third.
Day 2 of the meet began with the men’s 200 breast with Ashton Baumann taking first followed by Buster Sykes and Joshua Tierney. Ellen Fullerton followed her 100 IM victory with a win in the 400 IM with a time of 4.31.58. 2013 World Championships swimmer Alex Graham took the win in the men’s 200 freestyle in a time of 1.47.44. Followed by Peter Mills and Hayden McEvoy. Carla Buchanan took out the women’s race in 1.56.96 with Ellen Fullerton taking another podium spot, with Chelsea Gillett rounding out the top three. Jamie Sturgeon won the men’s 100 free 48.48, followed by Hayden McEvoy, and Alex Graham. The women’s 100 was a tight race with Sara-Jean Saal just beating Carla Buchanan by 0.01 to take the win in 54.90 with Chelsea Gillett finished third.
The top two places in the men’s 100 breaststroke were reversed with Buster Sykes taking a convincing win over Ashton Baumann followed in third by Joshua Tierney. 16-year-old Nathan Robinson took out the men’s 400 freestyle in 3.52.11. Buster Sykes again featured on the podium taking first in the 200 IM in a time of 2.01.31, followed by Andrew Kennedy and Tom Jefferies. Lauren Rettie took line honours in the women’s 200 IM 2.14.81 with Kiah Melverton and Chelsea Gubecka taking the minor placings.
The final day saw Alex Graham take the 100 fly 53.64 with New Zealander Isaac Foote coming second and Stuart Rech in third. Sara-Jean Saal once again took out first place this time in the women’s 100 fly 57.81 with Jessica Hobbin and Jessica Reinhardt following her to the finish. Alanna Bowles followed up on her 800 win taking first in the women’s 400 freestyle in a time of 4.09.68. Olympian Chris Wright took the men’s 200 fly by a whisker 1.57.07 over Isaac Foote 1.57.08, with Sho Nishimoto in third. Alice Stuart won the women’s race in 2.14.66 with Kareena Lee in second and Alice Lane in third. Sho Nishimoto backed up from second placing in the 200 fly and took the win in the men’s 400 IM in a time 4.20.84. Peter Mills took the out first in the men’s 200 back in a time of 1.57.13 followed by Douglas Oliver and Nicholas Honey. Kate Hudson won the women’s in 2.13.54 with Lauren Arenas and Kareena Lee in second and third. Douglas Oliver got the better of Peter Mills in the 50 back touching just ahead of him in 25.36 with Nicholas Honey in third. The last race of the meet went to Lauren Rettie winning the women’s 50 back in 28.09 followed by Imogen Watson and Ryleigh Lammert.