More records smashed, an electric crowd and special commentary from Paralympic and Olympic medallists, night three of finals had it all!
With many of our 50m and 100m sprint events occurring on Sunday evening, the swimmers and crowd were buzzing with adrenaline. Here is our recap of day three of finals!
The night kicked off with the MC Sprint Cup challenge in the 50m Freestyle. With special commentary from Dual Paralympic Gold medallist, Ben Popham, the field was filled with UWA West Coast stars Liam Smith, Lucinda Foley and Colin Jackson. It was Smith who prevailed victorious, winning the MC 50m Freestyle in a time of 29.03, followed by Foley in 39.79 seconds and Jackson third in 30.89.
Smith was presented the prestigious annual MC Sprint Cup from Popham, most likely headed straight for the pool room.
The blue-ribboned event of the Open 100m Freestyle delivered for the electric crowd. Commentated by Swimming WA Board member and Olympic sprinter, Tommaso D'Orsogna, St Hildas Jackson Govers (24) became the fastest man in the state, clocking in at 51.46 seconds. Harrison Hynes came in second overall with 51.80 seconds, followed by Alec Mander in 52.19.
Mander showcased his incredible range of speed across the 100m to 1500m freestyle distances and demonstrated the coaching expertise from Perth City coach, Eoin Carroll. 50m Freestyle champion, Tyrone Crees, was just behind Mander in in 52.24, narrowly ahead of Jamie Anderson in 52.31.
The Women's 17&O 100m Freestyle also saw a nail biting finish. Arena Swim Club prodigy Alyssa Burgess continued her brilliant form across the Championships, finishing fastest overall in 56.45 seconds. The battle for second fastest in WA went two both Kate Harrison and Caitlyn Ribbons, who both dead-heated to finish in exactly 57.01 seconds to have the crowd on their feet.
The Boys 16-years 200m Breastroke saw Central Aquatic's Harrison Farmer dominate the field to win comfortably in 2:27.54, ahead of Matthew Loffler in 2:30.01 and Tom Anderson in 2:31.86. Talia Wilkinson smashed her competition to win the Girls 16-years 200m Breastroke in a time of 2:40.49 ahead of Jasmine Mercer in 2:47.74 and Neeve Fasher in 2:48.71.
Wilkinson's strength in Breastroke would be on display later in the evening. She was five metres behind Breakers Swim Club star Iona Anderson at the halfway mark of the girls 16-years 200m IM, before Wilkinson stormed ahead in the 50m Breastroke leg to take the lead and finish ahead of Anderson in a time of 2:22.33.
Iona Anderson smashed more records in the Girls 16-years 50m Backstroke. The Breakers Swim Club phenomenon clocked 29.05 during the morning heats session, which set the WA Residential record for the 16, 17 and 18-years categories. She finished slightly outside her record time in the finals, clocking 29.33 seconds.
Ryan Hewlett scorched the pool in the Boys 17-years 50m Backstroke, touching the wall in 26.85 seconds. 16-year-olds Tom Wyatt and Jacob Hale were not far behind Hewlett, clocking 27.03 and 27.19 seconds respectively.
The smooth technique of Westside Christchurch's Sasha Bell took him to an impressive victory in the Men's 18&O 100m Breastroke, winning comfortably in 1:05.91. Rielly Joyce finished second over all 1:06.26, with Finlay Larmour third in 1:08.13.
Talara-Jade Dixon proved it's going to be very difficult to knock her off the top Breastroke perch in WA. The 25-year-old St Hildas star clocked 1:11.05 in the Women's 17&O 100m Breastroke, ahead of Caitlyn Ribbons in 1:12.04 and Calia Vlastuin in 1:13.00.
MC swimmer Tegan Reder is on a record smashing mission across these Championships. The UWA West Coast star shattered yet another 18-years Australian Age record (S11) in the Women's 50m Breastroke after clocking in at 43.42 seconds, ahead of her talented team mate, Jordan Berryman (S14) in 41.24 seconds.
Incredibly, Reder unofficially broke yet another Australian Age MC record this morning in the Women's 100m Breastroke with her time of 1:35.25. She simply can't be stopped!
Arguably one of the best swims of the Championships went to 13-year-old Sylvia Czajko from UWA West Coast. Czajko absolutely destroyed the competition in the Girls 13-years 50m Freestyle and set a remarkable time of 25.94 seconds. It shattered the 13-years WA All-Comers, WA All Time, WA Residential, 14-years All Time and 14-years WA residential records.
It was also the third-fastest time set by a 13-year old girl in Australian history. Huge congratulations to you Sylvia!
The 200m and 400m Individual Medley events rounded out the night. UWA West Coast's Adriano Todoro (18) won gold in the 18&O 200m IM in 2:10.37, ahead of Alec Mander in 2:11.17 and Lucas Wilson in 2:18.04. Rockingham's Lily Beste won the Women's 17&O 200m IM comfortably in 2:20.81, in front of Arena Swim Club pair Chelsea Green (2:24.35) and Tiana Forrestal (2:26.25).
The Mixed 200m IM saw North Coast Swimming Club's Kieren Pollard reveal why he is one of the best medley swimmers currently in Australia. The 22-year-old swam a 2:03.89 and looked brilliant throughout every stroke. He was joined by Arena Swim Club's Alyssa Burgess in the final, who swam a respectable 2:21.03.
Want to keep up to date with all the action across the final day of the 2021 Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships? Keep an eye on the Swimming WA Facebook and Instagram pages!
Best of luck to all swimmers and coaches on the final day of the event and thank you to all of our sponsors and partners below helping us make these Championships one of the best ever!
