Bowles on her way to a perfect score

Swimming Australia
Published: Oct 7, 2012 08:51:26 PM Updated: Oct 31, 2012 12:03:50 PM

Bowles on her way to a perfect score

Queenslander Alanna Bowles is on her way to a perfect score with four wins and four meet records from four races at the State Teams Short Course Championships in Canberra.

The 14-year-old is proving tough to beat adding both the 800m freestyle and 400m IM titles to her haul after taking the 400m freestyle and 200m IM earlier in the meet.

The Australian Age Champion in this event from April, Bowles broke Remy Fairweather’s 2010 record of 8:40.60, by almost ten seconds to stop the clock at 8:30.61.

Seven- time Australian Age medallist Chelsea Gubecka (8:35.24) took second with West Australia’s Grace Hull coming third in 8:49.52.

The 400m IM was Bowles’ next target, which she destroyed in 4:47.67, erasing the 2009 record of 4:48.45, and finishing nearly six seconds clear of her closest competitor.

After finishing second behind Bowles earlier in the night, Gubecka again had to settle for silver behind her Queensland teammate, hitting the wall in 4:53.01. New South Wales swimmer Abbey Harkin was third in 4:54.99

In other events…

Girl’s 15/16yrs 100m Backstroke

Lauren Rettie claimed the backstroke double at the Australian Age Championships in April and has just repeated that feat at the State Teams Short Course Championships in Canberra with a win in the girl’s 15/16yrs 100m backstroke final.

Rettie hit the wall in 1:00.35, setting a new meet record and taking her second title for the day following her win in the 100m backstroke in this morning’s session.

Victoria took second and third place with Alanis Olesch-Byrne (1:01.89) hitting the wall just 0.04 of a second ahead of her teammate Sian Whittaker (1:01.93)

Boy’s 14/15yrs 200m Butterfly

West Australian Damian Fyfe was just 0.09 off breaking London Olympian Jayden Hadler’s 2009 record of 2:00.30 in the boy’s 14/15yrs 200m butterfly, taking the title in a time of 2:00.39. Victoria’s Hamish McDougall hit the wall next in 2:01.85 with Queenslander Dominic Richardson a close third in 2:03.58.

Girl’s 13/14yrs 100m Backstroke

The Queensland youngster Shayna Jack has done it again, beating an older field to take first place in the girl’s 13/14yrs 100m backstroke final in a time of 1:01.78. The 13-year-old got the better of Queensland teammate Anne-Marie Temo (1:02.82) and 14-year-old Victorian Lushavel Stickland (1:03.02) for the win.

Boy’s 16/17yrs 200m Butterfly

Queensland swimmer Regan Leong added to his wins with a victory in the boy’s 16/17 years 200m butterfly final. The 17-year-old now has the butterfly double after finishing first in the 100m butterfly this morning.

Leong’s time of 1:58.70 was a new meet record and too strong for Victorian Mitchell Pratt (2:01.34) who picked up the silver for the second time behind the speedy teen. Third place went to Tomas Elliott in 2:01.36.

Girl’s 13/14yrs 200m Breaststroke

Queensland youngster Sheridan Calypso collected her second title of the meet with a win in the girl’s 13/14 years 200m breaststroke.

The 13-year-old hit the wall in 2:30.94, nearly three seconds in front of Victorian Mikayla Smith in 2:33.76. New South Wales swimmer Abbey Harkin held on for third place in a time of 2:34.19.

Boy’s 14/15yrs 100m Freestyle

The men’s 14/15 years 100m freestyle went to dual Australian Age Champion Vincent Dai in a time of 51.19. The 14-year-old did well to hold off on a late attack from South Australia speedster Kyle Chalmers who took second place in 51.40. Queensland’s Max Carleton finished third in 52.01.

Girl’s 15/16yrs 200m Breaststroke

The records continued to fall throughout the session with Victorian Jenna Strauch claiming the next one in the girl’s 15/16 years 200m breaststroke. The 15-year-old hit the wall almost two body lengths in front of second place getter Tianni Gilmour (2:31.55) to set a new meet record of 2:27.11.

West Australian Jemma Saxton (2:31.94) rounds out the top three.

Boy’s 16/17yrs 100m Freestyle

Victoria were quickly moving their way up the leader board and Lachlan Wells win in the 16/17 years boy’s 100m freestyle pushed them past New South Wales and within striking distance of Queensland.

The 16-year-old stopped the clock in an impressive 49.96 and was the only swimmer to record a time under 50 seconds for the event. Queensland wasn’t far behind with teammates Luke Percy (50.31) and Blake Jones (50.48) getting second and third respectively.

Girl’s 15/16yrs 400m IM

Fresh off the back of a talent ID camp at the AIS, 16-year-old Tianni Gilmour had obviously put some of the lessons into practise as she blitzed the field in the girl’s 15/16 years 400m individual medley. Gilmour touched in 4:40.45, ten seconds clear of Meg Bailey (4:50.16) in second and Taylor Green (4:50.86) third.

Boy’s 14/15 200m Backstroke

Victorian Nicholas Groenewald picked up another win, this time in the 14/15 years 200m backstroke. Groenewald managed to defend his 2011 title and break his own meet record with a time of 2:01.25. West Australian Damian Fyfe (2:02.60) put in a good fight to hold on for second place ahead of Victorian Mitchell Hutton (2:02.78).

Boy’s 16/17yrs 200m Backstroke

The boy’s 16/17 years 200m backstroke was a much closer race with the top three all finishing within 0.9 of a second. Jared Gilliland got the best touch and finished first in 1:59.10, just ahead of his Queensland teammate Robert Gerlach in 1:59.63. While 17-year-old Ryan Hore who was racing in front of a home crowd, had to settle for third place in 2:00.00.

Boy’s 14/15yrs 1500m Freestyle

Queensland and Victoria again battled it out for top spot in the final of the boy’s 14/15 years 1500m freestyle.

It was Queensland’s Joshua Parrish (15:38.31) who had the legs for the distance event, kicking ahead of Victoria’s Hamish McDougall (15:40.88) to take the win. Hayden Hinds-Sydenham from New South Wales touched the wall in 15:57.50 for third.

Following that final victory for Queensland, the leader board currently stand at

1 QLD: 1246

2 VIC: 1026

3 NSW: 986.50

The final session will start at 9:30am tomorrow morning with tickets available at the door.