Queensland reign supreme in battle of the states
Swimming Australia
Published: Oct 9, 2012 09:17:50 AM Updated: Oct 31, 2012 12:05:59 PM
The Queensland team have taken out the State Teams Short Course Championships at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra for another year, winning the event every year since its inception.
Despite a gutsy effort from Victoria and New South Wales swimmers, the maroon team set a standard that couldn’t be reached with some impressive individual and team performances over the weekend.
Talented teenagers like Alanna Bowles and Regan Leong stepped up for their team and won multiple titles and records, adding to Queensland’s domination of the leader board.
The final scores saw Victoria claim second place ahead of third placed New South Wales and Western Australia in fourth. South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.
The superstar from State Teams Bowles has picked up a clean sweep of her events with two more titles and another meet record to her name from this morning’s session.
Following her wins in the girl’s 13/14 years 200m butterfly final and the 200m freestyle final in meet record time, Bowles has accumulated an impressive six titles and five meet records over the course of the event.
The 14-yeard-old also picked up the award for the best individual female performance in the 13/14 years age category for her record breaking performance in the 800m freestyle.
Bowles led from the start in the 200m butterfly and extended her lead through the turns, eventually hitting the wall in 2:14.40, almost six seconds clear of second place getter Darian Murray in 2:20.18 and Queensland’s Chelsea Gubecka in 2:20.49.
The 200m freestyle had Bowles ranked second going into the final but the determined youngster managed to take first place ahead of Lushavel Stikland (2:03.99) and Michaela Hokin (2:05.12) and set a new meet record of 2:00.07.
Boy’s 14/15yrs 200m Freestyle
West Australian Damian Fyfe collected his fourth title following his win and record breaking performance in the boy’s 14/15 years 200m freestyle final. Fyfe’s time of 1:50.37 erased the 2010 record set by Junior Pan Pacific representative Alexander Graham.
The 15-year-old’s performance in the 200m butterfly earlier in the meet saw him take home the award for best individual male performance in the 14/15 age category.
New South Wales swimmer Hayden Hinds-Sydenham (1:53.50) and Queensland’s Max Carleton (1:53.94) battled for the minor placings with Hinds-Sydenham stealing second place at the wall.
Girl’s 15/16yrs 200m Butterfly
After smashing through the skins earlier in the morning Jemma Schlicht (2:12.63) had to settle for second behind Queenslander Megan Gianotti (2:15.18)in the girl’s 15/16 years 200m butterfly final. New South Wales swimmer Meg Bailey (2:15.25) had a quick last lap, almost catching Schlicht at the wall.
Boy’s 16/17yrs 200m Freestyle
After breaking the 200m freestyle record on the first night swimming in the 4x200m freestyle relay, Queenslander Regan Leong had staked his claim on the event and lived up to expectations, taking out the race by more than a body length ahead of teammate Robert Gerlach (1:49.28) in 1:48.16.
Victorian Lachlan Wells beat home his teammate Jack Gerrard (1:50.88) to take third in 1:50.36.
Boy’s 14/15yrs 400m IM
Victorian Nicholas Groenewald showed his versatility with a win and a new meet record in the boy’s 14/15 years 400m individual medley final, stopping the clock at 4:26.83. Australian Age Champion from this event Hayden Hinds-Sydenham was four seconds back in second place and his teammate Ryan Leonard was third in 4:30.87.
Girl’s 15/16yrs 200m Freestyle
After finishing second in the 100m freestyle final, New South Wales swimmer Sophie Taylor upgraded to first in the girl’s 15/16 years 200m freestyle final, hitting the wall in 2:00.44 for the win.
Queensland’s Megan Gianotti (2:00.52) also managed to upgrade from her third place in the 100m freestyle, touching ahead of teammate Chelsea Gillett (2:00.67) for second place.
Boy’s 16/17yrs 400m IM
Junior Pan Pacific representative Jared Gilliland has proved he is the jack of all trades, picking up a win in his pet event, the boy’s 16/17 years 400m individual medley. The Queenslander finished almost 20 metres ahead of second place getter Tomas Elliott (4:23.81) in 4:16.90 to take title and the IM double. Victoria’s Liam Fisk touched in third in 4:25.26.
Girl’s 15/16yrs 100m Breaststroke
Australian Age Champion from this event Jenna Strauch was too good for Queensland’s Tianni Gilmour in the girl’s 15/16 years 100m breaststroke final. Strauch and Gilmour went stroke for stroke for the majority of the race with the Victorian pulling away as they approached the wall, taking the win in 1:10.82.
Michaela Campbell collected points for New South Wales when she touched third in 1:11.78.
Boy’s 14/15yrs 100m Breaststroke
The boy’s 14/15 years 100m breaststroke was a close call with Jayke Small and Harry Dai (1:04.93) battling for bragging rights. After turning in second place, Small had a strong last lap and eventually stole the win in 1:04.46. Queenslander Rory Brown picked up third place in 1:05.94.
Girl’s 13/14yrs 100m Breaststroke
Youngster Sheridan Calypso has won the breaststroke double following a stellar performance in the girl’s 13/14 years 100m breaststroke final. The 13-year-old just out-touched fellow Queenslander Georgia Wells (1:11.43) to record a time of 1:11.10. Third place went to Victorian Mikayla Smith in 1:12.43.
Boy’s 16/17yrs 100m Breaststroke
New South Wales went one-two in the boy’s 16/17 years 100m breaststroke final with Tomas Elliott taking the title in a time of 1:02.17 ahead of his teammate Jesse King in 1:02.52. Queensland touched just behind with Joshua Tierney in 1:02.75.
Boy’s 16/17yrs 1500m Freestyle
The gruelling 64 lap 16/17 years 1500m freestyle final saw Queensland take the top two spots with Jack McLoughlin first in 15:26.85 and Hayden Rea second in 15:33.07.
With his family watching on Alec Morris managed third in front of a home crowd with his time of 15:38.01.
Skins finals:
Girl’s 13/14yrs 50m Freestyle skins
Queenslander Shayna Jack took two from two in her skins finals this morning. The 13-year-old kicked off proceedings on the final morning of competition taking on New South Wales swimmer Lucy McJannett (25.76) in the 50m freestyle skins.
McJannett tried desperately to catch up but Jack was too strong, hitting the wall in 25.21 to take the win.
Girl’s 13/14yrs 50m Backstroke skins
Less than 15 minutes later, Jack was back in the water for the girl’s 13/14 years 50m backstroke skins where she fought desperately for the win, turning in second and chasing down West Australian Andrea Ho (29.31) to touch first in 28.99.
Boy’s 14/15yrs 50m Freestyle skins
South Australia speedster Kyle Chalmers got one back on New South Wales sprinter Vincent Dai (23.10) in the boy’s 14/15 years 50m freestyle skins final. After settling for silver in the 100m freestyle Chalmers held on for the win this morning, stopping the clock at 23.08 to edge out Dai by 0.02 of a second.
Girl’s 15/16yrs 50m Freestyle skins
Victorian swimmer Jemma Schlicht started her morning with a win in the girl’s 15/16 years 50m freestyle skins, equalling her semi-final time of 25.48 to take the title ahead of Queensland’s Brittany McEvoy in 25.55.
Girl’s 15/16yrs 50m Butterfly skins
Schlicht then backed up her efforts with another win in the girl’s 15/16 years 50m butterfly skins in a time of 26.81. The 15-year-old took some valuable points away from Queensland for the second time this morning relegating maroons swimmer Vanessa Puhlmann (27.22) to second.
Boy’s 16/17yrs 50m Freestyle skins
Queensland had the win either way in the boy’s 16/17 years 50m freestyle skins with teammates Luke Percy and Cameron Jones going head-to-head for title. Percy took the title in the touch, hitting the wall in 22.31 ahead of Jones in 22.43.
Girl’s 13/14 50m Breaststroke skins
Fourteen-year-old Ella Bond improved on her semi-final time to score some much needed points for South Australia in the final of the girl’s 13/14 years 50m breaststroke skins. Bond touched in 32.54 with Victorian Mikayla Smith behind in 32.65.
Boy’s 14/15yrs 50m Breaststroke skins
Following a dead-heat in the semi’s, three boy’s were vying for the 14/15 years 50m breaststroke skins title, with room for only one name at the top. Ranked equal second going into the race New South Wales swimmer Jayke Small stepped up in the final, taking first place in a time of 29.50.
Queensland hit the wall next with Rory Brown stopping the clock in 29.65 and Victorian Nicholas Groenewald was just behind in 29.98.
Girl’s 15/16yrs 50m Breaststroke skins
Victorian Jenna Strauch (31.77) proved too strong for New South Wales swimmer Michaela Campbell (32.22) cruising to victory in the girl’s 15/16 years 50m breaststroke skins.
Boy’s 16/17yrs 50m Breaststroke skins
South Australian James McKechnie re-wrote the record books in the boy’s 16/17 years 50m breaststroke skins, taking Junior Pan Pacs representative Tommy Sucipto’s 2011 title and meet record with a time of 28.35.
New South Welshman Tomas Elliott narrowly missed the touch to score second place in a time of 28.47.
Boy’s 14/15yrs 50m Backstroke skins
There was no stopping Nicholas Groenewald in the boy’s 14/15 years 50m backstroke skins, the 15-year-old backstroke specialist sped past South Australian Rian Pate (26.65) to break his own record from earlier in the meet and stop the clock at 25.61.
Girl’s 15/16yrs 50m Backstroke skins
Lauren Rettie has taken all three backstroke titles from this meet following her win in the 50m backstroke skins this morning. Rettie completed the trifecta when she relegated a fast finishing Jasmine Stimson (28.63) to second with her time of 28.27.
Boy’s 16/16yrs 50m Backstroke skins
Versatile Queensland sprinter Regan Leong who has butterfly, backstroke and freestyle titles to his name, can now add the 16/17 years 50m backstroke skins to his collection. The 17-year-old led from the start, hitting the wall in 25.02, leaving
Robert Gerlach to take second place in 25.28.
Girl’s 13/14yrs 50m Butterfly skins
Queensland swimmer Lucia Lassman flew to victory in the girl’s 13/14 years 50m butterfly skins, successfully defending her 2011 title in a time of 27.09. Victorian Stephanie Whan was a touch behind in 27.37.
Boy’s 14/15yrs 50m Butterfly skins
Queensland’s Dominic Richardson did well to hold off a late attack from South Australian sprinter Kyle Chalmers in the final of the boy’s 14/15 years 50m butterfly skins. The 15-year-old took the title in 24.52 with Chalmers second in 25.05.
Boy’s 16/17yrs 50m Butterfly skins
The final skins event for the meet saw Queensland’s Cameron Jones break a meet record in the boy’s 16/17 years 50m butterfly final. The 16-year-old went sub-24 seconds to take the title in a time of 23.72 ahead of fellow Queenslander Regan Leong in 24.53.
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