Evans and Schlanger showdown as records tumble
Swimming Western Australia
Published: Jan 22, 2013 02:43:14 AM Updated: Jan 22, 2013 09:11:46 PM
Dual Olympian Melanie Schlanger has broken London Olympian and Southport Olympic teammate Blair Evans previous WA All-Comer record in the semi-final of the women’s 200m freestyle on night one of the 2013 Swimming WA State Open and Age LC Championships.
The Olympic relay gold medalist put on a crowd pleasing performance against Evans herself and touched in 1:58.25, 0.26 quicker than the previous standing record.
“I haven’t been swimming all that well in the lead up to this, so my swim tonight is really encouraging”, said Schlanger.
“Tonight’s been a really big confidence builder, so I’m hoping to go a bit quicker tomorrow night, under 1:58 in the relay”.
Although Schlanger currently sits in top spot heading into the final, Evans (1:58.95) will draw on her home turf advantage to relegate her Southport Olympic teammate into second place.
Commonwealth Games gold medalist Yolane Kukla (2:02.22)and BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series competitor Jessica Pengelly (2:03.29) will be looking to go under the elusive two-minute mark to have any chance at the title.
Other action tonight came from reigning title holder Hamish Rose (23.54) who will take the fastest time into tomorrow night’s final of the men’s 50m freestyle.
Rose, who claimed last year’s title in a time of 23.16, heads into the decider ahead of last year’s seventh place getter Patrick Hoey (24.20) and Olympic breaststroker Brenton Rickard (23.83), who’s stroke versatility has shocked onlookers.
In other events…
Men’s 400m freestyle
Malaysia’s triple threat Kevin Yeap, Daniel Bego and Vernon Lee didn’t disappoint in the men’s 400m freestyle final,
Yeap’s superior endurance and carefully paced swim saw him maintain an arm’s length lead throughout the race to finish in 3:56.33, ten seconds quicker than his heat swim.
National record-holder in this event, Bego (3:57.96) and Pahang Sukma triple medalist Lee (3:58.64) were left to fight for the visitor’s silver medal, age and experience winning in the end.
Silver medalist in this event at the Victorian State LC Championships, Andrew Walker proved too strong for State teams Short course teammate Lyndon Goldsmith (), claiming the WA State Championships title in .
BHP Billiton Aquatic Super series Open Water Challenge Age group champion Brett fielding rounded out the WA top three in 4:11.63.
Men’s 200m Butterfly
London Olympian Christopher Wright has cruised to pole position for tomorrow night’s final in the 200m butterfly.
Wright (1:59.57) led from the beginning and finished three body-lengths clear of his nearest competitor, and under Travis Nederpelt’s WA Residential record.
The big improver came from the 16 year old age final, with the 2013 Victorian State Championships gold medalist Nicholas Brown swimming 15 seconds faster than his heat swim and breaking Bill Kirby’s 21 year-old WA Residential record.
Settling for boys 16 years silver medal and progressing through to the open final with Brown, Justin Van Nieuwburg swam a new personal best time also sub Bill Kirbys record.
Women’s 50m Butterfly
Olympic debutant Yolane Kukla has a difficult task ahead of her if she hopes to claim her first WA title. The Commonwealth Games medalist won her age group final convincingly in 27.91, however there will be plenty of challengers in the open final.
The 2012 Short Course finalist Holly Barratt (28.18) will take lane five in the final after surging into second position, while Perth City’s Jordana Tonner (28.32) to round out the top three qualifiers.
Men’s 200 Im
Junior Pan Pacific swimmer Lennard Bremer has booked lane four for tomorrow night’s final of the men’s 200m individual medley. Bremer was the fastest qualifier of the evening in a time of 2:07.60, ahead of Malaysia’s national record holder Ian James Barr (2:08.71).
William Rollo claimed the 16 year-old age group crown in 2:11.09, an astounding seven seconds faster than his heat swim and just 0.09 off the national target time. Rollo will return to contest the open final, with the 200 butterfly gold medalist Nicholas Brown rounding out the top four.
Women’s 100m Breaststroke
Southport Olympic athletes continue to shine with Olympian Leiston Pickett clocking a slick 1:09.16 to qualify as the favourite in tomorrow night’s 100m breaststroke final.
Westside Christchurch’s Sigrid de Vries (1:12.89) and Malaysia’s Christina Loh (1:13.72) will be looking to spoil to Queenslander’s run of luck in the final, rounding out the top three.
Men’s 100m Backstroke
Trans Tasman bronze medalist in this event Matt Meinema will face a fight for gold in tomorrow night’s open 100m backstroke final.
Meinema upset the Malaysian duo of Ian James Barr (59.17) and Jian Han Tern (59.95) by touching first in 59.06 after going stroke for stroke into the wall.
The 2013 SWA State Open and Age LC Championships finals sessions will be broadcast live around the world via live streaming! Please click here to view the live stream
For live results from each session, please click here
Upcoming Events
