Fraser-Holmes conquers quality field for 200 freestyle title
Swimming Australia
Published: Mar 17, 2013 09:45:32 AM Updated: Apr 22, 2013 01:44:29 PM
With a field that included six Australian Olympic swimmers as well as dual London Olympic medallist from Japan, the men’s 200m freestyle final, at the NSW State Open Championships, was always going to be a fight to the finish.
Olympic finalist in this event Thomas Fraser-Holmes looked to have a comfortable lead until his Olympic teammate Cameron McEvoy (1:47.74) turned on the speed for the final lap, almost catching Fraser-Holmes at the wall. The 21-year-oldmanaged to hold off McEvoy and take the title in 1:47.64, just one tenth of a second ahead.
Twenty-eight-year-old Takeshi Matsuda finished with the bronze medal in a time of 1:48.64.
With the qualifying time for the FINA World Championships sitting at 1:47.39, both Fraser-Holmes and McEvoy are already posting encouraging times.
Japan’s Aya Terakawa (59.16) was too strong tonight for Emily Seebohm (1:00.64) in the final of the women’s 100m backstroke. Despite a strong field, Terakawa gained a body length on Seebohm with 25m to go and could not be caught.
Finalist from this event in London Belinda Hocking (1:00.69) managed to hang on for third with medley master Alicia Coutts (1:01.03) clocking an impressive backstroke time and chasing her down to finish fourth.
Dual Olympians Bronte Barratt and Kylie Palmer were at it again in the final of the women’s 400m freestyle. The pair, who are regular rivals, teased the crowd, taking turns in the lead all the way to the wall as Barratt battled to defend her title and Palmer to steal the crown.
Twenty-four-year-old Barratt took the win by the smallest of margins, hitting the wall in 4:08.51 to Palmer’s 4:08.52. The pair were just outside the FINA World Championship qualifying time of 4:07.61 but both look in good form to improve at the EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships beginning in April.
Leading the chase was St Peters Western swimmer Katie Goldman who picked up the bronze in a time of 4:09.61.
In other events:
Men’s 50m Butterfly:
Sydney University swimmer Sam McConnell (24.22) was the winner in the splash and dash men’s 50m butterfly final. McConnell managed to hold off fastest qualifier from this morning’s heat Andrew Smith (24.26) and backstroker Ben Treffers (24.29) for the title.
Women’s 100m Butterfly:
In her first final of the night, Alicia Coutts was well ahead of the field in the women’s 100m butterfly final. Sitting nearly half a body-length in front at the turn, Coutts stopped the clock in 58.00, just 0.03 off the Barcelona World Championship qualifying time.
Despite her best efforts to catch up Ellen Gandy had to settle for silver in 58.30 with Yuka Kato (59.47) from Japan taking the bronze.
Men’s 200m Backstroke:
The Japanese were too strong in the final of the men’s 200m backstroke, taking the top spots in convincing fashion, with Ryosuke Irie touching first in 1:54.72 ahead of teammate Kosuke Hagino second in 1:55.12.
Beijing Olympian Ashley Delaney stepped up to take third in 1:58.81 ahead of London Olympian Matson Lawson who finished fourth in 2:00.06.
Men’s 100m Breaststroke:
The final of the men’s 100m breaststroke also saw a Japanese one-two with promising 18-year-old Akihiro Yamaguchi taking the title in a time of 1:01.45 ahead of teammate and breaststroke legend Kosuke Kitajima (1:02.49). Nunawading swimmer Max Ireland showed good form again to take the bronze 1:02.84.
Men’s 100m Multi Class Backstroke:
Training partners Sean Russo (1:02.14) and Michael Auprince (1:08.65) finished with the gold and silver medals respectively following the final of the men’s 100m Multi Class Breaststroke. The bronze medal went to 16-year-old Oliver Cox in 1:14.10.
Women’s 100m Multi Class Backstroke:
Paralympian Jacqui Freney picked up her second title for the day with a win in the women’s 100m Multi Class backstroke final. Freney’s time of 1:24.83 was good enough to relegate fellow Paralympian Ellie Cole to second in 1:12.81 and Taylor Corry third in 1:12.23.
Women’s 200m Breaststroke:
London Olympic finalist in this event Sally Foster has taken the breaststroke double and set a New South Wales record with a win in the women’s 200m breaststroke final. The silver medal went to 15-year-old Jenna Strauch who posted a promising 2:28.14 to relegate Reona Aoki (2:28.94) from Japan to third.
Women’s 50m Freestyle:
In her third event for the evening but showing no signs of slowing down, Alicia Coutts sprinted to victory in the women’s 50m freestyle final, picking up her fourth title of the meet so far in 25.37. Macquarie University swimmer Melissa Mitchell (25.44) hit the wall second with 17-year-old Ellen O’Rourke (25.58) picking up the bronze.
Men’s 200m Individual Medley:
Japanese swimmer and London Olympic bronze medallist Kosuke Hagino has blitzed the field in the men’s 200m individual medley, taking the title in a time of 1:57.68. Fellow Sydney-siders Daniel Tranter and Kenneth To (1:59.52) were left to fight for the silver medal with Tranter just out-touching To in a time of 1:59.18.
Heats continue tomorrow from 9:00am with live results available at http://nswswimming.com.au/
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