Magnussen aiming for sprint double at NSW State Championships
Swimming Australia
Published: Mar 17, 2013 12:50:26 PM Updated: Apr 22, 2013 01:43:02 PM
World Champion sprinter James Magnussen has powered his way through to lane four for the final of the men’s 50m freestyle tonight at the NSW State Open Championships, Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic centre.
The 21-year-old, who recorded a time of 22.43 this morning, will be looking to get closer to the 22.07 required for FINA World Championship selection tonight and with under a second separating the finalists he may just get that push he needs.
Magnussen’s World Championship winning relay teammate Matthew Abood had the third best swim of the morning with his younger brother Andrew beating him to the wall by 0.03 of a second to sit in lane five next to Magnussen.
London Olympian Tommaso D’Orsogna was fourth through in 22.88.
The crowd could be in for a real treat tonight as Bronte Barratt (2:00.74) and Kylie Palmer (2:01.72) once again go head-to-head in the women’s 200m freestyle final.
If their stroke for stroke from the 400m freestyle final last night is anything to go by, these girls will be in for another battle.
Barratt, the bronze medallist from London will be the one to beat but joining Palmer in the chase will be 17-year-old Amelia Gould who posted the second fastest time of the morning in 2:00.99 with Japan’s Haruka Ueda third in 2:01.08.
Men’s 1500m Freestyle preview:
Australian Youth Olympic Festival gold medallist in the men’s 1500m freestyle Mack Horton will be looking to clock close to his personal best (15:04.87) in the men’s final tonight to gain confidence heading into the EnergyAustralia Championships next month.
After finishing second behind Jarrod Poort at last year’s Championships, narrowly missing Olympic selection, Horton will face Poort again tonight with the youngster looking to get one back on his rival.
In other events…
Women’s 200m Butterfly:
Following the heats of the women’s 200m butterfly this morning, former British swimmer Ellen Gandy is proving to be a strong asset for Australian women’s swimming, setting the top time of 2:12.21 and taking lane four for tonight’s final.
Dual Olympian Samantha Hamill will go through in second with 2:13.68 with 20-year-old Nicole Mee third in 2:14.49.
Men’s 100m Butterfly :
London Olympian Jayden Hadler was back on top in the men’s 100m butterfly, securing the top spot for the final in a time of 53.40 ahead of the Japanese duo Takeshi Matsuda in 53.89 and Keita Sunama in 54.19.
Hadler will also need to be wary of Tommaso D’Orsogna (54.42), Kenneth To (54.48) and Cameron McEvoy (54.52) who have all progressed through to tonight’s final.
Women’s 50m Breaststroke:
Alicia Coutts has set the fastest time from the heats of the women’s 50m breaststroke on the home stretch of her nine event schedule this weekend. The 25-year-old set the bar at 31.96 but will have breaststroke specialists Sally Foster (32.50) and Samantha Marshall (32.51) chasing her down tonight.
Men’s 200m Breaststroke:
Japan’s Akihiro Yamaguchi is setting the standard in the men’s breaststroke and will be looking to take the double after posting the lead time for the 200m breaststroke this morning.
Yamaguchi’s time of 2:13.95 was two seconds clear of his closest rival Lennard Bremer who set a personal best time of 2:15.96 to go through ranked second ahead of Buster Sykes in 2:18.88.
Men’s 100m Multi Class Breaststroke:
The men’s Multi Class 100m Breaststroke saw Paralympian Matthew Levy swim to victory in a time of 1:27.91 with 16-year-old Oliver Cox securing the silver in 1:24.34 and Mitchell Kilduff taking the bronze in 1:24.40
Women’s 100m Multi Class Breaststroke:
Paralympian Teigan Van Roosmalen went straight to the top of the podium in the women’s 100m Multi Class breaststroke, hitting the wall in a time of 1:27.10 to secure the win. The silver medal went to Amanda Fowler (1:29.45) with Kendall Williams picking up the bronze in 1:33.54.
Women’s 200m Individual Medley:
Following the heats of the women’s 200m individual medley it was 20-year-old Aisling Scott who managed to pip Alicia Coutts (2:16.29) for prime position in tonight’s final, stopping the clock at 2:16.18.
Japan’s Namiki Ueda was third through in 2:17.08 but all eyes will be on the silver medallist from this event in London, Coutts as she aims to continue her run of success from this weekend.
Men’s 400m Individual Medley:
London Olympian Daniel Tranter (4:24.11) was too strong in the heats of the men’s 400m individual medley, posting the quickest time of the morning by over six seconds. Following his silver medal winning swim in the 200m IM Tranter will be keen to upgrade to gold in this event tonight.
Kenneth To (4:30.37) and Travis Mahoney (4:31.00) had the next fastest times and will go through ranked second and third respectively.
Women’s 50m Backstroke:
Japanese swimmer Aya Terakawa is in fine form this weekend, taking the title in the 100m backstroke yesterday, the 28-year-old will swim from lane four for the 50m backstroke final tonight following an impressive heat swim of 28.37.
Holly Barratt was the next fastest qualifier in 28.70, just ahead of Alicia Coutts (28.88), who will progress through to a total of three finals again tonight.
Backstroke specialists Emily Seebohm (29.07) and Belinda Hocking (29.46) will also progress.
Men’s 100m Backstroke:
Japanese duo Kosuke Hagino and Ryosuke Irie (54.50) will be looking to repeat last night’s 200m backstroke result with another one-two finish in the men’s 100m backstroke final. With the 400m individual medley also on his finals program, Hagino showed no signs of fatigue as he cruised to victory in his heat with a time of 54:48.
London Olympic backstroker Daniel Arnamnart was also strong in his heat, gaining half a body-length on the rest of the field to hit the wall in 54.76 and progress in third spot for the final.
Finals will continue tonight from 6:00pm (AESDT) with results available at http://www.nswswimming.com.au/
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