Quiet achiever Minna Atherton looks to go back-to-back
Swimming Australia, August 27, 2015: World junior champion Minna Atherton will be back in action again tonight when she lines up in the girl’s 200m backstroke final on night three of the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Singapore.
The softly spoken 15-year-old Brisbane schoolgirl clocked 2:11.37 to take out her heat and secure lane three for the final on the morning after winning last night’s 100m backstroke crown in a new world junior record time of 59.58.
The David Lush trained teen will be eyeing another podium finish when she lines up for the final as the third fastest qualifier.
Just one second separates the leading six swimmers led by Canada’s Meryn McCann who will swim from lane four after clocking 2:11.15.
Her training partner Emily Seebohm and fellow Queenslander Mitch Larkin both achieved the backstroke double at the recent FINA World Championships in Kazan.
Victorian Elyse Woods didn’t quite get the time she was after, posting a 2:15.22 to finish in 16th place overall.
After playing key roles to win both gold and silver medals in the boy’s 4x100m freestyle relay and the 4x100m mixed medley relay, respectively, it was finally time for South Australia’s Kyle Chalmers to take on his first individual event, the boy’s 50m freestyle.
Chalmers looked strong in the heats of the splash and dash, clocking a 22.48 and touching half a body length ahead of the field, to take the top time into tonight’s semi-finals.
Fellow Australia Vincent Dai,who led off the 4x100m freestyle relay, also progressed, qualifying ninth in 22.97.
In other events…
Boy’s 800m Freestyle
With the fastest heat of the boy’s 800m freestyle still to come tonight Josh Parrish put in a solid morning swim to clock a 7:57.43 and drop 11 seconds from his previous personal best to take second spot overall from this morning’s heats. Miami’s Jacob Vincent was 18th overall in a time of 8:21.76.
Girl’s 50m Butterfly…
The girl’s 50m butterfly kicked off proceedings at the OCBC Aquatic Centre with Lucia Lassman and Gemma Cooney lining up for Australia. Lassman clocked a 27.11 with Cooney just behind in 27.24 with both the girls progressing in 4th and 7th place respectively.
Boy’s 50m Backstroke…
With a gold medal to his name from the 200m individual medley last night, Clyde Lewis this morning took on the heats of the 50m backstroke. Lewis moved comfortably through to the semi-finals in 11th place, with a time of 26.18. Fellow Aussie Nic Groenewald recorded 26.41 but will miss out on a semi swim after finishing 17thoverall.
Girl’s 100m Breaststroke…
A finalist in the 50m breaststroke earlier in the meet, Ella Bond (1:10.39) will now get the chance to race for a place in the final of the 100m breaststroke after qualifying as 11th fastest for the semis tonight. Joining her in the semi-finals will be teammate Calypso Sheridan who will move through ranked 14th in 1:11.43.
Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay…
Australia will take fifth place into the final of the 4x100m mixed freestyle relay tonight after clocking a 3:33.43 from the heats this morning. Gold medallist and anchor swimmer from the 4x100m freestyle earlier in the meet, Jack Cartwright led the team off in 49.78 – a new personal best for the teen. Butterfliers Brayden McCarthy (50.66), Gemma Cooney (55.65) and Lucia Lassman (57.34) then bought it home to move the team safely through to the final tonight.
Finals will commence at 6:00pm Singapore time, 8:00pm AEST at the OCBC Aquatic Centre with live streaming available at http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/fina/swimming/index.html
Swimming Australia would like to recognise and thank the ACGA for the support provided for our Youth Development programs.
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