Emma McKeon lands golden double at Queensland Championships
Swimming Australia, December 14, 2015: Commonwealth Games golden girl Emma McKeon will be back in the water again this morning after opening her account at the Queensland State Swimming Championships with two gold medals at the Sleeman Aquatic Centre in Brisbane last night.
McKeon won the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly to continue her record-breaking form from last month’s Australian Short Course Championships in Sydney.
The 20-year-old from Wollongong, now firmly entrenched in Brisbane under Olympic coach Michael Bohl at St Peters Western, showed why she will be a key component in Australia’s 2016 Olympic plans.
Last night she attacked the 200m freestyle from the outset to take the win over her training partner and Olympic bronze medallist from London Bronte Barratt in 1:56.09 to Barratt’s 1:56.93 with Sweden’s Miami-based Olympian Michelle Coleman third in 1:57.67.
Two more of Bohl’s St Peters Western squadron Maddie Groves (1:58.34) and World Championship backstroke silver medallist Maddi Wilson (1:59.03) were fourth and fifth respectively and World Championship 400m freestyle bronze medallist Jess Ashwood (Chandler) sixth in 1:59.56.
Later in the night, with former butterfly golden girl Susie O’Neill poolside, McKeon was back chasing more gold in the 100m butterfly, holding out team mate Groves to clock 58.03 to Groves 58.49 with Korea’s An Sehyeon third in 58.89.
McKeon will line up in today’s 100m freestyle heats against former world champion Cate Campbell but without reigning world champion Bronte Campbell.
Bronte has been sidelined with “hip inflammation” which required a cortizone injection last week.
“The doctor wants it to settle down, so I’ll miss the 100m but I’ll see how it comes up later in the week. I may race the 50m freestyle on Wednesday. I’ll just see how I go,” said Bronte.
Cate actually continued on from her world record setting form from the Short Course Championships, where she set a new world mark at the 100m split in the 200m.
After forgetting to scratch from last night’s B final in the 200m, Campbell put on a show for the crowd with another outstanding swim to clock 53.28 (25.57) to start her week of racing in slick form.
The two Campbell girls, McKeon and duel backstroke world champion Emily Seebohm combined to capture gold in the Fina World Championships in Kazan and along with Olympic relay gold medallist from London Melanie Wright and Brittany Elmslie will certainly add class to today’s 100m preliminaries and set the scene for a another class final tonight.
McKeon will continue her racing build up when she lines up in the Australian team against China and Japan in the Perth Aquatic Super Series on February 5 and 6 before the Australian Championships and Olympic Team Selection Trials in Adelaide from April 7-14.
Meanwhile World Championship 100m freestyle silver medallist and Pan Pacific Champion Cameron McEvoy will also be back in action today in the 100m freestyle heats after a comfortable victory in the 200m last night in 1:46.44 as will breaststrokers Taylor McKeown and Georgia Bohl after their 200m duel last night and men’s 200m winner Jake Packard.
McKeown, the Glasgow gold medallist in 2014, had to pull out all stops on the final 50m last night to hold off the recently crowned Australian Short Course 100m winner, Bohl, with McKeown clocking 2:23.94 to Bohl’s personal best of 2:25.73.
Packard, who like McKeown, trains under Chris Mooney at the newly formed USC Spartans on the Sunshine Coast, held on to win the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:12.19 from the fast finishing TSS Aquatics Joshua Tierney in 2:12.88 with Canadian Ashton Baumann, also TSS Aquatics, holding on to third in 2:13.44.
Kazan butterflyer David Morgan, also TSS Aquatics, continued on his winning ways, winning the 100m butterfly in 52.33 from London Olympians Chris Wright (Southport) 52.67 and Tommaso D’Orsogna (53.36).
Meanwhile another Kazan Dolphin, Chandler’s Keryn McMaster came over the top of training partner Ellen Fullerton to win the 400 IM in 4:39.41 to Fullerton’s 4:40.58.
QUEENSLAND STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS, SLEEMAN AQUATIC CENTRE, Sunday (Dec 13, 2015):
MEN
C McEvoy (Bond) 1:46.44
M Stanley (Miami/New Zealand) 1:48.77
D McKeon (Chandler) 1:49.33
J McLoughlin (Chandler) 1:49.99
A Graham (Southport) 1:50.69
I Eliasson (Sweden) 1:50.96
S Young (East Brisbane) 1:51.96
C Fasala St Peters Western) 1:51.99
200m breaststroke
J Packard (USC Spartans) 2:12.19
J Tierney (TSS Aquatics) 2:12.88
A Baumann (TSS Aquatics/Canada) 2:13.44
J Layton (New Zealand) 2:14.55
J McKechnie (Starplex, SA) 2:17.46
J Ritzau (Kawana Waters) 2:20.52
B Sykes (TSS Aquatics) 2:20.98
J Gilliland (Chandler) 2:22.08
100m butterfly
D Morgan (TSS Aquatics) 52.33
C Wright (Southport Olympic) 52.67
T D’Orsogna (Commercial) 53.36
C Jones (St Peters Western) 53.88
C raven (USC Spartans) 54.48
G Irvine (St Peters Western) 54.58
E Marks (Cherrybrook, NSW) 54.63
W Harmsen (Bond) 54.91
WOMEN
200m freestyle:
E McKeon (St Peters Western) 1:56.09
B Barratt (St Peters Western) 1:56.93
M Coleman (Miami/Sweden) 1:57.67
M Groves St Peters Western) 1:58.34
M Wilson St Peters Western) 1:59.03
J Ashwood (Chandler) 1:59.56
L Boyle (New Zealand) 2:00.06
L McJannett (Randwick, NSW) 2:00.55
200m breaststroke
T McKeown (USC Spartans) 2:23.94
G Bohl St Peters Western) 2:25.73
S Hunter (Marion, SA) 2:26.74
A Scott (Brisbane Grammar) 2:29.39
S Beale (Brisbane Grammar) 2:33.33
K Melverton (TSS Aquatic) 2:35.86
S Cicchitti (Newmarket) 2:35.86
100m butterfly
E McKeon (St Peters Western) 58.03
Madeline Groves (St Peters Western) 58.49
An Sehyeon (Korea) 58.89
G Cooney (River City) 59.93
J Hobbin (Southport Aquatic) 1:00.51
S J Saal (Commercial) 1:00.54
S Lee (New Zealand) 1:00.81
E Oldsen (Marion SA) 1:01.80
A Stuart (TSS Aquatics) 1:01.80
Issued on behalf of Swimming Australia by
Ian Hanson| Media Manager
Ian Hanson| Media Manager Triathlon Australia Managing Director
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