Freestyle star Jack Cartwright’s midas touch in Maui

 

  

Swimming Australia, August 26, 2016: Australia has taken its gold medal tally to four at the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Maui today with Brisbane teenager Jack Cartwright the man with the midas touch.

The 17-year-old from St Peters Western had a field day – winning two gold medals and extending his tally to three gold and breaking his second meet record.

 

Formerly from Gladstone, Cartwright, now trains in Michael Bohl’s program that produced seven members of this year’s Rio Olympic team under SPW’s Youth Coach Dean Boxall.

 

His day started out in the morning heats of the 100m freestyle with a new Junior Pan Pac record of 48.91 – 0.33 quicker than the 49.24 set by the USA’s Matt Ellis in 2012.

 

Cartwright, who swam on the gold medal winning Australian Junior World Championship 4x100m freestyle team with Olympic 100m freestyle champion Kyle Chalmers in Singapore last year, then won his second individual gold of the meet.

 

He clocked 49.14 in the final of the 100m freestyle with Australian team mate Louis Townsend (Rackley) clocking 49.58 for the bronze.

 

The pair then combined with Elijah Winnington (Bond) and Daniel Jacobsen (Albany Creek) to win Australia's second gold of the night in the 4x200m freestyle relay in 7:20.41.

 

Townsend (1:50.29) started out followed by Winnington (1:50.80) and Jacobsen (1:51.11) with Cartwright (1:48.21) swimming away from the USA to secure the gold.

 

Yesterday Cartwright (1:47.68) and team mate, fellow Queenslander Louis Townsend (1:47.73) set personal best times in the 200m freestyle and each going under the old meet record mark of 1:48.29 set by USA Olympic gold medallist, Townley Haas in 2014.

 

Haas won gold at the Rio Olympics in the USA's 4x200m freestyle relay alongside Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Conor Dwyer and was fifth in the individual 200m freestyle final.

 

 The girls 4x200m also did a sterling job for silver behind the USA in 8:05.53 with Arianne Titmus (2:00.13) leading off followed by Gemma Cooney (2:01.52) Mikayla Messer (2:02.69) and Laura Taylor (2:01.09)

 

Australia's Matthew Wilson also showed his enormous potential, winning silver in the 100m breaststroke in 1:00.91.

 

In other events: Gemma Cooney finished 4th in 100m freestyle in 55.86; Sarah Beale, sixth in 100m breaststroke in 1:11.01).

 

Australia has now won four gold, four silver and three bronze medals.