HURLEY WINS FIFTH TITLE AS MILLER JOINS EXCLUSIVE SPRINT FREESTYLE CLUB

Melbourne, September 24: Robert Hurley won his fourth and fifth National titles of the week, Marieke Guehrer claimed her third and Tom Miller joined an exclusive club as the action wrapped up for another year at the Telstra Australian Short Course Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

Hurley (Wests Illawarra Aquatic, NSW) took out the 200 metres backstroke and 1500m freestyle, where he finished behind Great Britain's Chris Alderton who is ineligible to claim the Australian title, to add to the 50 and 100m backstroke and 400m freestyle gold medals he had won earlier in the meet.

Guehrer (Melbourne Vicentre, VIC) won the 100m butterfly, a new event for her, to add to prior victories in the 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle.

Other highlights saw Miller (Cranbrook Eastern Edge, NSW) become just the third man in the last ten years to claim the 50 and 100m freestyle national short course double, Chris Wright (Commercial, QLD) win gold and become the second fastest Australian of all time (1:54.00) in the 200m butterfly by defeating 14-year-old teammate and training partner Jayden Hadler and dual Beijing bronze medallist Cate Campbell's clock 23.98 - the third best 50m freestyle in the world in 2008.

Hadler was later named alongside fellow 14-year-old Brittany Elmslie (Coolum Peregian, QLD) and event winners this week Ellen Fullerton (Pro-Ma Miami, QLD), 15, Amy Smith (St Peters Western, QLD), 18, and 17-year-old's Blair Evans (City of Perth, WA) and Grace Loh (CA Tritons, SA) in a 29-strong Australian team for January's 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Guam (see separate story with details of that team and the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival team).

Here is a comprehensive wrap up of all the action:

Women's 200m freestyle final

Kelly Stubbins (Haileybury Waterlions), 24-years-old and the runner up the past two years, finally won a well deserved maiden National title by clocking a personal best of 1:55.75 (sixth on the Australian all time list). Ellen Fullerton, 15, was second in 1:57.10 to bring her medal tally this week to three gold and two silver. Blair Evans, 17, won bronze in 1:58.38, a third medal after her earlier victories in the 400 and 800m freestyle.

It was a great tactical swim by Stubbins to get out hard in front of her younger rivals before powering off the wall at the 150m mark to ensure the win. After winning gold as part of Australia's 4x200m freestyle relay team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the university student narrowly missed selection in both the 2007 World Championships team and this year's Olympic team but now has her sights set on next year's World Championships in Rome.

Men's 100m freestyle final

Tom Miller (Cranbrook Eastern Edge, NSW) became just the third man in the last ten years to claim the 50 and 100m freestyle national short course double - after Chris Fydler (1998) and Matt Targett (2007) - when he clocked a personal best of 47.86. That time was the same as Fydler's best and propelled Miller to equal seventh on the Australian all time list - encouragingly every swimmer ahead of him has an Olympic medal on their mantle.

Mitchell Patterson (Warringah Aquatic, NSW) was second in 48.10 and Kyle Richardson (Commercial, QLD) in 48.17 was third. Richardson had led at every turn.

After the race Miller described this week as the best of his life but immediately turned his attention to the long course Telstra Australian Championships / World Championship Trials in March.

"This has really been the best week of my life but it's full steam ahead now for World's trials," Miller said.

"I knew I had to work the last ten metres and then the last five metres and I put my head down and didn't breathe."

The 21-year-old, who trains under astute young coach Angelo Basalo in Sydney's eastern suburbs, is aiming to earn a spot on his first national team and join the likes of Beijing Olympic relay medallists Eamon Sullivan, Andrew Lauterstein, Ash Callus, Pat Murphy, Leith Brodie and Targett in Australia's sprint relay squad.

Women's 50m backstroke final

Amy Cockerton (Melbourne Vicentre, VIC) won her first ever Australian title at age 21 when she clocked a swift 27.69 seconds to narrowly defeat this week's 100m champion Grace Loh (27.81) and Bridgette-Rose Taylor (Brothers, QLD) (27.94). Cockerton's time moved her into sixth on the Australian all time list.

Men's 200m backstroke final

Robert Hurley, already a triple gold medallist at this meet, completed the backstroke treble by clocking a personal best of 1:53.33. Hurley used his incredible turns and underwater kick to lead from the start and hold off a fast finishing Daniel Arnamnart (Aquaburn, NSW) (1:54.03). Hurley's swim maintained his position at fourth on the Australian all time list, while Arnamnart's performance rocketed him to seventh.

British Development Squad visitor Chris Walker-Hebborn was third in 1:54.64, while 18-year-old Jared Goldthorpe (Bayside, NSW) was the third Australian in 1:55.53.

Women's 200 metres breaststroke final

Experienced campaigner Sarah Katsoulis (CA Tritons, VIC), 24, employed catch me if you can tactics to blow her young rivals out of the water and snare her second gold of the meet and just the third national title of her long career. Katsoulis clocked 2:24.25, after splitting 1:08.66, to win from fast finishing 15-year-old Tessa Wallace (Pelican Waters Caloundra, QLD) (2:25.48) and 16-year-old Samantha Marshall (Cook & Phillip, NSW) (2:25.55). The precocious Wallace took almost half a second off the field over the last lap.

Men's 100m individual medley final

Sam Ashby (CA Tritons, VIC) won his first National title and moved to fourth on the Australian all time list with a super 54.51. Ashby's breaststroke leg was the clincher putting half a body length on the field on that lap before holding on over the freestyle 25m to outlast Tommaso D'Orsogna (West Coast, WA) (54.81, ninth Australian all time) and Stephen Parkes (St Peters Western, QLD) (55.20). It was the first time D'Orsogna and Parkes have won a medal at this level.

Women's 100m butterfly final

Marieke Guehrer won her third title of the week - and did so using the same tactics she had in her earlier victories - power off the start and turns. The reinvigorated 22-year-old clocked 56.96 to move to fifth on the Australian all time list and beat fastest seed Amy Smith (58.41, seventh Australian all time) and Ellese Zalewski (Melbourne Vicentre, VIC) (59.98).

Men's 50m breaststroke final

Beijing relay silver medallist Christian Sprenger (Commercial, QLD) clocked a personal best and improved to second on the Australian all-time list with a sizzling 26.96. Sprenger was well ahead of runner up Matthew Abood (Kingscliff, NSW), although Abood, who is better know as a freestyler, clocked 27.67 to go to seventh on the Australian all-time list. Robbie van der Zant (Yeronga Park, QLD), 33-years-old and an Olympian in 2000, was third in 28.39 - 17 years after he won his first Australian short course medal.

Women's 50m freestyle final

Beijing bronze medallist Cate Campbell (Indooroopilly, QLD) clocked 23.98 - third best in the world in 2008 - to easily win her first ever National title from Olivia Halicek (Forster Aquatic, NSW) in 24.57 and Guehrer in 24.74. Brittany Elmslie, at just 14, was fourth in 25.16, the same place she secured in the 100m freestyle.

Men's 200m butterfly final

Chris Wright won his second gold of the meet and equalled Nick D'Arcy as the second fastest Australian of all time behind National record holder Andrew Richards (1:53.85) by clocking a personal best of 1:54.00. But the ever improving Wright need not look far over his shoulder for further motivation after 14-year-old teammate and training partner Jayden Hadler (Commercial, QLD) won the silver in 1:56.11. Lachlan Staples (Kingswim, NSW) was third in 1:56.71. Hadler has a prolific record at age group level but is now the youngest male Australian medallist since Ian Thorpe in 1997.

Men's 1500m freestyle final

Robert Hurley may have clocked a ten second personal best of 14:55.47 to officially claim the Australian title but it was British Development Squad star Chris Alderton who won the race in 14:52.42. Theodore Pasialis (SOPAC, NSW) was (third) the second Australian in a huge personal best of 14:58.19, while Trent Grimsey (Albany Creek, QLD) won the bronze in 15:03.42. Hurley's swim moved him into Australia's all time top ten list at seventh.

Medals were won this morning in the timed finals women's 1500m freestyle with Luane Rowe (Willoughby, NSW) posting 16:33.76 to claim gold from Leah Cutting (Norwood, SA) in 17:20.14 and Laura Harney (Haileybury Waterlions, VIC) in 17:32.50.

Multi-disability 50m backstroke finals

Samantha Gandolfo (Loreto, VIC) clocked 35.36 to win gold from Shelley Rogers (Norwood, SA) (41.32) and Hannah MacDougall (CA Tritons, VIC) (35.61). All three medal winners represented Australia at this month's Paralympics in Beijing.

In the corresponding men's race Craig Morgan (Kinross Wolaroi, NSW) (28.45) came out on top of triple world record breaker at this meet Grant Patterson (Central Cairns, QLD) (1:01.96) and eight time Beijing Paralympic medallist Matt Cowdrey (Norwood, SA) (29.72).

Places in multi-disability events are calculated on the percentage of the world record in the respective classifications for each individual's performance.

Multi-disability 100m butterfly finals

Prue Watt (Nunawading, VIC) and Sharni Ross (NSW) both clocked world records but Watt's 1:06.60 was by a greater margin in her category than Ross' 1:22.56 was in hers. Nerice Holland (Chandler, QLD) was third in 1:12.09.

In the men's race, Sean Grierson (Warringah Aquatic, NSW) set a world record for his classification of 1.19.57 to beat Craig Morgan (58.06) and Patrick Donachie (Campbelltown, NSW) in 1:04.67.

 Men's 4x100m medley relay

The Commercial (QLD) team of Ben Donaldson, Christian Sprenger, Chris Wright and Kyle Richardson combined to clock 3:32.81 and easily account for Melbourne Vicentre (VIC) in 3:38.37 and Nunawading (VIC) in 3:44.12.