New breed of distance women set sights on Tokyo 2020

 

Swimming Australia: June 30, 2018:A new breed of women’s distance swimmers will now set their sights on one of swimming’s newest Olympic events – the 1500 metres freestyle for Tokyo 2020 after re-writing the Australian All-Time top 10 in Adelaide tonight.

Gold Coast 21-year-old Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kiah Melverton (15: 59.92) out-touched Sunshine Coast 24-year-old Kareena Lee (16:00.14) with another Gold Coaster, 19-year-old former Coffs Harbour girl Maddy Gough (16:09.11) third in the Australian Championship event.

Commonwealth Games golden girl, Ariarne Titmus (16:09.87) swimming only her second  ever 1500m was fourth after leading through the 800m in 8:29.21.

It was the first night of the Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Championship Trials at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre where the Australian team will be announced on Wednesday night for the 2018 Pan Pacs in Tokyo (August 9-14) and the Para Pan Pacs in Cairns (August 9-14).

The first four girls were all under the Dolphins Selection Time of 16:20.98.

Melverton led the personal best onslaught, and became only the second Australian behind Jess Ashwood (15:52.17) to swim under 16 minutes with Lee’s time the third fastest ever by an Australian, Gough the eighth and Titmus the 10^th fastest.

Lee is a noted Open Water specialist who was third in the recent FINA 10km World Cup in Portugal and she will now add the 1500m to the 10km for her tilt at the Tokyo Pan Pacs and the Olympics.

Dropping out of the All-Time top 10 is Olympic gold medallist Michelle Ford (1980), Olympic bronze medallist Julie McDonald (1989) and former Australian champion Bonnie McDonald (2011).

Melverton and Gough are both coached by former British Olympic coach Chris Nesbitt at TSS Aquatic while Lee has been under wily long-standing Olympic coach John “JR” Rodgers at Noosa – dropping an amazing 20 seconds off her previous best time.

“The 1500 was always on the radar and we were hoping it would be on the Olympic program and when it was added, coach Chris Nesbitt (TSS Aquatic) said to me ‘this is your thing now,” said Melverton.

“This is a fairly new event for me so it’s hard; you don’t really know what you’re doing; it’s just practicing racing really. It’s only my fourth or fifth 1500m.”

Melverton was happy to sit back and stay in touch with the field through the 800m with only two seconds between Titmus, Gough, Lee and herself.

And she admitted at the final 50m turn, saying to herself: “It’s going to be a sprint – why do you do this to yourself ?– but it was nice to get the touch.”

Lee was full of praise for her veteran coach Rodgers, who has coached a host of Olympians including Max Metzker, Graeme Brewer, Ron McKeon, Michelle Ford and in recent times Olympic gold medallists Bronte Barratt and Kylie Palmer.

“Training with JR has been really different but it seems to have been working; he is such a positive coach and he is just so knowledgeable, it is just an honour to train under him,” Lee said.

“He surprises me every day with the comments he comes out with and who he has coached…oh my goodness it’s amazing.

“JR was really happy tonight but I would have really liked to have cracked that 16 minutes but I can’t be disappointed in a 20 second PB.

“I knew it would come down to a sprint finish with a lot of the girls, me and Kiah really sprinted.

“ I feel I have improved my speed for the finish which is crucial.

“Heading into the World Cups with only a week and half to prepare for this 1500m, I really didn’t know what to expect but I put my trust in JR and it’s certainly come together.”

Meanwhile in the men’s 800m freestyle it was a Jack and Mack double-act with the two Commonwealth Games gold medallists going head to head for the Australian Championship crown.

With Mack Horton leading off the turns into the last lap, it was Australia’s new 1500-metre-man Jack McLoughlin that pushed past Horton and got his hand to the wall first with an in-season personal best time of, 7:54.25.

“My in-season best was 7:55 which is without a taper, without a shave down - so I’ve got a bit of a beard here - it was worse last week but I’ve given it a bit of a trim!” A clearly delighted McLoughlin said post-race.

“I came here to this meet, lucky enough to make it onto the Pan Pacs team from my Comm Games swim, so it’s just about tough racing here; getting some good times on the board more for training and just having a really good hit out, so yeah I was really happy with that time actually, it’s an in season best so I’ll take it.”

The race was always going to be a close one with McLoughlin a 1500m specialist and Mack Horton leaning towards the 200-400m middle distance freestyle events – the 800m event was ‘no-man’s-land’ until tonight.

“I was right next to him (Mack), so I was able to see him which was good. It’s always really bad when you’re like a couple of lanes apart because you can’t really see. But I love racing Mack; especially over the 800 – we kind of meet middle ground.

It was a really good race and it was good pushing each other all the way and I was lucky enough to be able to hold on at the end,” McLoughlin said.

For Horton, who has also already met the qualification standards set for Pan Pacs, he knew tonight would be tough, especially coming in without a taper but the experienced racer clocked a 7:56.05 to take second place.

“In season racing is always going to be tough, I have shifted my training to 200-400 and I’m just seeing how the change of stroke (for the 800) was going,” Horton said.

“I’m enjoying the training I haven’t really had the chance to race the 800 properly its quite a big change I think it’s only going to get better and better over the years,  this is my focus…this will be a delayed transition. I’ve had 10 years, maybe this will be the start of another 10 years,” Horton joked.

It was a lonely few years at the front for Horton at domestic events, who says he now relishes racing quality competitors like McLoughlin.

“It’s good to have someone do all those laps with you, he (Jack) pushes me a lot more these days it’s good fun…initially I hated it but now I think I have to like it,” Horton said.

Third place went to TSS Aquatics swimmer Joshua Parrish in 7:59.91.

Tickets for the remaining four nights of racing are available online now from just $5 at www.swimming.org.au.

Heats will commence at 10am with finals from 6:30pm.