Elijah Winnington pips Kyle Chalmers in Pan Pac Trials thriller

 

Swimming Australia: July 1, 2018: It was billed as the main event of the night at the Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Trials and the men’s 200 metres freestyle lived up to all expectations with Gold Coast teenager Elijah Winnington out-touching local hero Kyle Chalmers in a photo finish in Adelaide.

Winnington, the 18-year-old from Bond University, held on to take out a frantic finish, clocking 1:47.01 to Chalmers (Marion) 1:47.03 and early leader Alexander Graham (Bond University) third just a fingernail behind in 1:47.18 – just 0.17 between the top three.

Rio Olympians and Griffith University training partners Daniel Smith (1:47.64) and defending Pan Pacific 200m champion Thomas Fraser-Holmes (1:48.06) finished fourth and fifth respectively at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre pool that saw Fraser-Holmes dead heat with Cam McEvoy in the 2016 Olympic Trials.

It was Fraser-Holmes first competitive swim since returning from a 12 month FINA ban for three whereabouts breaches in a year.

With 50 metres to go it was the Bond pair Winnington and Graham who were locked at 1:19.64 with the Olympic 100m champion Chalmers sixth in 1:20.59.

But the powerful, loping arms of the former schoolboy AFL prodigy, gradually started to mow the field down – but as hard and as fast as he came it wasn’t quite quick enough – with Winnington taking his first major win by 0.03.

“Kyle’s a world class swimmer and I was breathing away from him but you feel him creeping up alongside you in that last lap and in the last 10 metres,” said Winnington, who had the words of his coach Richard Scarce ringing in his ears.

“Rich has (drummed into me) day in-and-day out ‘it’s all heart and all legs, no pain’ you just have to put your head down and go for it.

“That’s what I did and it paid off – it was my first win in my pet event and I’m pretty happy with that.”

Winnington, Chalmers and Graham were all members of Australia’s victorious gold medal winning 4x200m freestyle relay at this year’s Commonwealth Games with Olympic 400m freestyle champion Mack Horton.

And Winnington knows that come Tokyo 2020 the current depth in the 200m freestyle ranks could be very exciting indeed.

“If we can keep an awesome foursome in the boys relay we can really put something together I reckon,” said Winnington.

Meanwhile, a stint with the world’s best female breaststroker, the USA’s Lilly King seems to have paid off for Victorian Jessica Hansen (Nunawading) who successfully swam under the Pan Pacs qualifying time of 1:06.81 with a new personal best time of 1:06.74 in the 100m breaststroke final.

Hansen just returned from a two-week training camp at Indiana University, which has helped her gain an insight into the training required to get to the top.

Swimming alongside Olympic Champion and world record holder King, plus the likes of Olympic gold (relay) and individual bronze medallist Cody Miller, and a host of other talented breaststrokers was a far cry from her usual training at Nunawading where she is the lone breaststroker in her squad.

“I had a two-week, brutal training camp in Indiana which was hard work and a grind, but it was awesome and I was shown a lot of skills and my weaknesses were exposed so I know where I can improve,” Hansen said.

“So tonight, I knew I could just go out there and attack it which is something that I have been hesitant with in the last few races that I have done.”

“It’s a relief to be on the team and know that I have got my spot. I held my nerve which helped me win the race.”

Speaking about her opportunity to go overseas and learn from the best, Hansen said it was the way of the future.

“It was the hardest I have ever trained especially as I just got off the plane and went straight into it with no rest to build into it,” Hansen said.

“And I’d like to go back.

“Communication is the way forward in swimming as we have so much to learn from people around the world. 

“We shouldn’t be afraid to expose our weaknesses and put ourselves in tough situations.”

Second place in the event went to Southport Olympic’s Leiston Pickett in 1:07.09, just ahead of Georgia Bohl (Griffith University) in 1:07.48.

Hansen, who is coached by Scott Talbot – son of the late Jan Cameron who passed away suddenly in April of this year and Australia’s legendary head coach Don Talbot– said she’s been able to put swimming into perspective after recent events and that’s helped her to find love in the sport again.

“A few people I care about have had some tough times in the last few months, losing people that they love and it has really puts thing in perspective,” said Hansen.

“All I can do when I am behind the blocks is enjoy every moment…as life is precious.  I get to do something I love, so that is pretty awesome.”

It was a battle of the fast finishers in the women’s 200m freestyle as very little separated the finalists for the first three laps, but it was butterfly specialist Brianna Throssell (UWA West Coast) who managed to get to the wall first in 1:58.09.

Throssell just edged out Mikkayla Sheridan (USC Spartans) 1:58.33 and Emma McKeon (Griffith University) 1:58.61.

In other events five-times Commonwealth Games gold medallist from the Gold Coast Mitch Larkin (SPW) started his Trials campaign with an impressive win in the 400m individual medley in 4:16.70 from Jared Gilliland (Brisbane Grammar) 4:19.14 with Tomas Elliott (SOPAC) 4:21.17 third.

West Australia’s Blair Evans left nothing in the tank as she took on the gruelling women’s 400m individual medley final finishing first in a time of 4:37.65, gut-wrenchingly short of the 4:37.14 required for selection.

The 27-year-old who won a bronze in this event at the Commonwealth Games will now look for the 200m individual medley on Tuesday for another shot at selection.

While USC Spartans swimmer Kaylee McKeown was second in 4:42.38 with her training partner Tianni Gilmour third in 4:46.04, with the duo finishing just ahead of Ariarne Titmus (St Peters Western) in 4:46.61.

Australia’s number one sprint breaststroker Jake Packard (USC Spartans) held on to win the 100m breaststroke final in his second sub-60 seconds swim of the day in 59.63, a touch quicker than his heat time of 59.72.

Commonwealth Games 200m breaststroke bronze medallist Matthew Wilson (SOPAC) finished second in 1:00.08, with Zac Stubblety-Cook (West Brisbane) third in 1:00.49.

In the Multi-Class events:

North Sydney’s triple Paralympian Matt Levy– the oldest swimmer in the field at 31 – showed age is no barrier – winning the 400m freestyle in 4:51.25, the fastest time of the year for the S7 category with Rowan Crothers (S10 Yeronga Park) second in 4:09.73 and two-time Paralympian champion Brenden Hall (S9 Lawnton) third in 4:22.62.

All three times were in the top five in the world the selection criteria for the up-coming Para Pan Pacs (August 9-14 in Cairns), with the team announced next Wednesday night.

In the 200m freestyle it was S14 trio Liam Schluter (Kawana Waters) with a monster swim for 979 points and a time of 1:56.99 from Daniel Fox (USC Spartans) 1:58.54 and Mitchell Kilduff (SLC Aquadot) 1:58.95 – with Schulter and Fox both in the top five.

It was a race in two for the title of the women’s 400m freestyle Multi Class with training partners Lakeisha Patterson and Monique Murphy (Lawnton) proving their partnership is helping to push the boundaries for the duo.

Patterson was the best on the night, picking up the Australian Championship crown in 4:41.33 and amassing a noteworthy 989 points in the process. Murphy won silver in 4:34.15 with 955 points.

Thirteen-year-old Jasmine Greenwood rounded out the top three in 4:46.76 (834pts) with Ellie Cole fourth in 4:46.83 (778pts).

The Australian title in the women’s 50m butterfly Multi Class went to S9 swimmer Madeleine Scott (Nunawading) with a time of 31.65 (802pts). Scott was too strong for Emily Beecroft who finished second in 32.44 (745pts) with Paige Leonhardt third in 30.47 (693pts).

Victorian youngster Ruby Storm was out like a bolt of lightning out of the blocks in the final of the women’s 200m freestyle Multi Class with the 14-year-old taking the win in a time of 2:15.39 (733pts).

Jade Lucy (SLC Aquadot) picked up the silver in 2:19.14 (676pts) while Taylor Corry bagged the bronze in 2:19.70 (667pts).

The 50m butterfly saw Auburn pair S14 Ricky Betar (27.66) and Timothy Hodge S9 (28.57) swim 1-2 from Patrick Getson S14 (Melbourne Torpedoes) 29.15.

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

Tickets are available online now from just $5 at www.swimming.org.au.