Olympic gold medalists emphasize their dominance at Australian swimming championships

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Ariarne Titmus set the fastest time this year to win the women’s 200m freestyle final at the Australian Swimming Championships in Adelaide.

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Titmus and McKeown join Shayna Jack in the world championship team. The world championships will take place in Budapest in June

Titmus’ time of 1:53:31 was faster than her gold medal-winning time at the Tokyo Olympics and her second-fastest time.

The 100m champion Mollie O’Callaghan was double, and Madison Wilson third.

Titmus admitted she had in mind Federica Pellegrini’s 2009 super suit-era world record after her teammate broke the world record in the 200m breaststroke on Thursday night.

“It was like seeing Zac (Stubblety-Cook) and hearing Zac talk, you know, I said to him, ‘I feel the same about swimming right now’ – very free, just enjoying when a weight is lifted off my shoulders,” she said.

“It’s annoying when your PB is so close to doing something great, but if you think about it, you won’t get it.

“I think it’s one of the most challenging world records,” she said of Pellegrini’s 2009 swimming competition.

“Her rear end in that race would have been insane — I think she was wearing three suits or something — so even to be near that realm, I’m happy with the swim,” Titmus said.

Titmus said she didn’t start training again until December after the Olympics.

“I’m proud of how I handled it after the Olympics,” she said.

The Australian Swimming Championships double as the stages for the World Championships in Budapest in June and the Commonwealth Games in July.

Titmus said she didn’t think she would swim as fast as she is now but has decided not to compete in the world championships and prefer to focus on the Commonwealth Games with a view to the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kaylee McKeown won the women’s 100-meter backstroke but couldn’t compromise her world record from last year.

Her time of 58:49 was almost a second behind her time in the Australian Olympic trials in the same pool.

Mollie O’Callaghan was second, while Minna Atherton was third.

When asked if she was happy with the swim, McKeown said, “I don’t know.”

“I think it’s more just a little practice under my belt.”

McKeown confirmed she would swim the 100m and 200m backstroke at the World Championship and add the 400m medley at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

McKeown won the backstroke but wasn’t completely happy with her performance. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)

The 18-year-old Mollie O’Callaghan, the women’s 100-meter freestyle champion, had an amazing night, finishing second in the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke.

“It was crazy this encounter, I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, but I’m really happy with the results,” she said.

She said Titmus and McKeown pushed her.

“I’m with Kaylee, and I got so close to the girls, and it’s so amazing to see how well they’ve done,” she said.

She plans to swim in the 100m and 200m freestyle at the World Championships and the 100m backstroke.

Zac Stubblety-Cook continued his world record in the men’s 200m breaststroke by winning the 100m race but said it was not easy to sleep after that.

Zac Stubblety-Cook broke a world record in the men’s 200m breaststroke. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)

“I fell asleep, I was pretty wrecked by the time I got home, and then at 4 am, I was suddenly awake again — yes, it was a bit surreal,” he said.

“I think it was just the emotion of, like, really sinking in from, like, what just happened; not just did a PB, but was the fastest in the world ever, so it was like, holy shit.”

Joshua Yong was second, and Samuel Williamson was third.

In other results, Brendon Smith won the men’s 200-meter individual medley final against Se-Bom Lee and Joshua Collett.

Jenna Strauch won the women’s 200m breaststroke final against Abbey Harkin and Taylor McKeown, Kaylee’s older sister.

Posted 13 minutes ago13 minutes ago Fri 20 May 2022 at noon, Updated 12 minutes ago12 minutes ago Fri 20 May 2022 at 12:01