Australian Teen Ariarne Titmus Looking 'Ledecky-esque'... AGAIN
The 'terminator' Ariarne Titmus wowed spectators at the Australian Trials tonight, winning 200m freestyle gold in a superb 1:55.76. Current photo via Swimming Australia LTD
2018 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING TRIALS
- Wednesday, February 28th – Saturday, March 3rd
- Optus Aquatic Centre, Marine Parade, Southport, Queensland
- Prelims at 11:00am local (8pm EST previous night)/Finals at 7:15pm local (4:15am EST)
- LCM
- Meet Central
- Selection Criteria (including QTs)
- Start Lists
- SwimSwam Meet Preview
- Live Stream (prelims only)
- Live Results
Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
WOMEN'S 200 FREE (FINAL)
- Australian National Record – 1:54.83, Emma McKeon, 2016
- 'A' Cut – 1:56.34
- GOLD – ARIARNE TITMUS, 1:55.76
- SILVER – EMMA MCKEON, 1:56.57
- BRONZE – LEAH NEALE – 1:57.68
17-year-old Ariarne Titmus proved that her 1:56.61 anchor on the women's bronze medal-winning 4x200m freestyle relay in Budapest was not a fluke, shutting Olympian Emma McKeon out of the gold medal spot in tonight's 200m freestyle final.
While competing on the first night of the Australian Commonwealth Games Trials, the Tasmanian teen clocked a wicked-fast winning effort of 1:55.76 to nail gold, dip under the A qualifying standard and further establish herself as an elite force across the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle events.
Splitting, 56.86/58.9, Titmus clocked a huge winning time of 1:55.76, her fastest ever by over half a second. Entering the meet she held the Australian national age record with her previous personal best of 1:56.34, but the St. Peters Western swimmer's outing tonight blows that mark out of the water.
For comparison, American legend Katie Ledecky's fastest 200m freestyle at 17 years of age checked in at 1:55.16, followed by the 1:55.74 she put up at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championsihps. The fact Titmus is in that range even 5 weeks before the main Commonwealth Games event is exciting for Aussie fans.
And this isn't the firs time Titmus has appeared 'Ledecky-esque'. At December's Queensland Championships, Titmus took down the Australian senior national record in the 400m freestyle, clocking a huge 4:02.86.
