SWIMMING: Olympic gold medallist Alicia Coutts has added a brace of national titles to her growing trophy cabinet after two superb swims at the 2013 Australian Swimming Championships in Adelaide this evening.

Coutts produced wins in the women’s 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley, with the second performance underlining her true class, setting a world’s best time for 2013 by almost half a second.

A five-time medallist in London, the 25-year-old Queenslander stopped the clock in 2:08.63 to send a clear message to the rest of the world ahead of the Barcelona World Championships in July.

Coutts led home London team mate Emily Seebohm (2:11.11), with both girls also swimming under the required qualifying time and securing their places at the world titles. Taylor McKeown won the bronze medal with a time of 2:13.55.

“I was actually surprised to look up and see the 2:08,” Coutts said. “I knew I was really, really hurting and I was just like please make the qualifying time, so when I saw the QT come up on the board it was a relief.”

“I didn’t really know how I was going to go and couldn’t sleep last night because I had a million things running through my head and I kept thinking I just want to make the qualifying time.”

“I didn’t care if I won or not, I just really wanted to secure those spots, so I’m glad that I have now.”

Coutts had earlier flexed her muscles in the women’s 100m butterfly to win a third consecutive national title in the event.

The 2012 London silver medallist recorded a time of 57.18 to lead home Brittany Elmslie  (58.02) and Ellen Gandy (58.15).

Elmslie, who shaved another 0.45 off the personal best she set in the semi-finals, fell just 0.05 of a second short of the world championship qualifying time.

Christian Sprenger held off Brenton Rickard to claim his third national title in the men’s 100m breaststroke and book a place on the plane.

Sprenger headed into the final a firm favourite following excellent heat and semi-final swims and touched the wall ahead of Rickard in a time of 59.31.

Rickard (1:00.00) also secured safe passage to Spain with second place, while 18-year-old Kenneth To (1:01.85) won the bronze medal.

In other events…

Men’s 50m Butterfly Final
Matt Targett may not have taken a breath but he did blow his opposition out of the water in the final of the men’s 50m butterfly to add a second national title to the one he collected in 2008. The 27-year-old touched in 23.20 to take home the gold medal ahead of Mitchell Patterson (23.58) and defending champion Christopher Wright (23.72), with all three athletes finishing ahead of Wright’s 2012 winning time of 23.79.

Men’s 100m Backstroke Semi Finals
Ashley Delaney (53.70) and Bobby Hurley (54.02) won the two semi-finals in the men’s 100m backstroke, and with the eight swimmers that qualified for the final separated by less than 1.5 seconds the final promises to be tight.  Daniel Arnamnart (54.33) and Ben Treffers (54.33) were the third and fourth quickest qualifiers, while London bronze medallist Hayden Stoeckel (55.14) was seventh through to the medal race.

Women’s 100m Breaststroke Semi Finals
Leiston Pickett lowered her heat time by more than a second to qualify fastest for the semi-finals. The 2012 Olympian recorded a time of 1:08.00 as she aims to defend her national title, with 20-year-old Samantha Marshall (1:08.16) and 200m specialist Sally Foster (1:08.76) to swim either side of Pickett in the final tomorrow night. 1991 world champion Linley Frame set a new Masters world record for the 40-44 age group, with the 41-year-old stopping the clock in 1:11.31.

Women’s 100m Backstroke Semi Finals
Five-time Australian champion in the women’s 100m backstroke Emily Seebohm glided through the water to qualify second fastest for tomorrow night’s final. The London silver medallist was never troubled to record a time of 1:00.44 and will look to hold off the challenges from London team mates Belinda Hocking (1:00.24) and Meagan Nay (1.00.84), as well as 2012 Junior Pan Pacific representative Madison Wilson (1:08.80), who was the third fastest qualifier for the final.

Men’s 200m Freestyle Semi Finals
Cameron McEvoy set a new personal best in the semi-finals of the men’s 200m freestyle with a time of 1:46.59 to book lane 4 for the final on Sunday night. McEvoy shaved more than a second off his previous best time to lead defending titleholder Thomas Fraser-Holmes (1:47.52) and sprint king James Magnussen (1:47.93) through to the final.

Athletes who have qualified for selection for the 2013 FINA World Championships:

MEN
Jordan Harrison – Men’s 400m Freestyle
David McKeon – Men’s 400m Freestyle
Brenton Rickard – Men’s 100m Breaststroke
Christian Sprenger – Men’s 100m Breaststroke

WOMEN
Bronte Barratt – Women’s 400m Freestyle
Alicia Coutts – Women’s 100m Butterfly, Women’s 200m Individual Medley
Kylie Palmer – Women’s 400m Freestyle
Emily Seebohm – Women’s 200m Individual Medley

Swimming Australia