On the final day of the 2021 Australian Swimming Championships at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, Olympic Champion Marion’s Kyle Chalmers secured his third Australian title to end the meet with the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle crowns. 

With the splash and dash events kicking off the final morning, it was Chalmers who charged to the wall from lane three in 22.30 in the men’s 50m freestyle to claim the triple. As the second-fastest Australian, St Peters Western’s Jack Cartwright nabbed second in 22.47, while James Roberts (Somerset GC) took bronze in 22.50 to round out the top three spots. 

Clocking a time of 48.04 on his way to 100m freestyle gold earlier in the week, the South Australian holds the second-fastest time this year, bettered only by Hungarian Kristoff Milak who posted a 48:00 at their National Championships in March. Jack Cartwright (St Peters Western) and Louis Townsend (Rackley) placed second and third respectively in 48.81 and 49.10.  

Chalmers started the Championships with a win in the 200m freestyle, touching in 1:47.03 ahead of Alex Graham and Elijah Winnington, who posted 1:47.07 and 1:47.55, respectively. 

The Championships mimicked the format of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with heats in the evening and finals in the morning – a format Chalmers said has been really beneficial to practice. 

“The goal is obviously to swim well in the heats but then be able to back it up and swim a bit faster in the morning, so I’ve been able to do that, which is the main goal for me and something I can take away,” Chalmers said. 

“I’ve always kind of doubted my ability in the morning but that’s probably because I’m more of a finals swimmer than a heats swimmer. 

“There’s been plenty of times when I’ve kind of been borderline semi-finals or finals because I’ve gone a bit too easy in the morning. I think it’s going to be beneficial swimming heats at night because I’ll be able to get myself up and then you’re in a final, so you’ve just got to be able to do it so there’s plenty of positives that I can take away.” 

Forced on the sidelines last year due to a shoulder injury, Ariarne Titmus (St Peters Western) made a successful return to the pool, scoring gold in the women’s 800m freestyle on the final day of racing to add the middle-distance title to the 200m and 400m crowns she won earlier in the week.  

Clocking 8:23.13, Titmus had tough competition from TSS Aquatic’s Madeleine Gough who finished in 8:25.24, while Gough’s teammate, Kiah Melverton, scored bronze in 8:32.84. 

Titmus won her first 2021 national title in the 200m freestyle on Thursday. Clocking a time of 1:55.43, the 20-year-old was pushed all the way to the wall by Marion’s Madi Wilson (1:56.26) and UWA West Coast’s Brianna Throssell (1:57.29). 

On Saturday she fired from lane four to also take the 400m freestyle crown in 4:01.34, almost seven seconds in front of Leah Neale in second (4:08.26) and Tokyo selected marathon swimmer Kareena Lee in third (4:09.23). 

“I get a lot of confidence from training well but it’s another thing to be performing in races. I came into this meet not rested and I can’t afford to miss anything else after the break that I had.” Titmus said. 

“Racing well gives you the biggest confidence leading into the next meet so I’m happy that I’ve ticked off what I needed to do here for those races.” 

Youth Olympian Kaylee McKeown also claimed three Australian titles during the week, taking home gold in the women’s 50 backstroke (27.45), 100m backstroke (58.60) and 200m individual medley (2:09.78).  

She set a new All Comers record in the 50m backstroke on Saturday, ahead of triple Olympian Emily Seebohm in silver and Madi Wilson in bronze. 

Seebohm powered down the pool to claim gold in the Women’s 200m Backstroke later in the week. Clocking a world top ten 10 time of 2:07.46. 

Making a statement in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley, Mitch Larkin fired a warning shot to the swimming world, clocking 1:56.74 to win gold in the quickest time of 2021.  With the lactate flowing in full force, Larkin finished body lengths ahead of Rackley’s Louis Townsend (2:02.98) and All Saints GC’s Thomas Hauck (2:03.23) who collected silver and bronze, respectively. 

Larkin also secured the men’s 50m backstroke title on day one of racing in 24.75. 

Emma McKeon (Griffith Uni) continued to showcase her class in the pool, capturing her sixth Australian gold medal in the Women’s Open 100m Butterfly, charging to the wall in 56.44 – just slightly shy of the time she clocked last year at NSW Champs (56.36).  

The win marked her second gold medal of the competition after McKeon won the women’s 100m freestyle on Friday in 52.49, touching just in front of Cate Campbell in 52.85 – both their times putting them well in the top ranked world swims of 2021.It was McKeon’s first Australian 100m freestyle title. 

“I’ve always mainly trained for the 200, and now I’ve come down to 100, so to be getting those times, that gives me a lot of confidence. The more 52s I swim the more confident I get,” McKeon said after the 100 free. 

Three-time Olympian Cate Campbell won her seventh 50m freestyle national crown on Sunday, hitting the wall in 24.28 with McKeon closely behind in 24.39 for silver and Bronte Campbell placed third in 24.75 for bronze. 

Chandler’s Zac Stubblety-Cook claimed the double in the men’s breaststroke events during the championships, taking the 200m breaststroke on the final day in 2:08.28 – bang on the Olympic qualifying time. Stubblety-Cook also took top spot on the podium in the 100m breaststroke in a time of 59.87 on the opening day of competition. 

Youth Olympian Chelsea Hodges also claimed a double in the women’s 50m and 100m breaststroke events. Hodges edged out Australian Dolphins Abbey Harkin (St Peters Western) (1:07.27) and Jess Hansen (Cruiz) (1:07.41) in the 100m breaststroke to etch her name in the history books. 

“It’s pretty exciting. I've been looking forward to having the opportunity to go for an open final for a while. It's been a good last couple of years, I’ve been putting a lot of work in so it’s finally my time to come up with the big girls,” the 2018 Youth Olympian said. 

Rockingham’s Holly Barratt produced a stunning performance in the Women’s 50m Butterfly to not only claim back-to-back titles but – at 33 years of age – become the oldest Australian champion in any event. Posting 25.75, Barratt beat out Marion’s Madison Wilson (26.92), and as the third fastest Australian, Bond’s Abigail Schoorl scored bronze in 27.17. 

See all the 2021 Australian Swimming Championship results HERE