Ariarne Titmus once again set the pool alight at the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre as she continued her electric form at the Australian Swimming Trials, by smashing her own Commonwealth Record in the Women’s 200m Freestyle – clocking a remarkable time of 1:53.09.
With relay spots up for grabs it was a stacked field across the pool as Titmus and Emma McKeon went stroke for stroke in the middle two lanes. The duo shared the lead throughout and were under World Record time for most of the race, with Titmus putting her foot down in the final 50m to touch in 1:53.09 and McKeon in 1:54.74.
Speaking in the mixed zone post-race, Titmus said her 400m swim on night two gave her belief in her 200m race plan.
“More than anything the 400m gave me confidence. The back end in the 400 was the biggest thing I took out of the race. But I also knew I had to take it out with Emma, I knew she’d be out fast. She has way more speed than I do so I had to be as close to her as possible,” she said.
“I have to trust my back end. That’s my strength. I feel like in the past couple of years it had gone missing a little bit.”
Kaylee McKeown was again in sizzling form, this time in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley, blitzing the field to be the only swimmer under the qualifying time in 2:08.19, also claiming the All Comers record.
In a closely fought race, it was Matt Temple and David Morgan who took the spoils in the Men’s 200m Butterfly, both flying home under the qualifying time of 1:56.25. Temple clocked 1:55.25 while Morgan posted 1:55.40.
In the final event of the night – the Men’s 800m Freestyle – distance specialist, Jack McLoughlin, hit the wall in 7:42.51 to book his ticket on the plane to Tokyo.
