Open Season

Swimming Victoria
Published: Aug 19, 2012 04:30:44 PM Updated: Sep 7, 2012 03:01:03 PM

The future appears bright for Victorian swimming with several age athletes taking out state titles at the Victorian Open Short Course Championships.   

After impressing with a third placing in the women’s 50m backstroke at the 2012 Australian Championships in Adelaide, Hayley Baker excelled in winning a Victorian Short Course title in the women’s 200m backstroke.  The 17 year-old posted a time of 2:09.31 which was good enough to beat home Nunawading’s Rachel Goh (2:10.92) and Shani Burleigh (2:11.56).  Goh was the dominant women’s backstroker during last year’s FINA World Cup Series in Europe but was unable to overhaul the promising Melbourne Vicentre swimmer.  Baker’s time was also a new Victorian Allcomer’s record for the girls 17/18 year’s 200m backstroke.  Baker was again competitive in the women’s 100m backstroke finishing third behind teammate Grace Loh and Nunawading’s Goh.  Both Loh and Goh went under the Victorian Allcomer record set by Tayliah Zimmer in 2004, but it was Loh who prevailed in a time of 58.91.     

The stocks of Surrey Park’s Jemma Schlicht continued to rise after claiming five titles during the Championships.  The 15 year-old was particularly impressive during the women’s 200m freestyle, stopping the clock at 1:59.61; a new girl’s 15 years Victorian Allcomers’s record.  Schlicht will look to continue her impressive form at the Victorian Age Short Course Championships later this month.       

2008 Olympian Ashley Delany (51.79) shone in winning the men’s 100m backstroke ahead of TigerSharks young gun Josh Beaver (52.37).  London Olympian, Matson Lawson, was a late withdrawal from the event and both Delaney and Beaver took full advantage by dominating the race.   The story was different in the men’s 200m backstroke with Nunawading’s Travis Mahoney (1:53.09) blitzing to the wall to touch out Delany (1:53.13).  Beaver finished third in a time of 1:55.62.  With the Australian Short Course Championships around the corner, Victoria has a strong contingency of backstrokers in Beaver, Delaney, Lawson and Mahoney who will figure strongly in the standings.

In Multi-Class events, VIS athletes Ashleigh McConnell and Jeremy Tidy collected multiple Victorian Short Course titles in their respective events.  MLC’s Monique Beckwith was also impressive collecting five Victorian  titles. 

In other results, Commonwealth Games medallist Sarah Katsoulis took out the women’s 50m and 100m breaststroke, Karlene Pircher the women’s 200m breaststroke and prodigious Nunawading talent Nicholas Groenewald broke two Boys 15 years Victorian Short Course records in the 100m IM and 200m backstroke.   

For full results from the Victorian Open Short Course Championships click here. 

Swimming Victoria now looks forward to the 2012 Victorian Age Short Course Championships from August 31^st to September 2^nd.