Australian 17-year-old Flynn Southam won the boys 50 free tonight at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacs in Honolulu. Southam swam a 22.36, taking 0.03 seconds off his previous best time in the event. The swim had significance outside of that, however, as Southam completed his sweep of the boys sprint free events with the 50 free gold tonight.
It’s been an incredible meet for the young rising star, coming on the end of a phenomenal year. Southam kicked off his Junior Pan Pacs on Wednesday with a new Championship Record in the boys 200 free, winning in 1:47.11. He then won the boys 100 free on Thursday in a new Championship Record and lifetime best of 48.23.
In addition to the 3 individual gold medals Southam won this week, he also helped Australia to gold and a Championship Record in the boys 4×200 free relay, leading the team off in 1:47.30. Southam led the Australian boys 4×100 free relay off in 48.43 too, though the team would go on to lose their lead and come in 2nd in that event.
Southam’s performances this week come after what has been a fantastic summer for the up-and-coming freestyle star. Southam qualified to swim on Australian relays at World Championships and Commonwealth Games this summer, though he ultimately opted out of competing at the World Champs in order to focus on Commonwealths and Jr Pan Pacs.
In his first senior international meet, Southam performed admirably for Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. He led the Australian men’s 4×100 free relay off in 48.54, which was then a personal best for him. That relay would go on to win gold and break the Commonwealth Games Record in the event. Southam also split 1:46.08 off a relay start in the Australian men’s 4×200 free relay, helping that relay to gold and a Commonwealth Games Record as well.
If there was any doubt coming into this meet, Southam has now proven that he has what it takes to be a key contributor on Australian relays at the international level. Especially with his 48.23 100 free, it looks like he could be contending for an individual spot on a major Australian roster sooner rather than later as well.
Australia is enjoying a superb start to the Commonwealth Games, highlighted by sweeping all three medals in two swimming events on the first night in the pool.
The Aussies won five out of seven gold medals on offer in the opening night of swimming action, plus three gold medals on the cycling track.
Follow all the action in our LIVE BLOG below!
Ariarne Titmus won gold in the women’s 200m freestyle with a time of 1:53.089, also setting a Commonwealth Games record. 18-year-old Aussie Mollie O’Callaghan (1:54.01) claimed silver in an unbelievable late charge, ahead of Madison Wilson (1:56.17) in bronze. All three won their respective heats.
That came afterElijah Winnington won gold in the men’s 400m freestyle with a time of 3:43.06 in the final, ahead of fellow Aussies Sam Short (3:45.07) in silver and Mack Horton (3:46.49) for the bronze.
Horton had enjoyed the second-fastest time of the heats – quicker than his fellow Aussies – but could not convert that into gold.
Also in the pool, Zac Stubblety-Cook won gold in the men’s 200m breastroke in 2:08.07s, adding to his gold medals in both the Olympics and World Championships.
Kiah Melverton won her second ever Commonwealth Games medal with a superb silver in the women’s 400m Individual Medley, coming home in 4:36.78s, but was soundly beaten by Canada’s unbelievable teen sensation Summer McIntosh with a Commonwealth Record 4:29.01s. McIntosh is just 15 years old.
In the final race of the night, Australia won gold in the mixed 4x100m relay, with William Yang, Kyle Chalmers, Mollie O’Callaghan and Emma McKeon coming home in 3:21.18s, just ahead of England in 3:22.45s. Australia had used an entirely different team in the heats, showing the incredible depth of the team.
There was disappointment for Kyle Chalmers, Matt Temple, and Cody Simpson – with none of the three making the finals of the men’s 50m butterfly. All three reached the semi-finals but were unable to reach the final.
Simpson’s girlfriend Emma McKeon also enjoyed a sizzling performance in the women’s 100m butterfly heat and clocked in with a time of 57:34, the fastest of anyone in the heats.
In the para-swimming events, Tim Hodge won his first Commonwealth Games gold with a Games record 1:01.88. in the men’s S9 100m backstroke, ahead of Harrison Vig in fourth and Brenden Hall in 5th.
Emily Beecroft won silver in the Women’s 100m Freestyle S9, while Australia’s most decorated female Paralympian Ellie Cole came fifth in her final Games.
Australia’s Jessica Gallagher and pilot Caitlin Ward won gold medals in the Women’s Tandem B Sprint track cycling, Australia’s first gold of the Games, winning both races in the final over Scotland.
Gallagher is an all-time great of Australian sport, becoming the first ever Australian to win a medal at the winter and summer Paralympics, in skiing and cycling respectively.
She has also competed at the Paralympics in athletics and attempting to compete in rowing.
They were followed by Georgia Baker, Sophie Edwards, Chloe Moran and Maeve Plouffe, who won the Women’s 4000m Team Pursuit, having earlier set a Commonwealth Games record of 4:14:605 in the heats.
Then Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer won gold in the men’s team sprint final ahead of England in a Commonwealth Games record.
The night comes to a close with another shot at a medal, this time it is Sophie Linn, Charlotte McShane and Natalie von Coevorden in the Women’s Sprint Distance Final.
AUSTRALIA’S FIRST MEDAL!
Matthew Hauser won Australia’s first medal of the Games with bronze in the triathlon sprint distance final.
Hauser nailed the Sutton Park course in 50:50, behind England’s Alex Yee (50:34) and New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde (50:47).
Two more Aussies in Jacob Birtwhistle and Brandon Copeland finished fourth and 22nd.
AUSSIES REBOUND FROM TOUGH T20 START
Despite losing four wickets in the first five overs, Australia somehow turned it around to beat India by three wickets with Ash Gardner producing a superb knock of 51 from 34 deliveries.
Alyssa Healy departed for a duck on the second ball of the innings and was quickly followed by skipper Meg Lanning (8), Beth Mooney (10) and Tahlia McGrath (14).
Whle the flow of wickets began to slow, they were still being lost at a worrying rate.
However, Gardner and Alana King steadied the ship and ensured Australia got their T20 campaign off to a winning start.
Commonwealth Games kick off in style | 00:34
OTHER RESULTS
The Australian Diamonds have thrashed Barbados in their opening match of the Games, dominating the underdogs 95-18 to get their gold medal chase off to the best possible start.
Boxing star Billy Polkinghorn got off to a flyer as the referee stepped in to end his contest after just 30 seconds of action when a looping overhand right caught his opponent clean and turned his legs into jelly.
The Australian men’s Rugby Sevens decimated Jamaica 62-0, with Wallabies star Samu Kerevi bagging a first-half hat-trick.
The men’s stunning show came hot on the heels of the women’s Rugby Sevens, as they defeated South Africa 38-0 with Charlotte Caslick and Maddison Levi both bagging two-try hauls each.
It was also a blistering start for the women’s table tennis team, as six-time Games competitor Jian Fang Lay led a 3-0 win over Malaysia after winning her singles in straight sets and the doubles.
Results on Meet Mobile as “2022 ESSZ Speedo Southern Sectionals”
NC State swimmers dominated the third night of the Southern Sectionals meet in Cary, NC, winning all six individual events.
NC State’s Yara Hierath won her second event of the meet with a 4:16.88 in the 400 free. The rising junior also won the 800 free to start off the meet on Thursday.
Likewise, her teammate Abby Arens got her 2nd win of the week with a lifetime best and a win 59.04 in the 100 fly after winning the 200 IM on Thursday. Her teammate Kylee Alons was the only other swimmer under a minute, touching 2nd in 59.95.
Heather MacCausland made it three for three for the Wolfpack with a 1:09.17 win in the 100 breast. Her teammate Andrea Podmanikova took 2nd in 1:09.59. Both Alons and Podmanikova just wrapped up their senior seasons in Raleigh, but intend to return for a fifth year.
With only four teams entered in the 800 free relay, East Carolina Aquatics took the win in 8:33.00. The youngest two swimmers on the squad, Emily Armen and Adeline Cloutier, each split 2:06s.
The men’s side of the competition followed a pretty similar pattern. James Plage nearly got under the 3:50 mark with a 3:50.06 win the 400 free, with no one else within 8 seconds of his time tonight. That’s a new best for Plage, with his previous best of 3:51.41 coming from last summer’s Olympic Trials. Like Hierath, Plage won the 800 free on Thursday.
The Wolfpack men particularly dominated the 100 fly, taking the top three spots as those three swimmers battled it down to the final stroke. Luke Miller got his hand on the wall first with a 52.76 after going a lifetime best 52.64 in prelims. It was a battle of the Noahs behind him, with Noah Henderson just touch ahead of Noah Bowers, 53.05 to 53.06. The pair had previous lifetime bests of 53.40 and 53.41.
Another NC State soon-to-be fifth year, Rafal Kusto, won the 100 breast in 1:02.23, followed by Texas commit Will Scholtz of Lakeside at 1:02.99.
SwimMac went 1-2 in the 800 free relay, with 200 and 400 IM winner Baylor Nelson anchoring the winning ‘A’ team in 1:50.63, en route to a 7:40.99 win.
Many of the top midwest club and college swimmers are competing at the IU Natatorium this weekend.
Highlighting the prelims session was 2020 US Tokyo Olympian and bronze medalist in the event, Annie Lazor, who swam a 2:24.01 to be the top seed heading into finals. Lazor scratched the event for finals, but notably, her prelims swim this morning was faster than her prelims swim for International Team Trials a few weeks ago. There she swam a 2:24.48 in prelims. Lazor is set to compete for the US in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes at the 2022 World Championships less than a month from now in Budapest.
Kicking off night 2 was Ohio State’s Aislinn Walsh. Walsh won the women’s 200 fly in a 2:15.36. That was a huge time for Walsh as her previous best time was a 2:19.24. Ohio State continued their success in the event going 2-3 as well. Kyra Sommerstad was second in a 2:16.05, a huge best time from her 2:22.14. Meredith Moellering was third in a 2:17.19.
Winning the men’s 200 fly was Michigan’s Connor Hunt. Hunt had the fastest last 50 split of the field to win in a 1:59.46. Hunt was the only sub-2:00 time as Carmel Swim Club’s Aaron Shackell was second in a 2:00.10. Shackell is committed to Cal for fall 2023. Indiana’s Brendan Burns was third in a 2:01.20, over a second and a half faster than he was at International Team Trials.
Ohio State’s Amy Fulmer continued her success from night one into night two winning the 50 free in a 25.75. Michigan’s Claire Newman was second in a 25.93. Kit Kat Zennick of Ohio State was third in a 26.22. All three were in the Big Ten A final of the short course version of the event this February.
Winning the men’s 50 freestyle wasAndrej Barna in a 22.69. Barna represented Serbia at the Tokyo Olympics swimming a 22.29 for 28th place there. Indiana’s Jack Franzman was second in a 22.99 just ahead of teammate Rafael Miroslaw who was third in a 23.01.
Indiana’s Mackenzie Looze continued the Big Ten wins on the women’s side, winning the 200 breast in a 2:29.24. This was just off her 2:27.60 which she swam at International Team Trials to finish sixth. Teammate Brearna Crawford was second in a 2:29.83, and Ohio State’s Reese Dehen was third in a 2:37.66.
Earning the only club-swimmer win of the night was Michael Phillips. The 18 year old from Aquajets Swim Team won the men’s 200 breast in a 2:17.69. Phillips is committed to Navy for this fall. Michigan’s Ansel Froass was second in a 2:20.02, just ahead of an Ohio State 3-4-5 finish made up of William Reagan (2:21.11), Nathan Holty (2:21.49), and Karl Helmuth (2:21.86).
Amy Fulmer of Ohio State picked up her second win of the night with a 1:00.73 100 backstroke. That was just off of her 1:00.48 which she swam to finished eighth at International Team Trials. Indiana’s Anna Peplowski was second in a best time of 1:01.37, and Michigan’s Casey Chung was third in a 1:02.81.
Finishing off the women’s side of the night was Indiana’s Ella Ristic with a win in the 400 freestyle. Ristic swam a best time of 4:16.39. Ohio State’s Maya Geringer was second in a 4:17.93, and Michigan’s Kathryn Shanley was third in a 4:19.24.
Murilo Sartori won the men’s 400 free in a 3:52.94 ahead of Ilia Sibirtsev who was second in a 3:54.51. Jake Mitchell, who swam the event for the US at last year’s Olympics, was third in a 3:57.01. Mitchell is in his first meet back since battling mono.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WFIE) – Evansville native Lilly King won the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2022 USA Swimming International Team Trials on Friday night.
The Olympic gold medalist clocked in with a time of 1:05.67.
King cemented her dominance in the trials, completing the sweep for all the breaststroke events.
She has now clinched her third individual berth for the World Championships, previously coming out on top in the 50-meter and 200-meter breaststroke earlier this week.
The world-record holder is set to compete in Budapest at the World Championships on June 18-July 3.
