by IAN HANSON - OCEANIA CORRESPONDENT
Olympic Champion Zac Stubblety-Cook’s Record Breaking Night At The Queensland Championships
Chandler Swim Club’s Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook is excited by what lies ahead in 2022 after setting the Brisbane Aquatic Centre alight tonight on an action-packed second day of the 2021 McDonald’s Queensland Championships.
Stubblety-Cook led a host of Tokyo Olympians back into competition and it was game on from the opening event with Tokyo teen sensation, 17-year-old Mollie O’Callaghan surprising even herself.
“Mollie O” produced a near-best 200m freestyle time to win the first of her three State titles in an “hour of power” and lowering the colours of Olympic champion and her St Peters Western and Tokyo team mate Ariarne Titmus into the bargain.
But the swim of the night belonged to Stubblety-Cook with the Tokyo 200m breaststroke gold medallist setting a new Queensland All-Comers record of 2:07.00 in his pet 200m breaststroke event.
It was his first swim back after his Tokyo triumph and just 0.88 secs outside the world record he nudged in the Olympic final.
Russian Anton Chupkov holds the world mark at 2:06.12 – and Stubblety-Cook was the only swimmer under 2:07.00 in the Olympic final – clocking a new Olympic record of 2:06.38.
And that swim came after he set his own Commonwealth record, a faster time of 2:06.28 at the Australian Olympic Trials in June this year.
The 22-year-old surprised even himself when he arrived at the pool in the morning admitting he felt “pretty good” in the warm up, punching out a solid 2:08.95.
“I thought, ‘I’d give it a crack this morning and was totally surprised with my time so I knew I was in form,” said an excited Stubblety-Cook, who admitted he had some mixed emotions after the Games.
“When I came back from Tokyo I was asking myself, is that the peak? It’s like when you become the best, you think what’s next?
“And I thought I’m just going to swim free; no one can take that away from me, so from now on I’ll swim with freedom and never have that hanging over my head.
“And if I’m swimming this fast now, I’m excited for next year and excited for what I can do.”
Stubblety-Cook will now set his sights on the Fina World Championships in Fukuoka in May and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
And if Stubblety-Cook is excited then “Mollie O” should be super excited.
The girl who ignited the Australian women’s team with her relay heat swims in Tokyo wasted no time letting her swimming do the talking again in the pool tonight.
In the space of an hour O’Callaghan:
WON the Open 200m freestyle in a time of 1:56.51 - only a second outside her best time – and relegating St Peters Western teammate and Olympic champion Titmus in second place in 1:57.36 and fellow Tokyo medallist Brianna Throssell (USC Spartans) taking bronze in 1:58.16.
ADDED the 17/18 years age group 100m backstroke title in 1:01.26 after just 30 minutes rest and;
COMPLETED a rare treble, powering home to win the Open 100m backstroke less than 30 minutes later – and in a faster time of 1:00.67.
And she admitted although she was exhausted O’Callaghan said she was “really happy” with her freestyle “only a second off my best.”
“Dean and I thought when it came to the backstroke maybe take the age group a little easier, preparing for the Opens but sometimes I just go for it....people expect me to swim fast..but I guess I’m just here to have fun I guess....but try and see what I can do...
“My legs started to burn the whole way....it hits you like a brick wall....”
O’Callaghan said she was stoked with her Olympic results, remembering it was her first ever major open international competition, “so I was interested to see how I handled everything....and I was so happy.”
In other highlights Rackley’s bronze-medal-winning Tokyo 4x200m freestyle relay anchor Tommy Neill produced a solid 1:47.28 to win the 200m freestyle from fellow Tokyo teammate Elijah Winnington (St Peters Western) 1:48.22 with Clyde Lewis (Griffith University) third in 1:48.88.
And he later added the 400IM in 4:19.18 from Joshua Staples (St Peters Western) 4:23.81 and Lucas Humeniuk (Chandler) 4:25.06.
While triple Olympian Mitch Larkin, now under new coach Vince Raleigh at Chandler powered home to win the 100m backstroke in 53.80 from his Tokyo team mate Isaac Cooper (Rackley) 54.55 and former WA rising star Joshua Edwards-Smith, now under Michael Bohl at Griffith University, in 54.98.
Meanwhile Bond University teen Flynn Southam continued on his record breaking rise through the ranks - lowering a 22-year-old Queensland All Comers record of 49.98 set by Ian Thorpe in 1999 and the Queensland record of 49.70 set by Cameron McEvoy (2011) – with his 49.42 to win the 16 years 100m freestyle.
And 13-year-old Olympia Pope (Somerset Swim Club, Gold Coast), added her own slice of swimming history, breaking an Australian and Queensland record that was set back in 2009 by Tess David – clocking 2:32.61 in the 200m 13 years breaststroke.
