It was a strong start for Victoria at the 2024 Australian Open Championships, with 42 finals appearances on night 1.
Our first medal came in the first event with Western Melbourne Propulsion’s Hamish Keenan continuing his fine form from last week to secure a Bronze in the Men’s 400m Freestyle MC with his time of 5:07.80.
Next up Ballarat Gold’s Sarah Howe showed us what she’s got in the Women’s 400m Freestyle MC, she went up against a strong field including Paralympic Bronze medallist Katja Dedekind, to finish in 6th place. She returned for the Women’s 200m Freestyle MC where she finished in 7th place.
All eyes were on Sam Williamson (Melbourne Vicentre) in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke, the Olympic hopeful stopped the clock at 1.00:87 to claim another Bronze for Victoria.
The Vics went 3 and 4 in the Women’s 200m IM with Nunawading’s Isabella Boyd taking out the Bronze medal ahead of Tara Kinder from Melbourne Vicentre.
Nunawading’s Silas Haris lined up for the final of the Men’s 400m Freestyle, the 22 year old finishing in 10th place with his time 3:55.13.
Albury young gun Sienna Toohey was on fire in the Women’s 50m Breaststroke, she hit the wall at 31.43 to claim Silver behind Miami’s Jenna Strauch, with fellow Victorian Tara Kinder finishing in 8th place.
We saw two Vics in action in the Men’s 50m Butterfly MC with Caulfield Aquatic’s Nicholas Layton taking out the Silver in 24.90 and Paralympian Col Pearse (Nunawading) finishing in 6th place (27.30).
To cap off the individual events for the night, Nunawading’s Will Sharp finished in 9th place (2:02.25) in the Men’s 200m Backstroke before the relay teams took to the pool for the Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay. Surrey Park came away with the Silver, finishing in 7:45.49,
Day 1 Medal Tally:
3 Silver & 3 Bronze
For full results click here.
Congratulations to all our day 1 finalists and their coaches. Good luck to all our Vics on Day 2, catch all the action on 9Now.
Go the Vics!
