April 8

Mollie O'Callaghan extended to a record 10 the number of times she has broken the 1:54sec mark over 200m freestyle when she clocked 1:53.69 for victory by a wide margin as the Australian Open wrapped up on the Gold Coast today.

The Olympic and World champion coached by Dean Boxall at St Peters Western now dominates the entries in a club of seven women who make up the 28 fastest 200m efforts in under 1:54sec.

Ariarne Titmus, who retired last year, is next most-prolific, with seven of the 28 swims, Boxall's charges accounting for almost two thirds of the swiftest 200m freestyles in history.

Titmus tops the speed scale with her 2024 World record of 1:52.23, which was clocked ahead of the second-fastest swim and swimmer in history, O'Callaghan, on 1:52.48, at Australian Olympic Trials.

O'Callaghan has the last textile sub-1:53, the 1:52.85 that delivered the 2023 World titles in Fukuoka. Retired Italian Federica Pellegrini, who welcomed her second daughter to the world last week (see lower in the Vortex), is the only other to have ever swum inside 1:53, a feat O'Callaghan has achieved twice.

Now, the 22-year-old also the first ever to have raced to double-digit sub-1:54s in the event she emerged champion from at Paris 2024. Her splits:

26.54 55.27 (28.73) 1:24.76 (29.49) 1:53.69 (28.93)

Closest to her was training partner Lani Pallister, on 1:55.66, with New Zealand's Erika Fairweather on 1:55.72. Pallister was not done there: having won the 400m in 3:59 and he 80-0m in 8:11, she concluded her meet with a 15:44.07 win over 1500m, the longest distance finals bringing down the curtain on the meet.

• RESULTS IN FULL

In other last-day finals, Elizabeth Dekkers, also coached by Boxall, dominated the 200m butterfly in 2:05.39 (28.60, 1:00.26, 1:32.34, 33.05 home-comer).

Quadruple Olympic backstroke champion Kaylee McKeown took the 200IM in 2:09.22 after having taken back the lead on freestyle from Ella Ramsay, who was ahead by 0.08sec at the last turn on her way to silver in 2:09.94, 400 medley champion Jenna Forrester third in 2:11.97.

Tight tussles were also seen in the 100m 'fly, topped by Matt Temple in 51.60, 0.1sec ahead of Harrison Turner, Ben Armbruster third in 52.33; and the 400IM topped by Lewis Clareburt, of New Zealand, 0.1secx ahead of Will Petric:

55.67; 2:00.35; 3:12.15; 4:10.10 Clareburt
56.73; 2:02.10; 3:12.22; 4:10.20 Petric

There were also wins for Stuart Swinburn, on 1:58.25 in the 200m back, while the dash finals were led by:

• M50 free: Jamie Jack 21.71
• W50 breast: Sienna Toohey 30.39
• W50 back: Alexandria Perkins 27.79
• M50 breast: Sam Williamson 27.14

Wiffens Back From Across The Pond For Irish Open Action

Olympic 800m free champion Daniel Wiffen and his twin brother Nathan took another 1-2 finish over 1500m free as the Irish Open Championships got underway in Bangor today.

Dan clocked 14:51.38 for the win, Nathan 15:20.88 in their first race back home from college in California.

At the other end of the spectrum, Evan Bailey cracked 49sec twice in a day over 100m free, a 48.98 in heats converting to 48.94 for gold in the showdown atop a podium of sub-50s, James Ward on 49.54, Matthew Hamilton on 49.89 after 49.71 in heats. In the women's equivalent, the title went to 19-year-old Grace Davison, in 54.88, after 54.45 in heats.

In the 200m 'fly finals, Ellen Walshe took the win in 2:09.74, while Jack Cassin clocked 1:57.05 for his victory.

Also in the April Vortex:

• Distance Brace For Pallister & Short
• Clareburt Crushes Kiwi 200 Free Mark
• Mona McSharry Not Done With LA2028 California-Dreaming
• Tunisian Switches To Swim For Saudi After Easing Of Nationality Rule
• Federica Pellegrini & Matteo Giunta Welcome Rachele, Daughter No2
• Jane Asher Still Setting Global Standards At 95
• April 1: Peaty & Main Plot Unexpected Tilt At Olympic 50m Free
• FORUM: May One Seismic Shift On Olympic Heights Follow Another