Isaac Cooper Puts Kyle Chalmers’ Aussie Record On Notice To Close Out SC Championships

2024 AUSTRALIAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2024 Australian Short Course Championships wrapped up in South Australia tonight with multiple Olympians in the water. That was despite 23-year-old megastar Kaylee McKeown scratching the women’s 100m IM event.

For instance, 20-year-old Isaac Cooper of St. Andrew’s fired off a head-turning time of 20.81 en route to winning the men’s 50m freestyle.

After producing a top-seeded effort of 20.85 out of the morning heats, Cooper managed to slice another .04 to get the advantage over Jamie Jack who settled for silver in 20.97. Jack was quicker in the morning with 20.89.

Thomas Nowakowski of USC Spartans rounded out the podium in 20.99, the only other sub-21-second result of the field.

As for Cooper, his 20.81 put Kyle Chalmers‘ 20.68 Australian record on notice, a time which has been on the books since 2021.

Instead, Cooper now checks in as the #3 Aussie performer of all time with Jack right behind him in the rankings.

Top 5 Australian Men’s SCM 50 Freestyle Performers All-Time

1. Kyle Chalmers – 20.68, 2021
2. Cameron Mcevoy – 20.75, 2015
3. Isaac Cooper – 20.81, 2024
4. Matt Abood – 20.89, 2009 & Jamie Jack -20.89, 2024
5. –

The women’s 50m free saw 24-year-old Alexandria Perkins get to the wall first, with the USC Spartan registering a winning time of 23.77.

17-year-old Bond ace Milla Jansen was next, hitting 24.10 as the silver medalist while 19-year-old Jaimie De Lutiis also landed on the podium in 24.38 for bronze.

These top 3 performers all earned times that cleared the qualification standard for December’s Short Course World Championships. Perkins’ performance represents her first-ever foray under the 24-second barrier, overtaking her previous personal best of 24.49 from the 2022 edition of these championships.

Olympian Elizabeth Dekkers dove in for the final of the women’s 200m fly where she demonstrated her prowess in a time of 2:03.13.

Dekkers came within striking distance of the longstanding Aussie national record of 2:02.88 Gandy established over a decade ago in 2013.

But Dekkers wasn’t the only one in 2:03 territory, as 19-year-old Bella Grant busted out a result of 2:03.85 followed by a bronze medal-worthy outing of 2:03.93 at the hands of Brittany Castelluzzo.

Dekkers’ 2:03.13 hacked more than half a second off her previous personal best of 2:03.94, a time which garnered her the bronze medal at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.

Grant’s effort tonight obliterated her previous career-quickest of 2:07.57 from September 2023 and Castelluzzo’s 2:03.93 also tore her previous PB of 2:06.46 from 2022 to shreds.

The women’s 200m breast saw 21-year-old Melbourne Vicentre athlete Tara Kinder get it done for gold in 2:18.25, a new lifetime best.

Splitting 14.60/17.43/17.29/17.71/17.44/17.97/17.82/18.09, Kinder entered the all-time Aussie performers list in slot #2, crushing her previous PB of 2:21.69 in the process.

Top 5 Aussie Women’s SCM 200 Breaststroke Performers All-Time

1. Leisel Jones – 2:15.42, 2009
2. Tara Kinder – 2:18.25, 2024
3. Jenna Strauch – 2:18.87, 2022
4. Sally Hunter – 2:19.23, 2015
5. Taylor McKeown – 2:20.13, 2015

Over 3 seconds back, 15-year-old Lily Koch was also still impressive in the women’s 200m breast final. The Nunawading swimmer logged 2:21.97 for a new Australian Age Record.

Additional Notes

• Harrison Turner topped the men’s 200m fly field in a time of 1:52.95, beating his competitors by over 2 seconds.
• Olympian Joshua Yong logged a time of 2:03.56 to win the men’s 200m breast, with Joshua Collett in the silver medal position in 2:04.57. Chandler’s Bailey Lello posted 2:05.24 for 3rd place.
• Lani Pallister collected another freestyle win, taking the women’s 800m free. Pallister turned in a time of 8:06.71 to beat the field by over 10 seconds. Her performance represents the 2nd best time of her career, one which boasts a PB of 8:04.07 from when she won gold at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.
• World Championships medalist Iona Anderson registered a time of 59.12 as the top women’s 100m IM performer. She and runner-up Jaimie De Lutiis (59.37) hit the sole times under the minute barrier tonight. Anderson now checks in as Australia’s #3 performer of all time.
• Joshua Collett was golden in the men’s edition of the 100m IM, putting up a time of 52.68. Olympian Se-Bom Lee was next to the wall in 53.55.
• Matthew Galea hit a time of 14:40.55 to take the men’s 1500m freestyle event.