World record; distance duel and blistering Titmus headline Day 3 of Aussies

World champion Alexa Leary (pictured) broke the first world record of the Australian Open Championships on the Gold Coast with the Para champion (S9) clocking 59.64 in her 100m multi-class freestyle relay.

For the 22-year-old Gold Coast athlete, the record was a sizeable down payment on realising her ambition to represent Australia in swimming at the Paris Paralympics.

Also making a clarion call of Paris proportions was Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus, clocking the fastest 400m freestyle of the year – 3:59.13 – to win gold ahead of Lani Pallister (4:01.75, a PB) and Kiah Melverton (4:06.94).

Titmus herself was surprised to drop under the 4:00 barrier while “in work” and still eight weeks out from Olympic trials: “I’m really happy with that. I take confidence from it … but it doesn’t really matter what people are doing now.”

Canada’s Summer McIntosh, NZ world champion Erika Fairweather and Titmus are the only swimmers who have dipped under the 4 minute mark this season.

In other results:

>Matt Temple retained his stranglehold of the 100m butterfly, with 50.80, winning by more than half a second from Shaun Champion in 51.28 and Ben Armbruster third in 51.86.

>2023 World Championships gold medallist and silver medallist this year in Doha, Cam McEvoy won the men’s 50m free, clocking 21.93 with a delighted Kyle Chalmers reeling off a PB (21.98) – his first in this event for nine years – to win silver.

> Jenna Strauch of Miami was the quickest women’s 200m breaststroke. The 27-year-old clocked 2:23.33, Matilda Smith second (2:24.89) and St Peters Western’s Abbey Harkin rounding out the podium in 2:26.11. Strauch is back in form after dropping out of last year’s World Championships due to injury.

> Another final, another record for Kaylee McKeown. After national records in the 200m IM (2:06.99) and 400m IM (4:28.22), the 22-year-old clocked 27.07 in 50m back, an All Comers Record.

> But the finale for Day Three finals was the men’s 800m freestyle final, where Elijah Winnington and Sam Short went stroke for stroke before Winnington surged in the final 100m to win in 7:43.08. Short was less than a second behind in 7:43.98. It was the exact same podium finish of the 400m.

• Live results can be found at: https://liveresults.swimming.org.au/sal/2024Opens/
• Heats start at 10am; finals 6pm – tickets for all sessions from Ticketek.
• Every race will be available to stream live and free on 9NOW.