Stanley, Layton medal and records for age swimmers in Australia

Rio Olympian Matt Stanley returned to the pool to finish third in the 200m freestyle on the opening night of the Queensland Championships in Brisbane.

Stanley (1:49.38), who has moved to Bond Swimming Club under new coach Richard Scarce, was beaten by fellow Rio swimmers Thomas Fraser Holmes (1:47.70) and new clubmate Cameron McEvoy (1:48.05) in the final.

Sunshine Coast based Julian Layton (from the Greendale club) was runner up in the open 200m breaststroke in 2:14.31 in a close battle with winner Zac Stubblety-Cook.

Eighty-six New Zealand swimmers from 33 clubs are competing in Australia this week at the Queensland Championships and the Victorian Age championships in Melbourne.

There was a bright start on the first night in Brisbane with victory for Manawatu’s Mya Rasmussen and two national age records.

Rasmussen (Kiwi West Aquatics) took out the 16 years 400m individual medley in 4:48.76, which was nearly two seconds off the previous record set by outstanding New Zealand Helen Norfolk 18 years ago.

Waikato’s Georgina McCarthy, from the Hillcrest club, broke a national age record on her way to finishing second in the 14 years 200m medley in Brisbane. She clocked 2:20.69 to be nearly one second under the previous mark set by Carissa Thompson in 2000.

Both championships continue until the end of the week.

Results of New Zealand swimmers in finals are:

Queensland Championships, Day 1:

Open 200m freestyle Matt Stanley 1:49.38, 3^rd.

Open 200m breaststroke Julian Layton 2:14.31, 2^nd.

Girls 14yrs, 200m Medley: Georgina McCarthy (Hillcrest) 2:20.69, 2^nd (NZ Age Record)

Girls 16yrs, 400m Medley: Mya Rasmussen (Kiwi West) 4:48.76, 1^st (NZ Age Record)

Boys 16yrs, 200m butterfly: Xavier Hill (Kiwi West) 2:08.73, 4^th; George Dorrington (Pirates) 2:11.10, 8^th.

Girls 17-18 100m backstroke: Sarah O’Connor (Capital) 1:06.12, 8^th; Ella Cossill (Capital) 1:09.87, 10^th

Boys 16 yrs 100m freestyle: Thomas Wilson (QEII) 53.42, 8^th.

Girls 17-18 400m freestyle: Caitlin Deans (Neptune) 4:27.54, 5^th.

Victorian Age Championships, Day 2:

Boys 14 yrs 200m backstroke: Ben Littlejohn (St Paul’s) 2:18.37, 4^th.

Boys 13 yrs 200m medley: Ryan Oliver (Howick Pakuranga) 2:26.84, 7^th.

Boys 17-18yrs 100m backstroke: Andrew Jeffcoat (Fairfield) 59.30, 5^th

Boys 13 yrs 100m butterfly:  Ryan Oliver (Howick Pakuranga) 1:05.36, 5^th.

Girls 13 yrs & under 800m freestyle: Milla Theobald (Rotorua) 9:30.40, 2^nd; Ayla Redshaw (Mt Maunganui) 9:49.62, 5^th. 

CAPTION: Julian Layton (Credit: BW Media).