Gold Coast teens Laura Taylor and Elijah Winnington book places in Commonwealth Games team
GOLD Coast teens Laura Taylor and Elijah Winnington have booked their tickets to a home Commonwealth Games after upstaging their older rivals on the opening night of the swimming trials.
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GOLD Coast teens Laura Taylor and Elijah Winnington have booked their tickets to a home Commonwealth Games after upstaging their older rivals on the opening night of the swimming trials.
The tears started for Taylor as soon as she hit the wall after beating pre-race favourite Emma McKeon in the 200m butterfly to seal her place at the Games with a fairytale swim in the pool she can see from her home.
“I just can’t believe it,” the 18-year-old said.
“To have friends and family here with such a big support (crew) getting out there before I raced and hearing the massive roar for my name just made me want to swim quicker.
“I was just so overwhelmed, so happy for it to be over.”
A former St Hilda’s student and Northcliffe Surf Life Saving Club member, Taylor is a Gold Coaster through and through and has long dreamt of representing her city at a home Games.
“I live at Main Beach, very close to the pool,” Taylor said.
“I can (see the pool from home). I look at it going, ‘I’m going there, hopefully’.”
The young gun announced herself as a likely contender after winning the NSW state championship, beating Emma McKeon.
She carried that form through to the trials, qualifying second-fastest through the morning heats before announcing her arrival in the final, making a decisive move on McKeon in the third lap that would eventually seal the win.
“I pushed off that wall at the 100m turn and I was with the girls and (thought), ‘I reckon I can drop them here’.
“I paid for it in the last 50m but it won me the race.”
While Winnington did not clinch an individual spot, his fourth placing is likely to be good enough to see him selected for a relay and a home Commonwealth Games spot.
The 17-year-old cut a swath through the top competitors over the summer, beating Mack Horton and Cameron McEvoy at the Queensland and NSW state titles.
Winnington had been disappointed with his heat swim and nervous he may have wasted the good work done over the summer with a poor swim.
But he was a different man in the final, coming home like a train to seal fourth and an almost guaranteed relay spot.
“Ever since 2016 when I made my first junior team I’ve been waiting for that moment to break on to that senior team,” he said
“It’ll be a dream come true.
“I remember the day the Gold Coast was given the Commonwealth Games … and now it’s actually here and I’m glad I got the opportunity to even race at trials.”
Taylor’s TSS clubmate David Morgan is also likely to have booked his spot to the Games, winning the men’s 200m butterfly, although he faces a nervous wait until the team is named after missing the A qualifying time.
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