A to Z guide: 2021 McDonald’s Queensland Swimming Championships
A to Z guide ahead of the Queensland state swimming titles, from Ariarne Titmus to Zac Stubblety-Cook and many brilliant talents in between.
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The Queensland state swimming titles starting on Saturday will feature a return to the pool for many of our Olympic Games medallist, brilliant rising rookies and Shayna Jack.
Jack’s (St Peters Western) milestone comeback to competitive swimming comes after a successful bid to have her doping ban dismissed.
Her appearance adds to the excitement of the state titles, but so does the appearance of Queensland Tokyo Olympic medal rookies Meg Harris, Tom Neill and Mollie O’Callaghan.
But there are others - all revealed in our A to Z guide.
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A is of course for Ariarne Titmus (St Peters Western) who produced one of the greatest moments in Australian Olympic history by bringing down USA swim giant Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle. It was the type of moment where, as the years roll by, people will remember where they were watching the race unfold. Titmus won again in the 200m freestyle and finished on the podium in the 800m freestyle.
A is also for her St Peters Western teammate Abby Harkin who made her first Olympics as a 200m breaststroker, and for the emerging All Ages swimmer Ainsley Trotter (St Peters) who shone like a beacon in the 13 years age group earlier in the year.
B is for blazing Nudgee racer Jamie Bayliss (Nudgee) who flies in the 100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke and 100m freestyle. Bayliss benefited greatly from experiences at the Australian All Age Championships when he executed race plans under pressure and is one to watch.
B is also for an old teammate of Bayliss from Albany Creek, backstroker Jaclyn Barclay who is thriving under her old coach Richard Sleight at a new club - St Peters Western.
B is also for another teen talent, powerhouse Brisbane Boys College talent Bryce Belcher (University of Queensland).
C is for Tokyo Olympic Games 100m medley relay gold medallist Chelsea Hodges, the 19-year-old Gold Coast girl who posted a sensational breaststroke time of 1:05.57 in her leg.
C is also for world championship Dolphins representative Carla Buchanan (Rackley), Tamsin Cook (USC Spartans), Hannah Casey (Marist) and Blake Cochrane (USC Spartans), the Australian Paralympic veteran who finished his Tokyo Games’ campaign with a bronze medal and a silver medal. Casey is one of our best youth female prospects who made the Australian world youth championship merit side this year. C is also for Cochrane’s Dolphins teammate, Rowan Crothers (Yeronga Park). Crothers is a two-time Paralympian who, in Tokyo, finished with two gold and one silver medal.
D is for Liz Dekkers (Newmarket Racers), the All Hallows’ School leaver who went within a whisker of qualifying for the Olympic Games. But that is in the past and the teenage butterfly exponent from Steve Miller’s swimming stable at Newmarket Racers has plenty of good times ahead of her.
D is also for David Morgan (Miami), the son of an Olympian (mum went to the Montreal Games) who is an Olympic bronze medallist and Commonwealth Games gold and silver medallist.
And D is also for Jacqueline Davison-McGovern (Yeronga Park), a Somerville House student who shone at the Queensland v Queensland Swim Challenge late this year after gaining invaluable experience at the Olympic swimming trials in June.
E is for Ella Ramsay (St Peters Western) who has more gold from her All Ages exploits down the years than you would see stored in a Swiss Bank.
She is a true all-rounder, a master of many strokes who laps up the coaching atmosphere generated by Dean Boxall.
E is for another St Peters Western swimmer, Elijah Winnington who now has a bank of big race experience. The Gold Coast native represented Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (medley gold medal), the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships and the Tokyo Olympics.
F is for Flynn Southam, the Bond flyer who this year burst his way into the Australian world junior championship merit side. Watch for a big 18 months by Southam.
F is for another speed demon, Alex Fahey, who is making progress under Zane King at Colmslie.
F is also for another fringe Dolphins rookie, medley exponent Jenna Forrester (St Peters) who almost qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. She has a heart the size of Phar Lap, well suited to her gruelling events.
G is for Madeline Gough (Chandler) who earlier this year set the Australian record for the 1500m freestyle, leading to her debut Olympic in Tokyo
The Sunshine Coast surf life saver Tom Gallagher (Kawana Waters) was rewarded for his iron will by winning a bronze medal in his Paralympic Games debut this year.
G is also for open water sisters Chelsea and Chloe Gubecka (Yeronga Park), with Chloe a long distance specialist and older sister Chelsea a Pan Pac open water swimmer and Rio Olympian.
H is for Mt St Michael’s College alumni Meg Harris (Marrion) who had a dream Olympic Games debut winning two relay gold medals and a bronze medal. Harris was finely tuned for the Games by St Peters Western’s Dean Boxall but has now moved to South Australia where she will swim under the Marrion club banner.
H is also for the amazing Brenden Hall (Belgravia, Para), a three-time Paralympic Games representative who is an inspiration to a generation of young swimmers. H is also for medal winning machine Benjamine Hance (Para, USC Spartans) who was one of our swimmers of the Tokyo Paralympics with gold, silver and bronze medals.
I is for Isaac Cooper (Rackley) who would have returned from the Tokyo Olympic Games with bucket loads of knowledge. He is a Bundaberg boy who came to Damien Jones at Rackley Centenary via the Toowoomba Grammar School. He flies in backstroke and is not intimidated by anyone - he just loves racing.
I is also for Ike Martinez (TAS Cairns) who lit up the Australian All Ages Championships earlier in the year with gold, gold, gold and gold. He is another who would have represented Australia at the World Junior Championships this year had it not have been for COVID-19 border closures.
J is for Jessica Mouatt (Nudgee), an open water swimmer who enjoyed a breakthrough performance at the Australian Championships earlier in the year. That performance saw her claim the 20 years and under age group. J is also for the fast emerging Jesse Coleman (Bond) and also for two of our finest, and most popular para swimmers, Jack Ireland (University of Queensland) and big hearted Jake Michel (Carina Leagues, Para).
K is for St Peters Western sprinter Kai Taylor, the son of one of Australia’s most popular Olympians, Hayley Lewis. The state titles are the start of Taylor looking to take his high 49 second 100m time down closer to 48 seconds over the next 12 months.
K is also for Tiana Kritzinger (Nudgee), a 800m and 1500m freestyle swimmer who had big drops in a number of events across 2021. The versatile David Proud coached swimmer qualified for her first Australian Junior Team this year.
K is also for Kia Melverton (St Peters Western), an accomplished open water swimmer who made her Olympic Games debut in Tokyo where she claimed a gold medal as a heat swimmer for the 4x200m freestyle relay. She is also a multiple medallist across Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs.
K is also for Paralympian Katja Dedekind (USC Spartans), the Matthew Flinders Anglican College alumni who won two bronze medals at the Tokyo Paralympics.
L is for Nudgee College old boy Clyde Lewis is a grand middle distance campaigner who is under the training of five-time Olympic coach Michael Bohl at Griffith Uni, while Paige Leonhardt (Belgravia, Para) is a ripping Aussie Dolphins swimmer who is always among the medals or there abouts at world events.
L is also for Liam Schulter (Kawana Waters), the two-time Paralympic medallist who is a regular on the podium in international events.
M is for Moesha Johnson (born 19 September 1997) is a swimmer who competes internationally for Australia. Her last result is the 3rd place for the women’s 800m freestyle during the Fina Swimming World Cup 25m in Singapore 2019. She competes in 1500m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle.
M is also for veteran Mitch Larkin (Chandler) and Mikayla Messer (Nudgee), the World University Games Team selection who had a had a great Olympic trials.
And of course M is for Madeleine ‘Maddie’ McTernan who swims at Southport and was a silver medallist at the Tokyo Paralympics.
N is for Tom Neill (Rackley Centenary), the St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace old boy who swam the Australia 4x200m freestyle team into a bronze medal at his first Olympics in Tokyo. We told you before the Games that Neill was the real deal, and he will only benefit from the experience. He is coached by Damien Jones.
O is for Mollie O’Callaghan (St Peters). Another who we gave you the inside running on heading into the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the St Peters Lutheran College school leaver came home with three Olympic medals (two gold, one bronze) after barnstorming heat relay swims. Watch for the Dean Boxall rookie to challenge for a finals’ starting berth in relays at the 2022 Commonwealth Games - and to push for an individual 200m freestyle berth as well. O is also for O’Callaghan’s St Peters Western teammate Semra Olowniyi, an exciting youth swimmer.
P is for Lani Pallister (Griffith University), the exciting middle distance freestyle talent training under Queensland Sport’s Coach of the Year, five-time Olympic coach Michael Bohl at Griffith University. She is the daughter of Janelle Elford, the 1988 Olympic 400 and 800m freestyle finalist. P is also for the remarkable Lekeisha Patterson (Belgravia), a mainstay of the Australian Para team who has been winning Games’ medals since 2014 - and her success shows no signs of abating. P is also for the powerhouse Jake Packard (USC Spartans).
And of course P is for Sunshine Coast product Jamie Perkins who has moved to St Peters Western and is an exciting youth swimmer.
Q is for Meghan Guthrie-Quinn of Acqua Rosa Clayfield who was a podium finisher in multiple events at the 2021 All Age nationals.
R is for three very promising young talents, Rebecca Jacobson (Rackley Centenary), Thomas Raymond (Nudgee) and Robert Thorpe (St Peters Western). Jacobson was on the 2019 world junior championship team which included Tom Neill, Mollie O’Callaghan and Liz Dekkers and is now settled at Rackley under Damien Jones.
Raymond is another who broke into this year’s Australian world junior championship merit team. The Nudgee College old boy will swim in the 400m, 800, and 1500m at the state titles.
R is also for Ruby Storm (USC Spartans) who at the Tokyo Paralympics won bronze and silver medals.
S is for two big runs - Sam Short who is on the rise and Shayna Jack who is on of the comeback trail. Short is not well known by the wide Australian sporting audience, but the boy from Everton Hills is a middle and 1500m freestyle young gun.
S is also for comeback boy Cody Simpson, the multi-talented sportsman churning through the miles under Michael Bohl at Griffith University. A is also for leading youth medley man Joshua Staples (St Peters Western).
T is for Taylor McKeown, the older sister of Olympic champion swimmer Kaylee McKeown who is a 2014 Commonwealth Games breaststroke gold medallist and a 2016 Olympic medley relay gold medallist. He won her first 200m breaststroke national title way back in 2010 aged just 15.
T is also for Ty Hartwell (Chandler), a Rockhampton product who simply sizzles in the 200m backstroke, and Louis Townsend (Rackley Centenary) who represented Australia at the 2017 world championships and at the 2018 world short course championships.
And of course T is for boom Rocky City swimmer Taryn Roberts who had a rollicking All Ages meet with an amazing seven gold medals across distances from 1500m freestyle to 200m butterfly. She was an Australian world junior championship merit selection.
And T is also for one of our best youth swimmers, Thomas Hauck from the All Saints, who is making giant strides in the sport.
U
V is for Rocky City backstroke flyer Sally Vagg who matched it with the best in the business at the Australian All Ages Championships on the Gold Coast earlier in the year. A Boyne Tannum Bullets Swim Club junior, the Cathedral College student stood on every podium after claiming gold, silver and bronze medals.
W is for St Peters Lutheran College student Amelia Weber who took her swimming to another level at the Australian All Ages Championships this year. Inspired to take swimming more seriously after watching Australia medal at the Rio Olympics (4x200m relay), Weber scooped the pool at the All Ages in freestyle from 200m to 1500m.
W is for Wilman Martin (Nudgee) and Will Stockwell (Rackley), the son of Olympic gold medallist Mark and his mum Tracey Caulkins, the former USA swim star.
X
Y is for Yannik Zwolsman, a multiple medallist for Southport Olympic in the 17 years at the All Ages, for Samuel Young (Rackley Centenary) and Bond’s All Ages medallist Jude Youens.
Z is for the one and only Zac Stubblety-Cook (Chandler) who produced one of the greatest moments in Australian Olympic history with his 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games gold medal. With 50m to go Stubblety-Cook turned last but one with a withering finish over the top of the field. For a day he was page one news, before being swallowed up by the remarkable deeds of teammates Ariarne Titmus and Emma McKeon. Z is also for Chandler’s Zharkov Yaroslav.
Originally published as A to Z guide: 2021 McDonald’s Queensland Swimming Championships
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