World Championships trials: Emma McKeon continues hot form but Cate Campbell sticks tough in final

Emma McKeon has confirmed her upset 200m freestyle win was no flash in the pan by splitting the Campbell sisters at the World Championships trials.

it was close but Cate Campbell beat Emma Mckeon to win the 100m freestyle.

Queensland swimming’s favourite sister act returned home for the World Championships trials at Chandler on Thursday night but the script didn’t turn out exactly as planned with Emma McKeon splitting Cate and Bronte Campbell in the women’s 100m freestyle.

Griffith University’s McKeon took the race to the-now Sydney-based Cate, hitting the wall in front at the end of the first lap but the Commonwealth record-holder stayed calm and finished the stronger at the death in a good time of 52.12sec.

McKeon was second in 52.41 followed by Commonwealth Games champion Bronte (52.84) and Shayna Jack fourth in 53.18.

Bronte now has to finish in the first two of the 50m freestyle on the final night of competition in order to gain an individual swim at the championships but with all four placegetters in the 100m beating the automatic qualifying time, the chances look good for the 4x100m freestyle relay.

Cate Campbell reigned supreme in the 100m freestyle final.

ATTACK MODE: AUSSIE SUPERFISH’S BLISTERING WARNING

SWIMMER OUTRAGE: DRUG CHEAT GETS FREE PASS

CONFIDENCE BOOST: McKEON PULLS OFF BIG UPSET

Little wonder Australian head coach Jacco Verhaeren was on his feet cheering in the final stages.

For Cate the best part of the race was that she didn’t panic when McKeon took the lead.

“The way Emma swam wasn’t unexpected but I’m pleased I held my nerve and stuck to my own race,” she said.

“I’ve been working on cruising out in my races and training very hard to help me get home.

“It was a 10th of a second off my personal best so I have to be happy with that and to have the first three swimmers under 53 seconds means we’re going to have a very tough relay team.”

While the large crowd was no doubt in attendance to see the Campbells in action, it was 200m breaststroker Matt Wilson who gave them the biggest thrill of the night.

Sydney swimmer Wilson, 20, who just missed selection in the team for the Rio Olympics in 2016, has since been in scintillating form, setting a new Commonwealth record of 2:07.16 in April and, for the first three laps on Thursday night, threatening to break the world record of 2:06.67.

Matthew Wilson impressed in the 200m breaststroke.

Pushed all the way by West Brisbane’s Zac Stubblety-Cook, he just faded at the end, finishing in 2.07.79. Stubblety-Cook also qualified in 2.08.54.

Mitch Larkin continued his good form with a 1:55.03 win in the 200m backstroke to go along with the 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley wins earlier in the week.

“Confidence is one of those things,” he said.

“When the ball starts rolling it just takes over. I knew I could get back to swimming fast. It was just a matter of when.”

Fellow Queenslander Jack McLoughlin finished off his massive week with a win in the 1500m freestyle in a time of 14.52:83, giving him individual starts in the 400m, 800m and 1500m and probably 4x200m relay.

“It’s a big schedule but I love racing hard,” he said.

“I do a lot of training to do this sort of thing and after the Commonwealth Games I sat down and said this was what I wanted to do. It’s good to set a goal.”

Jack McLoughlin is set to face a big schedule at the world championships.

McLoughlin will be the Australian most affected by Thursday’s news that controversial Chinese distance champion Sun Yang will compete at the world titles because his pending drug charges will not be heard before the start of competition.

“I have no say in it,” McLoughlin said when asked his opinion.

“I look forward to swimming against him because I want to race the best in the world.

“I don’t see it affecting me. We all have our own lane, the pool is 50 metres long and we swim our own race.

“It’s not like rugby of soccer where the other competitors can affect what I do. I’ll just stay in my lane, he’ll stay in his and we’ll both do our best. That’s my mindset.”

Originally published as World Championships trials: Emma McKeon continues hot form but Cate Campbell sticks tough in final