A world record from Para World Championship medallist Jack Ireland and a vintage performance from double Olympian David Morgan proved the standout moments of the opening night of the Australian Short Course Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.
Ireland, the 24-year-old from Newcastle, smashed his own S14 record that he set last month to win the multi-class 200m free in 1minute 51.55seconds, to knock nearly a second off his previous mark of 1:52.49 on Wednesday.
Morgan, who competed at the Rio and Tokyo Games, then out-touched crowd favourite Cody Simpson to win the men's 50m butterfly.
Simpson was leading qualifier for the final but he was 0.08sec slower than the 29-year-old Morgan, who clocked 22.85 for victory, with Alex Quach (23.38secs) in third.
Tokyo Olympian Maddie Gough won the women’s 1500m in 15:45.69, with Sienna Duerloo second and (16:36.24) and Mackenzie Hunter (16:42.54) third.
It was another fine triumph for Gough, who recently pulled off the 400-800-1500m treble at the NSW State Championships.
Double Olympic champion Bronte Campbell will headline on Thursday, lining up for the 100m as she aims for her fourth Games in Paris, which she says will be her last at the age of 29.
“The 100 is such a tough event, and there are incredibly fast women in this country … I am so proud to be part of this generation but every now and then I’m like, could they slow down a bit because they are making my job super hard," smiled Campbell.
