Elliott and Freney book tickets to Glasgow

NSWIS’ golden girls Jacqui Freney and Madison Elliott have soared into Commonwealth Games selection with two strong swims in the women’s 100m freestyle S8 Para Sport at the Australian Swimming Championships in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Elliott won the race in a notable 1:06.14 with eight-time London Paralympic gold medallist Freney a shade behind in 1:09.83.

Not long after qualifying for the Commonwealth Games team, the NSWIS pair were back in the pool racing for the national title in the women’s 100m freestyle Multi-Class.

Both swimmers had strong starts but it was former NSWIS’ athlete and reigning champion Taylor Corry who took the gold touching the wall in 1:02.35. Freney maintained her speed to claim the silver in 1:09.53 with Elliot (1:08.43) taking the bronze.

David McKeon followed up his impressive opening night performance with a solid encore, securing third place in the 200m freestyle, scorching to a time of 1:46.37 and a booking a place in the 200m at Glasgow.

Sister Emma McKeon continued the McKeon madness finishing third in the women’s 100m butterfly behind 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist  Alicia Coutts and Ellen Gandy. McKeon showcased her diversity earlier in the night, setting the fourth fastest qualifying time for the women’s 50m freestyle.

In other results, NSWIS and Sydney University swimmer Melissa Mitchell fell agonisingly short of a berth in the women’s 50m freestyle final touching the wall in 25.45, a mere 0.03 seconds off the top eight. 

Club mate Hayley Abood clocked the seventh fastest time of 1:01.87 in the semis of the women’s 100m backstroke, whilst Matthew Levy, Mitchell Kilduff, and Amanda Fowler all claimed medals in the men’s 200m IM, men’s 100m freestyle and women’s 200m IM Multi-Class events.