Adelaide Takes Hart from Short Course Form

Not even a 19 year-old record set by five times Olympic Gold Medallist Krisztina Egerszegi could withstand the blitzing performance of WAIS athlete Adelaide Hart this week as she proved why she has Australia’s top female swimmers looking over their shoulders.

Hart’s time of 29.23s in the 50m backstroke event places her second on the Australian Girls 15yrs All Time rankings for the distance, behind Olympian and former World record holder Emily Seebohm.

The record breaking performance shattered nearly every previous record set in WA, including the 18yrs WA All Comers Record set by Egerszegi at the 1991 World Championships in Perth, and the 15yrs WA All Comers record set by Grace Loh in 2007.

Loh last week, won a silver medal in Dubai at the World Short Course Championships in Dubai in the women’s 50m backstroke.

Following the record breaking swim, there is little doubt that Hart is set to become one of WA’s elite swimmers, with the 2012 Olympics set firmly in her sights.

The 2011 SunSmart State Age Championships have been a huge success, with over 400 competitors and a record numbers of viewers thanks to live streaming.

Fellow WAIS scholarship holder Brianna Throssell of City of Perth took out the Female Swimmer of the event, while Andrew Walker of Western Sprint claimed the title for the boys.

Standout performances during the event included Throssell’s WA Residential record time of 2:03:08 in the 14yrs 200m Freestyle, while in the 14yrs 50m backstroke Jasmine Stimson set a new 14yrs WA Residential record with her swim of 30.34s. Jasmine’s time also places her seventh on the Australian Girls 14yrs All Time rankings for the distance.

– Swimming WA