Sienna Toohey makes Commonwealth Games swimming workforce after transfer to Canberra

Sienna Toohey has certified for the Commonwealth Games, making her troublesome journey away from dwelling value it. 

The 17-year-old backed up her win at April’s Australian Open by beating Ella Ramsay to the wall within the 100m breaststroke on the second evening of the Australian Swimming Trials in Sydney.

Toohey gained in 1:05.97, the third quickest time ever recorded by an Australian girl, with quickest qualifier Ramsay second in 1:06.70, which is outdoors the automated qualifying time.

Ramsay, an Olympic and world championships silver medallist within the 4x100m medley relay, already certified for subsequent month’s Games in Glasgow within the 200m particular person medley and is more likely to be a part of the 100m breaststroke in Scotland.

But she was pipped by rising star Toohey, who has now crushed Ramsay at a 3rd straight main nationwide meet, including her 2026 wins to victory finally 12 months’s world championship trials.

Hailing from Albury on the New South Wales-Victoria border, {the teenager} has moved to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

“My older brother has come up for uni in Canberra,” she instructed Channel Nine.

“It’s hard not seeing my friends for quite some time. I don’t have a lot of friends in Canberra, but that just made it all worth it.”

Toohey stated she had spoken to educate Shannon Rollason earlier than the race about hitting 1:06 for the primary time, with Rollason backing her to turn into the fourth Australian girl (after Leisel Jones, Sarah Katsoulis and Chelsea Hodges) to go below that barrier.

When Toohey noticed her time, the look on her face — mouth agape and eyes huge — advised it nonetheless got here as a little bit of a shock.

McKeown nonetheless on high regardless of ‘a little bit of a touch-up’

Meanwhile, an unwell Kaylee McKeown maintained her standing as Australia’s backstroke queen regardless of receiving “a bit of a touch-up” from Iona Anderson. 

They each certified for the 100m for the Commonwealth Games, kicking off subsequent month in Glasgow.

The solely Australian with 4 particular person Olympic gold medals, McKeown will likely be seeking to full one other “double-double” by backing up her 100m and 200m backstroke Commonwealth golds from Birmingham 2022.

She confirmed some indicators of human vulnerability as Anderson pipped her for the quickest qualifying time into the 100m last, and 20-year-old Anderson was main after 50 metres on Tuesday evening.

But McKeown backed her motor to come back dwelling robust and, after an skilled flip, handed Anderson and held onto the result in win in 57.77 seconds forward of Anderson’s 58.60.

After profitable the race, McKeown, who edged Anderson and Mollie O’Callaghan within the 50m on Monday evening and nonetheless has the 200m to come back on Thursday, stated her physique was nearly holding collectively.

“I feel like I’m 86 years old,” she instructed Channel Nine.

Her mum, Sharon, stated it was good to see “Iona gave her a bit of a touch-up” to maintain her daughter trustworthy after so lengthy on high of the sport.

But she did reveal the 24-year-old had been combating sickness within the lead-up to the trials.

“She’s been trying to keep it under the radar that she’s not feeling well,” Sharon stated, including McKeown was by no means going to make use of it as any type of excuse.