In front of a capacity crowd at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre, Sydney University Swimming Club’s Keiran Qaium narrowly missed Olympic selection after finishing third in the nation for the men’s 200m Butterfly at the 2016 Hancock Prospecting Australian Championships, 7-14 April.
The 23-year-old headed into the final as the fastest qualifier after posting a time of 1:57.78 in the semis.
Facing tough competition for a podium finish from defending Australian Champion and three-time title winner Grant Irvine (1:58.27) and second fastest qualifier 21-year-old Hugo Morris from Canberra, Qaium’s effort not only earnt him a PB, but saw him place third in the nation in a time of 1.56.84.
Coach Scott Talbot, who has worked with Qaium for the past 3 years to get to this point, was notably proud of his performance.
“Keiran has worked very hard and this result shows that. While it was unfortunate he didn’t make the Olympic team this time, to finish top 15 in the world is a great achievement and something he should be very happy with,” said Talbot.
Qaium touched the wall just behind qualifiers Grant Irvine (1:55.73) and David Morgan (1:55.63).
Impressively, Qaium also made it to the finals of the men’s 100m Butterfly where he managed to take fifth place (52.67).
In other meet events the Sydney Uni men’s relay team, made up of Thomas Meggitt, Te Haumi Maxwell, Benjamin Lindsay and Kazimir Boskovic, secured sliver in the 4x100m free final, while Uni’s 200 Backstroke representative, Keiran Bridge, pulled off a finals berth to finish 8th in Australia.
Congratulations to all Sydney Uni Swimming Club competitors and coaching staff for this huge accomplishment.
