Matthew Targett earns Men’s 100m freestyle title: Day one – 2012 Victorian Championships
Australian freestyle expert, Matthew Targett met expectations of his fans by earning gold medal of the Men’s 100m freestyle on initial day of the 2012 Victorian State Championships on Friday, January 13, at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Center (MSAC).
The 26-year-old Targett remained prominently ahead of his competitors throughout the freestyle event. He qualified into the freestyle playoff as the fastest swimmer, clocking a time of 48.86 efforts.
Melbourne Vincent’s Targett was the only swimmer to post a sub 49.00 seconds effort in the event. He elevated his efforts in the final round and improved his timing by 0.15 seconds to cement his top finish on the medal rostrum.
Targett became prominent for the gold spot in beginning of the race, where he completed his first lap of the event with a timing of 23.29 seconds. He was followed by Cameron McEvoy of Southport Olympic, who ended his initial lap by submitting a time of 23.86 seconds. Somerset’s James Roberts remained third fastest swimmer of the event as he ended his first lap in a time of 24.15 seconds.
The 26-year-old veteran went full throttle in the second lap and spoiled the party of his opponents by finishing first. Targett accomplished gold medal of the event by producing a splendid time of 48.71 seconds. He was traced by 17-year-old McEvoy, who was 0.95 seconds behind him and hit the wall with an effort of 49.66 seconds for silver medal.
The silver medallist faced strong resistance from the 20-year-old Roberts, who was just 0.11 seconds slower from him on the concluding end. Roberts secured third fastest spot on the medal rostrum as he finished his race in a time of 49.77 seconds.
Ian Thorpe, the comeback king, also took part in the race but he failed to qualify for the final round as he ended in 13th place with a timing of 51.05 seconds.
The arena was thrilled with the magnificent performances of their national swimmers while they also admired relentless efforts of all medal winners. Furthermore, winners were awarded medals after the conclusion of first session of the championship.
Tags: