Swimmers' Six Pack: Day 2 Open Championships

Alexa Leary dives in for the first time today and last night’s champions Ella Ramsay and Elijah Winnington are back for more.

World record holders, Olympic champions, Paralympic gold medallists, and rising stars continue to line up at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre for Day 2 of the Australian Open Championships.

SWIMMERS’ SIX PACK

Alexa Leary | Bond, QLD

Don’t miss the athlete who set Paris La Défense Arena on fire with back-to-back world record swims and danced atop the dais in celebration. The sprint superstar will want to give her own world record a run for the money in the women’s 100m freestyle multi-class.

Meg Harris | Rackley, QLD

After winning Olympic silver in the women’s 50m freestyle in Paris, Rackley’s Meg Harris is one of the favourites to double down and win gold on home soil. The 23-year-old is also a relay stalwart, helping the Australian women’s 4x100m freestyle team to two consecutive Olympic golds at Tokyo and Paris alongside four World Championships relay wins. But Mollie O’Callaghan will line up beside her in today’s heat.

Ella Ramsay | Griffith Uni, QLD

Ella Ramsay threw down a 2:10.05 in her first hit out under new coach Mel Marshall to win gold in the women’s 200 IM. Last night’s win marked the Paris Olympian’s first ever national title and she is lined up for more as one of the top contenders in the women’s 100m & 200m breaststroke events. Ramsay is also a proud second generation – her dad Heath, also her first coach, represented Australia as a butterflyer at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Rowan Crothers | Marion, SA

Making the move from Brisbane to Adelaide to continue training under his long-term coach Kate Sparkes at Marion, Crothers has won a slew of Paralympic, Commonwealth and World Para Championships medals throughout his decade-long career. Today he heads the men’s multi-class field in the 100m freestyle – the event he won silver in at Paris – but the S10 swimmer will have to race the likes of fellow Paris Paralympic medallists Tim Hodge and Jack Ireland.

Isaac Cooper | St Andrew’s, QLD

As the reigning 50m backstroke world champion and with the recent inclusion of all 50m form strokes on the LA Olympic swimming program, Isaac Cooper is hyped and ready for today’s sprint event. Proving himself as a sprinter to beat, Cooper already won silver in the men’s 50m fly behind Cam McEvoy. The pair will also be contesting the men’s 50m freestyle along with McEvoy’s training partner Josh Conias, who took the crown at Age Championships last week.

Elijah Winnington | St Peters’ Western, QLD

By his own admission, Winnington has some hard work ahead of him to prepare for Trials in June but the Paris Olympic silver medallist started his national program last night with a win in the men’s 400m freestyle. The middle-distance focused swimmer will contest the 200m freestyle today and the 100m freestyle later in the program.

Heats start 10am | Finals from 6pm AEST. 
Watch all the Australian Open Championships live and free exclusively on 9Now.