Mollie O’Callaghan Rips 58.09 100 Back Lifetime Best At Aussie Open Championships

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2024 AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, April 17th – Saturday, April 20th
• Prelims at 10am local (8pm previous night ET), Finals at 6pm local (4am ET)
• Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, Queensland, Australia
• LCM (50m)
• Non-Olympic Qualifying Event
• Women’s Races to Watch/Men’s Races to Watch
• Meet Central
• Final Start List
• Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap
• Live Results (also available via Meet Mobile: “2024 Australian Open Championships”)
• Australian Channel 9 Livestream / YouTube Livestream

With reigning world record holder Kaylee McKeown dropping the women’s 100m back on day 2 of the 2024 Australian Open Championships, the spotlight shined entirely on Mollie O’Callaghan.

20-year-old O’Callaghan of St. Peters Western took full advantage, firing off a time of 58.09 to establish a monster new personal best.

O’Callaghan opened 28.60 and closed in 29.49 to crush her previous career-quickest 58.42. That prior PB was logged at last year’s Australian Open Championships.

Comparing splits between the two performances, MOC had more in the tank on the back half which powered her to the wall in tonight’s head-turning result.

O’Callaghan’s 58.09 – 2024	O’Callaghan’s 58.42 -2023
28.60	28.42
29.49	30.00

MOC is now the #2 Australian performer in history, froghopping 34-year-old new mom Emily Seebohm. Seebohm was in tonight’s race and punched 1:01.21 for 5th just months after giving birth to her first child.

All-Time Aussie Women’s LCM 100 Back Performers

1. Kaylee McKeown – 57.33, 2023
2. Mollie O’Callaghan – 58.09, 2024
3. Emily Seebohm – 58.23, 2012
4. Minna Atherton – 58.60, 2019
5. Madi Wilson – 58.75, 20.16

MOC also bumps herself up the season’s world rankings by beating her previous time of 58.71 from last month’s NSW Championships. She ranks #3 on the season through this point.

2024 World Championships silver medalist Iona Anderson settled for silver this evening in 59.53 while Hannah Fredericks rounded out the podium in 59.69.

Fredericks, 21, had never before dipped under a minute yet here the SPW athlete is with a shiny new PB of 59.69 as the bronze medalist.

MOC’s 100m back gold tonight pairs with the 100m free gold she took on night 1 (52.27). The Dean Boxall-trained star also raced the 50m free nearly immediately after this 1back where she nabbed a time of 24.81 to place 5th overall.

SwimSwam: Mollie O’Callaghan Rips 58.09 100 Back Lifetime Best At Aussie Open Championships