Bull Shark Gideon Burnes pulled off the greatest upset of the week in claiming gold in the 100-metres men’s breaststroke at swimming’s star-studded Australian Open.
Despite a pre-race adductor issue putting doubt on Burnes’ ability to finish, the 20-year-old surged late to overpower a field which included Olympic gold medallist Zac Stubbelty-Cook and former world champion Sam Williamson, to claim his first major victory in the open category.
“Changing my kicking technique in the lead up to the meet put a lot of pressure on my adductor and in the warm up, it felt so tight I was worried I would tear something,” Burnes said.
“My coach Chris Mooney chatted to the physio and said it was up to me whether I raced or not.
“As an optimist, of course I was going to give it a crack but the realist inside of me was thinking, ‘oh god, this could be bad.’”
A strong first half of the race had Burnes in second at the turn, at which point he was confident in his ability to deliver.
“Once I knew I could swim well and wasn’t limited, I thought, ‘this is my race to win now,” he said.
“I was hurting a little in the last 20 metres, but I was not going to let anyone beat me to that wall.
“There’s nothing better than that feeling of performing on the big stage, it keeps the passion alive and makes me so excited for the future.”
Backing up to claim silver in the men’s 50-metre breaststroke, Burnes says he will target the event – which is a new edition at the Commonwealth Games – at the trials in June.
“Before trials, we’ll start working on more speed as we haven’t done too much of it,” he said.
“There is a lot more potential for me to be out a lot faster and easier at the start of my races, and I feel like trials is where I can really put all of the pieces together.”
Burnes’ teammate Ben Armbruster showed versatility in taking silver and bronze in the men’s 50-metre and 100-metre butterfly events respectively, before blazing to bronze in the 50-metre freestyle.
Off the back of relay gold at the recent World Championships in Singapore, Flynn Southam stormed to silver in the men’s 100-metre free, in a hotly contested race that showed the current depth of men’s sprinting in Australia.
But Bond’s success wasn’t limited to the individual races.
The Bull Sharks asserted their dominance in the 4 x 100-metre medley relays, claiming gold in both the men’s and women’s races, and silver in the mixed event.
In the 4 x 100-metre freestyle relays, Bond added to their huge medal haul with silver in the women’s and bronze in the men’s.
Swimming faster in his relay leg than his individual event, Burnes says he thrives when surrounded by his fellow Bull Sharks.
“I love racing with the team, you can have a laugh and really enjoy it, it’s why I usually go faster in relays.”
“I’ve actually been trying to find that same sense of fun before my individuals – to just really make I’m enjoying the moment.”
BULL SHARKS RESULTS:
Men’s 100-metre breaststroke
Gideon Burnes: 1st
Joshua Collett: 7th
Women’s 4x100 medley relay
Bond: 1st
Layla Day (backstroke), Tilley King (breaststroke), Claudia Fydler (butterfly), Hannah Casey (freestyle)
Men’s 4 x100-metre medley relay
Bond: 1st
Campbell Wilson-Moran (backstroke), Joshua Collett (breaststroke), Ben Armbruster (butterfly), Flynn Southam (freestyle)
Mixed 4x100-metre medley relay
Bond: 2nd
James Biddington (backstroke), Gideon Burnes (breaststroke), Claudia Fydler (butterfly), Dominque Melbourn (freestyle)
Women’s 4x100-metre freestyle relay
Bond: 2nd
Dominique Melbourn, Ainsley Trotter, Mikayla Bird, Hannah Casey
Men’s 4x100-metre freestyle relay
Bond: 3rd
Ben Armbruster, Jesse Coleman, Cambell Wilson-Moran, Flynn Southam
Men’s 50-metre breaststroke
Gideon Burnes: 2nd
Men’s 100-metre freestyle
Flynn Southam: 2nd
Men’s 50-metre butterfly
Ben Armbruster: 2nd
Jesse Coleman: 6th
Men’s 100-metre butterfly
Ben Armbruster: 3rd
Jesse Coleman: 4th
Men’s 50-metre freestyle
Ben Armbruster: 3rd
Flynn Southam: 6th
Women’s 50-metre butterfly
Claudia Fydler: 4th
Men’s 200-metre breaststroke
Joshua Collett: 4th
Women’s 50-metre backstroke
Layla Day: 4th
Ainsley Trotter: 5th
Women’s 200-metre freestyle
Hannah Casey: 4th
Women’s 50-metre breaststroke
Tilly King: 5th
Lani Connolly: 8th
Kyla brown: 8th
Women’s 100-metre freestyle
Hannah Casey: 6th
Women’s 100-metre backstroke
Layla Day: 6th
Women’s 50-metre freestyle
Hannah Casey: 6th
Women’s 100-metre breaststroke
Tilly King: 8th
Lani Connoly: 9th
Men’s 200-metre butterfly
Noah Kamprad: 9th
Women’s 100-metre butterfly
Claudia Fydler: 9th
Women’s 200-metre butterfly
Mikayla Bird: 9th
Women 200-metre individual medley
Emma Doherty: 10th