Burnes too hot to handle

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: 1^st 

Joshua Collett: 7^th 

Women’s 4x100 medley relay 

Bond: 1^st 

Layla Day (backstroke), Tilley King (breaststroke), Claudia Fydler (butterfly), Hannah Casey (freestyle) 

Men’s 4 x100-metre medley relay 

Bond: 1^st 

Campbell Wilson-Moran (backstroke), Joshua Collett (breaststroke), Ben Armbruster (butterfly), Flynn Southam (freestyle) 

Mixed 4x100-metre medley relay 

Bond: 2^nd 

James Biddington (backstroke), Gideon Burnes (breaststroke), Claudia Fydler (butterfly), Dominque Melbourn (freestyle) 

Women’s 4x100-metre freestyle relay

Bond: 2^nd 

Dominique Melbourn, Ainsley Trotter, Mikayla Bird, Hannah Casey 

Men’s 4x100-metre freestyle relay 

Bond: 3^rd 

Ben Armbruster, Jesse Coleman, Cambell Wilson-Moran, Flynn Southam 

Men’s 50-metre breaststroke 

Gideon Burnes: 2^nd 

Men’s 100-metre freestyle  

Flynn Southam: 2^nd 

Men’s 50-metre butterfly 

Ben Armbruster: 2^nd 

Jesse Coleman: 6^th 

Men’s 100-metre butterfly 

Ben Armbruster: 3^rd 

Jesse Coleman: 4^th 

Men’s 50-metre freestyle  

Ben Armbruster: 3^rd 

Flynn Southam: 6^th 

Women’s 50-metre butterfly 

Claudia Fydler: 4^th 

Men’s 200-metre breaststroke 

Joshua Collett: 4^th 

Women’s 50-metre backstroke

Layla Day: 4^th 

Ainsley Trotter: 5^th 

Women’s 200-metre freestyle 

Hannah Casey: 4^th 

Women’s 50-metre breaststroke 

Tilly King: 5^th 

Lani Connolly: 8^th 

Kyla brown: 8^th 

Women’s 100-metre freestyle 

Hannah Casey: 6^th 

Women’s 100-metre backstroke 

Layla Day: 6^th 

Women’s 50-metre freestyle  

Hannah Casey: 6^th 

Women’s 100-metre breaststroke 

Tilly King: 8^th 

Lani Connoly: 9^th 

Men’s 200-metre butterfly 

Noah Kamprad: 9^th 

Women’s 100-metre butterfly 

Claudia Fydler: 9^th 

Women’s 200-metre butterfly 

Mikayla Bird: 9^th 

Women 200-metre individual medley 

Emma Doherty: 10^th