Armbruster flexes to qualify for first Olympics

Ben Armbruster has booked his flight to Paris after a blistering 50m freestyle swim at the Australian Olympic Trials on Wednesday night.

The Sports Management student earned automatic selection to his first Olympics after touching the wall at 21.84, inside the official qualifying time, as he finished second to three-time Olympian Cameron McEvoy who swam 21.35.

“Dreams do come true,” Armbruster said. 

“It really hasn’t fully sunk in yet. I can’t wait to take on the world and see how I go.”

The 22-year-old and Hancock Prospecting Swimming Excellence Scholarship recipient Elija Winnington are the first two Bondies to earn their Dolphins cap for Paris at the trials. 

World Champion Winnington qualified for his second Olympics when he dominated in the 400m freestyle with a time of 3:43.26 and in the 800m freestyle hitting the wall at 7:44.90

Bond alumni Jenna Strauch clinched gold in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:06.90. Although she missed the qualifying time for the games by just 0.59 seconds,  hope is not lost, with Strauch swimming her main event the 200m breaststroke on Friday night where her personal best sits comfortably within the qualifying time. 

The Australian Swimming Trials, held at Chandler Aquatic Centre in Brisbane, serve as the sole selection event for the Paris Olympics. The trials run through to Saturday night with more Bull Sharks competing for tickets to Paris.

Ones to watch include pool powerhouse Flynn Southam who will swim the 100m freestyle tonight (Thursday). Minna Atherton will also swim her 200m backstroke tonight (Thursday), and Joshua Collett will tackle the men’s 200m breaststroke on Friday. 

Jesse Coleman and Ben Armbruster also hope to seal the deal in the men’s 100m butterfly which they will swim on Saturday, entering the heats seeded 4^th and 5^th respectively. 

Results 

Monday

Sienna Harben - 200 IM, 7^th , 2:16.30

Joshua Collett - 100m Breaststroke, 5^th, 1:00.77

Elijah Winnington - 400m Freestyle, 1^st, 3:43.26

Tuesday

Layla Day- 100m Backstroke, 6^th, 1:00.69

Minna Atherton - 100m Backstroke, 8^th ,1:01.22

Jenna Strauch - 100m Breaststroke, 1^st , 1:06.90

Flynn Southam - 200m Freestyle, 7^th, 1:47.29

Wednesday

Elijah Winnington - 800m Freestyle, 1^st, 7:44.90

Ben Armbruster - 50m Freestyle, 2^nd, 21.84