Milla Jensen breaks the Australian age group record (establishment) in the 200 free

WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP 2024 – INCHEON

17 year old Australian swimmer Milla Jansen broke the Australian national age record in the 200-meter short-distance freestyle on Friday at the Incheon stop of the Swimming World Cup Series.

Jansen, who turns 18 on Nov. 29, took third place Friday with a time of 1:54.98. She was only behind the world record holder Siobhan Haughey (1:51.02) and her fellow Australian Brittany Castelluzzo (1:54.11), who is 23.

The established record* for the event was a 1:55.11, set in 2007 by Kylie Palmer. Palmer then won two individual Olympic medals in the Australian 400 free, 2011 silver at the World Long Course Championships in the 200 free, and gold at the 2008 World Short Course Championships in the 200 free.

Jansen had only competed in this short-distance event a few times before this year’s World Cup series. Her best time in the competition was 2:00.77 from 2021, when she was 14 years old.

She didn’t make it further in the Shanghai race (she would have easily made the final) and then swam a time of 1:57.00 in the heats on Friday.

Jansen is best known for her sprinting abilities. She won silver at the 2023 World Junior Championships in the 100 free and gold at the 2022 Junior Pan Pac Championships in the 50 free.

She also placed 3rd in the 50 free and 100 free in Shanghai last week and in the 50 free in Incheon earlier this week, with the 100 free still to come. She already holds the age record for 17-year-olds (official, not established) thanks to her times of 24.10 and 52.31 in Adelaide in September.

*Australian age records in short distance meters are relatively new and have only been added in the last few months. The fastest time before July 1, 2024 is considered an “establishment record” and will be marked with an asterisk in the record books. The swimmer who completes this time for the first time after July 1 will become the event’s first official record holder without an asterisk.

Sienna Toohey became the first swimmer to officially break an established record when she swam times of 30.94 in the 50 breaststroke and 1:06.79 in the 100 breaststroke on July 5.