McSweyn crushes record on home soil

Stewart McSweyn continued his dominant year overnight, when clocking 3:50.61 over the mile at the Penguin Track Meet to secure the Australian Allcomers record. 

After a breakthrough season on the international circuit, the 25-year-old star returned home to Tasmanian to take part in their Christmas carnival - and he showed no signs of rust after a break from racing. 

McSweyn’s intentions were made clear when requesting 1:52 through the 800m - a plan that was executed to perfection by pacemaker Adam Spencer (Tim O’Shaughnessy). 

With Spencer peeling off after nailing his duties, McSweyn was left in a race of his own to kick down over a gruelling last two laps which saw the hometown hero lift to the delight of the crowd. 

McSweyn’s time of 3:50.61 is not only the fastest time ever on Australian soil but also the fastest time in the world this year - knocking off Melbourne Track Club teammate Matthew Ramsden’s mark of 3:51.23 and leaving little time for revenge. 

It caps off a huge 2020 for McSweyn, which included national records of 3:30.51 for 1500m and 7:28.02 over 3000m. 

The humble King Island product appears primed to launch an assault on multiple events at the Tokyo 2021 Games, which McSweyn’s coach and Athletics Australia Event Group Lead - Middle Distance Nic Bideau says he is more than capable of. 

“He’s just so strong and he can run so fast for so long,” he said. 

“Everyone has got certain abilities and to be a great athlete you’ve got to work out how to make the race go to your abilities, and develop what skills you have to use them in races.” 

Bideau says that McSweyn’s new-found confidence leaves him better prepared for Tokyo than he was for the World Championships in Doha in 2019.

“He knows from Doha it’s very hard to get through those heats unless you’ve got a really good kick,” he said. 

“He doesn’t have to rely on running 38 [seconds] for the last 300 meters because he knows he’s strong enough and can run hard and still back it up.” 

Arguably the most impressive aspect of McSweyn’s performance was his preparation - which included a month of limited running, a holiday to Malta, two weeks quarantine and a three week teaching placement during which he trained solo. 

“He wouldn’t have run one lap at the pace he ran last night during training, probably not even 200 meters, but that’s the sort of engine he’s got,” Bideau said.

McSweyn is sitting pretty ahead of Tokyo where he has a variety of options, meaning for now he can continue his preparation on the track to go deep into the Olympic finals in 2021. 

McSweyn will compete in one last race to close out 2020 - a handicap mile in Burnie on New Years Eve where another blistering performance seems inevitable. 

By Lachlan Moorhouse

Posted: 30/12/2020