Australia’s top race walkers have wasted no time making their mark in 2025, with Olympic medallists Jemima Montag (VIC) and Rhydian Cowley (VIC) claiming victory at the Australian 20km Race Walking Championships in Adelaide, as Canada’s Evan Dunfee breaks the 25-year-old Australian All Comers Record.
Setting the pace at the World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze meet, Montag (Brent Vallance) continue her dominance claiming her sixth consecutive title in 1:27:47 in her second of two wins in the new season, while Cowley (Brent Vallance) reinforced his reputation as one of the country’s most consistent performers, crowned Australian champion in 1:18:35 – only beaten to the finish line by Canada’s Olympic medallist Evan Dunfee (1:17:39).
“When it’s a championship race, it’s about getting that job done and trying to win with the auto qualifier, so I stayed with the pack and around the 7-kilometre mark, I wanted to push the pace a little and for the second two-third of the race there was a lot of movement behind me which kept me quite honest and I had to go much quicker than I expected to,” Montag said.
“High 27’s is where I want to start the season, and it’s similar to where I’ve started the previous two seasons [with global medals in 2023 and 2024], and so cool to see some of the other girls like Bec [Henderson] and Lizzie [McMillen] doing PBs behind me.”
Cowley, who claimed his maiden Olympic medal with Montag in the Mixed Marathon Race Walking Relay in Paris said:
“This is a new course for us in Adelaide, and while there’s no pin turns, there are hills on this course but we got really lucky with the weather conditions for a really fast race,” Cowley said.
“Knowing that the younger fellas are coming up pretty quick and fast was motivating for me to come back quickly after Paris, but it’s great to get the double [after claiming the 35km Race Walking Championship in December] and my second 20km title to my name.”
Rebecca Henderson (1:28:11, VIC, Simon Baker) and Elizabeth McMillen (1:1:28:35, NSW, Jared Tallent) completed the women’s podium with personal best times and below the World Athletics Championships qualifying standard and Tim Fraser (ACT, Jared Tallent)and Will Thompson (VIC, Brent Vallance) won silver and bronze respectively at the national championship meet.
The event also delivered international and Under 20 record-breaking performances, with Dunfee of Canada setting a new North American record of 1:17:39, claiming line honours by almost one minute and eclipsing the Australian All Comers Record of 1:18:59 held by Robert Korzeniowski since 2000; a feat he has been attempting to achieve for almost 20 years.
“It was perfect conditions today, amazing course and great atmosphere so we knew it would be quick and Kyle (Swan) set the pace pretty early on. We were targeting that 1:18:59, the All Comers record from the Sydney Olympics and I came through 5km bang on pace and felt really good and I just turned up the gears a tiny bit and was chipping away,” Dunfee said.
“With nine laps to go, I thought I could do something special here, and figured out the math, and pushed harder each lap and I got the area record and the record I’ve been eyeing for nearly 20 years. My coach and I talked about doing this, and it seemed audacious or out there so I’m so happy that I could do it.”
Rising star and junior global medallist Isaac Beacroft (NSW, David Beacroft) shattered the Australian Under 20 record with a stunning 1:22:52, shattering Adam Rutter’s 1:24:46 record set in 2005.
“There is plenty to take out of that! This was my first 20km obviously, so we hit some longer sessions and toned down the pace a little bit. Coming here I just wanted to walk 1:26 to qualify for the World University Games,” Beacroft said.
“I picked up a few boys and treated it as a progression; I played to my strengths and walked my own race.”
The 2025 Australian Race Walking Championships are part of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series, with the next stop of the tour taking place in Western Australia with the Perth Track Classic on March 1.
By Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted: 16/2/2025
