Australian Champs, Day 2, Finals: Tara Kinder Conquers The Pain Barrier In 4:37.14 To Race Up The 400IM World Rankings
For Victoria’s breaststroking IMer Tara Kinder, 2025 will already be a year remembered as “simply the best” after continuing her painful climb up the world rankings in Brisbane last night.
Kinder continued her breakout year with a slashing victory in the 400m individual medley on night two of finals at the Australian Open Championships at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.
The 21-year-old from Melbourne Vicentre, who quit the sport for 18 months, is certainly back with a bang – producing yet another huge drop, clocking a world class time of 4:37.14 – a time that would have put her squarely in the mix in last year’s Olympic final.
Kinder admitting forthrightly after the race: “That was very painful…
“My coach Craig Jackson says it doesn’t matter how you swim the 400IM it’s always going to hurt..so I thought I may as well make it hurt as much as I could.”
But without pain there’s no gain right!
Kinder’s time was the sixth fastest in the world for 2025; the eighth fastest time ever by an Australian and remarkably almost a nine second improvement on her early season pb time of 4:46.02 swum to win her hometown State Championship in February.
On to the NSW State Championships last month in Sydney with Kinder claiming yet another title and another personal best drop, to 4:42.59.
LANES OF GAIN: Tara Kinder enjoying the gain after winning 400IM at the 2025 Australian Championships Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
But last night Kinder went up another gear, determined to take on the pain barrier, in another very impressive performance – and if it wasn’t for Kaylee McKeown’s 57.65 in the 100m backstroke – certainly the swim of the night.
Producing a breaststroke leg to die for – splitting 1:16.18 before steaming home with a 1:03.44 freestyle leg after setting up her latest pb with a 1:03.61 fly split and a 1:13.91 in the backstroke.
Zooming past fifth-placed Paris finalist Ella Ramsay (Griffith University, QLD) in the breaststroke after Ramsay who had charged out of the blocks with a fly opener of 1:01.41 – a pace she was always going to struggle to maintain and the breaststroke leg that saw Kinder take control and she was never headed.
Ramsay fought on bravely to finish second in the 400IM in 4:41.27 with her fellow Paris Olympian Jenna Forrester (St Peters Western, QLD) hanging on for third in 4:45.70.
In fact, Kinder’s time was faster than Ramsay’s time swum in that Paris final at La Defense Arena.
ON THE FLY: Ella Ramsay on her way to the 200IM title at the 2025 Australian Open Champs. Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
It was the Mel Marshall coached Ramsay who had already produced an impressive 200IM win on night one of these championships in 2:10.05 from Kinder (2:11.29) and who went on to win the 100m breaststroke later on night two in 1:07.80, again from Kinder (1:08.20) – in what has been a busy few days in the pool for the two breaststroking Imers.
And there is no rest for the pair who will go head-to-head again on Day Three (today) in the 200m breaststroke..with more pain and more gain on the menu as the Kinder and Ramsay set their sights on the World Aquatic Championships in Singapore in July.
Australian All-Time Top Ten
400 Metres Individual Medley:
World Record 4:24.38 Summer Mcintosh
4:28.22 Kaylee McKeown (2024)
4:29.45 Stephanie Rice (2008)
4:32.30 Jenna Forrester (2023)
4:35.26 Blair Evans 1991 (2016)
4:36.35 Keryn McMaster (2014)
4:36.56 Ella Ramsay (2024)
4:36.78 Kiah Melverton (2022)
4:37.14 Tara Kinder (2025)
4:37.84 Samantha Hamill (2010)
4:38.13 Tessa Wallace (2015)
4:38.62 Jennifer Reilly (2010)
