Tasmanian distance running took another huge stride in Monaco when Stewart McSweyn claimed a host of benchmarks in a landmark 1500-metres race.
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The King Islander's time of 3:31.81 in finishing eighth at the Diamond League meet established him as the second fastest Australian ever behind only his Melbourne Track Club training partner Ryan Gregson whose record of 3:31.06 was set at the same meet in 2010.
It was also a new Tasmanian record, the ninth fastest time in the world this year and earned McSweyn a qualifying time for both this year's world athletics championships in Doha and next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.
It came less than a week after Launceston's Rio Olympian Milly Clark also claimed a Tokyo qualifying time with a huge Tasmanian record in the Gold Coast marathon.
While McSweyn's focus remains on the longer distances of 5000 and 10,000m - which he contested at last year's Commonwealth Games - securing a qualifying time in a blue ribband event more than a year out from the Olympics is a significant weight off the 24-year-old's shoulders.
Rob Shaw
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
