
Australian swimming's fresh wave face world title test
Taylor is overseeing a Dolphins team with a near-quarter of debutants, plus five new coaches, at the championships starting on Sunday in Singapore.
"We don't have a footy game every week, we go once this year," Taylor told AAP.
"So we have got to make sure that they get the experience.
"Next year we will have a multiple competitions that they will be exposed to.
"But the first one is the one that will test their resilience."
Proven performers and gold-medal winners including Kaylee McKeown, Kyle Chalmers, Cam McEvoy and Mollie O'Callaghan form a core of a team including 10 world championship rookies including 16-year-old breaststroker Sienna Toohey.
And the 10-strong coaching team under Swimming Australia's head coach Taylor has been revamped after last year's Paris Olympics with five fresh faces.
Taylor was impressed with integration of the newcomers at the Dolphins' camp in Darwin before arriving in Singapore.
"Having new people come in - a quarter of the team, half the coaching staff - they slotted in really well, it was really nice to see. That is the first step," he said.
"The second step will be when they get into competition, obviously anything can happen.
"It's going to be how they manage themselves, manage the ups and downs that come with it.
"We have had a pretty consistent group of coaches and athletes over the last cycle that we worked with. This is just a new test for us as a leadership."
The titles were vital for Taylor's plans for the ultimate goal, the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
"I want to be able to look at the next three years to ensure we're working on all the key things for LA," he said.
"I just want to know where are our gaps, where are our strengths ... and what do we need to be doing about it as an organisation."
Australia will unveil a revamped women's 4x100m freestyle relay team on night one at the Singapore Sports Hub.
The retired Emma McKeon and Shayna Jack, who missed selection, are missing from the relay team that won Olympic gold last year.
Also on night one, Paris silver medallist Elijah Winnington and a rejuvenated Sam Short renew rivalry with Germany's Olympic champion Lukas Martens in the men's 400m freestyle.
And with Ariarne Titmus yet to return post-Olympics, Lani Pallister will fly the Australian flag in a highly-anticipated women's 400m freestyle boasting Canadian Summer McIntosh and American legend Katie Ledecky.
McIntosh, at Canada's trials last month, regained the 400m free world record from Titmus and also set global records in the 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


West Australian
18 minutes ago
- West Australian
Justin Langer tips Ben Stokes would have done same thing as India after Test draw stoush
The English dummy spit over India refusing to accept an early finish to the fourth Test so two of their batters could make centuries will provide the Australian team's leading sledgers with powerful ammunition when the Ashes start in Perth this summer. England captain Ben Stokes, who cried foul about the 'spirit of the game' during the Johnny Bairstow dismissal blow-up during the 2023 Ashes, has found himself on the wrong side of history with his childish antics after Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sunday declined to shake hands and end the Test 15 overs early overnight. The pair, both clearly within their rights to keep playing to get to triple figures, both reached their milestones. Former Australian coach Justin Langer, who had plenty of run-ins with the Poms during his playing and coaching career, said he was sure Stokes would have done the same thing if two of his batters were within reach of a hundred. Even former England captains Nasser Hussain and Alastair Cook went in to bat for the Indian side post-match as Stokes and his gang of whingers were widely panned. England, who last week were talking tough about how they were no longer going to play nice, only proved how petty they can be when things don't go their way during the farcical scenes at Old Trafford. Stokes had Joe Root and Harry Brook provide weak bowling to speed things along after his moves to end the match were rebuffed. Jadeja reached his ton first and Sundar followed to signal the end of proceedings, with India on 4-424 and a lead of 113. The pair — and captain Shubman Gill, who also made a century to recover from a wobbly start — helped India save the match and keep the series alive. England have a 2-1 lead ahead of the final Test, which begins at The Oval on Thursday. Stokes attempted to deprecate Jadeja's achievement by asking him: 'You want to get a Test hundred against (batter) Harry Brook?' who then bowled laughable looping deliveries off a shortened run-up. Columnist for The Nightly, legendary Australian opener Langer relished cricket's 'hard edge' ahead of England's return to Australia this summer. 'In such a huge Test series where the stakes are so high, it's great to see that Test cricket still has that hard edge,' Langer said. 'India were wanting to keep two of their players in to score a Test century, get their names on the honour board and keep England in the dirt for another half hour, knowing there's another match in a few days time. 'If the roles were reversed, I imagine if it were Ben Stokes whose young teammates had the chance to score a Test 100, he would have done the exact same thing. 'Test cricket is such an extraordinary game and I love anything that adds intrigue, interest and controversy to it.' Last week Mitchell Johnson wrote for The Nightly that England's declaration to be meaner was simply bluster. 'Right now, England sound like they're trying to sound intimidating rather than being intimidating,' he wrote. 'Let's not pretend Australia are choirboys. I had plenty to say when I played — and copped plenty back. But that came with purpose. Sledging only works when you're dominating. And to be honest, right now England aren't. 'Here's what England need to remember: the Ashes aren't won at press conferences.' India captain Gautam Gambhir asked post-match, 'would they have walked off?' 'If someone from England was batting on 90, or 85 and had the opportunity to get his first Test hundred, would they do it? 'They (Jadeja and Sundar) weathered the storm. It's up to them. If they want to play that way, nothing more to say. 'I think both those guys deserved a 100 and fortunately they got it.' The incident adds further intrigue to this summer's Ashes series between the two fierce rivals, which comes as part of a resurgence of Test cricket in Australia. Fans are already clamouring to get their hands on tickets after the wild success of last year's blockbuster series between Australia and India. Hussain lamented the bad look at the end of the Test. 'Stokes didn't have to bowl Brook and it looked a bit silly at the end there but we make far too much of these things,' he said. 'They played well, they deserved the draw, they deserved to be there at the end.' Cook said the centuries would stand the test of time, compared to the farcical final moments. 'Five years down the line you look at the scorecard you see two brilliant hundreds to save the game, plus obviously Gill's as well,' he said. 'It will be forgotten about, Harry Brook's 37mph (60km/h) ball.'


7NEWS
an hour ago
- 7NEWS
Gout Gout's 100m personal best crushed by 16-year-old Japanese athlete Sorato Shimizu
Australian sprinting sensation Gout Gout has been upstaged by a 16-year-old from Japan. Sorato Shimizu has sent a warning shot to both Gout and the world after running a blinding 10.00 flat 100m sprint at a meet in Hiroshima, Japan on Saturday. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Teenage sensation betters Gout Gout in blazing 100m run. The teenager, who is 14 months younger than Gout, smashed the Aussie prodigy's personal best time of 10.17. Ominously, he is also now quicker than Usain Bolt at the same age. The Jamaican Olympic legend had not recorded anything faster than Shimizu's 10-flat at any stage until after he turned 20. Shimizu's run set a new 100m under-18 world record, which was previously held by both American Christian Miller and Thailand's Puripol Boonson, who had ran 10.06 seconds. Miller set the mark in July 2023 before Boonson joined him just under three months later. He is also the equal fifth-fastest Japanese runner of all time in the event. Speaking after the run, a hungry Shimizu said he didn't even hit his own personal goal, but said he was happy to have broken the country's high school record, which was previously Yoshihide Kiryu's 10.01 set in 2013. 'I was determined to run under 10 seconds heading into the final,' he said. 'I'm happy to have set a high school record. I'd like to get a taste of it if I can make it.' It comes just over a month after Gout stitched together another Australian record when he won his first senior international race on foreign soil. The 17-year-old, returning to competition for the first time since April, stunned the Golden Spike Meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic in late June. Gout powered away late and crossed the line in 20.02 seconds to defeat recent Diamond League winner Reynier Mena. 'I've felt stronger in training these last couple of months and I've felt good since I got to Europe last Thursday,' Gout said at the time. 'I knew Mena would come hard at me the first 100 but I was confident I'd be close enough to come home strongly in the second part of the race which is of course my stronger part. 'I felt calm but strong as I came off the turn and was confident I'd be strong enough to get the win. 'Another national record! Pretty happy with that, it's not a bad first-up in Europe!' Gout is building towards the 200m at the Tokyo world championships in September, and recently confirmed he would run for Australia at next year's Commonwealth Games in Scotland. The major competition will take place in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2 next year and be broadcast exclusively live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport. Gout has taken the sprinting world by storm with his freakish talents, and next year's Games will be the biggest event of his budding career. It's unclear which event the 17-year-old is planning to run, but he is expected to compete before going to the World Junior Championships in Oregon. 'We need to wait for the full Commonwealth Games program to be released but yes, we are planning that Gout will be available to run at an event in Glasgow before going on to the World Juniors in Eugene,' Gout's manager, James Templeton, said.


Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
Aussies' winning start as Poppy gears for title defence
Adam Walton and James Duckworth have given the Australian men a winning start at the Canadian Open as Alexei Popyrin prepares to defend the Masters 1000 title he famously won last year. Walton rallied to beat Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 4-6 6-0 6-3 in their first-round clash in Toronto on Monday (AEST). His reward is a second-round match up with top seeded Aexander Zverev, who had a first-round bye. Qualifier Duckworth beat China's Shang Juncheng 6-3 7-6 (7-3) and next meets third seed Lorenzo Musetti. Meanwhile, 18th seed Popyrin enjoyed a first-round bye before he faces 638th-ranked Canadian wild card Nicolas Arseneault in his first match. Popyrin is defending the title he won last year in Montreal when he downed Andrey Rublev in the final to become the first Australian winner of a Masters 1000 title since Lleyton Hewitt 21 years earlier. He followed that breakthrough by claiming the scalp of Novak Djokovic in the third round of the US Open before falling to Francis Tiafoe in the round of 16. However, it has not been easy going for Popyrin in recent weeks after he followed a first-round exit at Wimbledon with another first-up defeat in Washington, losing to China's lowly-ranked Wu Yibing in three sets. In the Canadian Open women's draw, Australia's Kimberley Birrell suffered a first-round loss to Canada's Victoria Mboko 7-5 6-3.