Paralympic great set for final world titles campaign
Brendan Hall speaks after winning the 400m freestyle multi-class final at the 2025 Australian swimming trials.
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The Age
22 minutes ago
- The Age
Appetite for destruction: How mum's kitchen put Suaalii back on track to tame Lions
'Nobody wants to crash the Ferrari, that's not what anyone wants. I was a bit worried I was going to be guy who damaged Joseph before the Lions series,' Kellaway joked. 'He looks alright, he's doing a lot of talking, which is a good sign.' Suaalii, who was also knocked out in the clash, said he wasn't concerned about a series of recent concussions but felt a pang of concern when he went for x-rays a few days later, and doctors told him he had a fracture. 'Obviously it's such an important time for myself and Australian rugby, and I want to be playing,' Suaalii said. 'So obviously there's a little bit of nerves, but they come back straight away. I had surgery maybe three weeks ago now, and I've been looking good going into Lions. 'My face was really big for a bit. I was wearing a face mask everywhere, but it is slowly coming down. Still got a bit of baby fat around [but] going well. I'll be fully fit.' Suaalii said he was expecting the Lions Test series to be the biggest moments of his career, so far. 'You don't always get to play against the Lions,' Suaalii said. 'Some people play it once in your career, and it happens every 12 years. So I believe it's going to be one of the biggest games of my life.' Along with the broken jaw, Suaalii also missed six weeks of the Super Rugby season with a foot injury. It meant he only played seven games for the Tahs, and while he was in strong form, it's not the full season of re-acclimatisation to rugby that Suaalii would have wanted. Loading He is confident he has had enough time, however, and said the experience of playing fullback for NSW will help him if, as expected, he is returned to No.13 for the Wallabies. 'Even just being around the game, even just watching it, observing, learning from teammates, coaches – I feel like I've had a lot of time to digest a lot of information and just see it from a different angle, a different perspective. 'Playing at 15, playing at 13, even training on the wing. I feel like I've been learning so much. I feel like I'm just using all that information just to go out there and play rugby. Seeing it from a different perspective always helps you.'
Sydney Morning Herald
23 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Appetite for destruction: How mum's kitchen put Suaalii back on track to tame Lions
'Nobody wants to crash the Ferrari, that's not what anyone wants. I was a bit worried I was going to be guy who damaged Joseph before the Lions series,' Kellaway joked. 'He looks alright, he's doing a lot of talking, which is a good sign.' Suaalii, who was also knocked out in the clash, said he wasn't concerned about a series of recent concussions but felt a pang of concern when he went for x-rays a few days later, and doctors told him he had a fracture. 'Obviously it's such an important time for myself and Australian rugby, and I want to be playing,' Suaalii said. 'So obviously there's a little bit of nerves, but they come back straight away. I had surgery maybe three weeks ago now, and I've been looking good going into Lions. 'My face was really big for a bit. I was wearing a face mask everywhere, but it is slowly coming down. Still got a bit of baby fat around [but] going well. I'll be fully fit.' Suaalii said he was expecting the Lions Test series to be the biggest moments of his career, so far. 'You don't always get to play against the Lions,' Suaalii said. 'Some people play it once in your career, and it happens every 12 years. So I believe it's going to be one of the biggest games of my life.' Along with the broken jaw, Suaalii also missed six weeks of the Super Rugby season with a foot injury. It meant he only played seven games for the Tahs, and while he was in strong form, it's not the full season of re-acclimatisation to rugby that Suaalii would have wanted. Loading He is confident he has had enough time, however, and said the experience of playing fullback for NSW will help him if, as expected, he is returned to No.13 for the Wallabies. 'Even just being around the game, even just watching it, observing, learning from teammates, coaches – I feel like I've had a lot of time to digest a lot of information and just see it from a different angle, a different perspective. 'Playing at 15, playing at 13, even training on the wing. I feel like I've been learning so much. I feel like I'm just using all that information just to go out there and play rugby. Seeing it from a different perspective always helps you.'
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Teen schoolgirl awestruck after winning unexpected Australian title
An emotional 16-year-old schoolgirl is being hailed as the future of Australian swimming after earning world championship selection. Sienna Toohey left seasoned campaigners including Kaylee McKeown and Cate Campbell in awe with a stunning swim at Australia's selection trials in Adelaide on Tuesday night. The Albury teen, who only started swimming because she wanted to play water polo, triumphed in the women's 100m breaststroke. Toohey's victory, in a personal best time of one minute 6.55 seconds, secured her berth at the world titles in Singapore from July 27 to August 3. 'All of these people being my idols, now I get to be on the team with them,' Toohey said. 'These are people that I was watching two years ago, saying I want to be like them.' The daughter of the relieving principal at Albury High School, Toohey initially wanted to be a water polo player. 'My parents told me that I couldn't do water polo if I didn't swim, so I started swimming,' she said. 'And then my water polo progressed and my swimming was too at the same time. I got to the point where I had to choose swimming or water polo. Obviously, I chose swimming — it was the right choice.' Cate Campbell comforts Sienna Toohey after the awesome feat. Credit: AAP Five-time Olympic gold medallist McKeown was among those impressed with Toohey's feat at the South Australian Aquatic Centre. 'I was 16 when I made my first team and it really taught me a lot being with the older guys,' McKeown said after winning the 100m backstroke final on Tuesday night. 'I'm excited to see young swimmers coming through the ranks. 'The more experience that they can get leading into LA (the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics), we have a really good chance of doing Australia proud.' McKeown, who has told of the mental toll during her decorated career, offered some advice to the precocious Toohey. 'Just to enjoy yourself,' McKeown said. 'The more you be serious, the more you're harsh on yourself, you keep just digging yourself in a bit of a hole and it's quite hard to get out of.' For Toohey, she now will revise plans which had centred on the goal of swimming at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. 'The team I was first aiming to get on was definitely that one,' she said. 'Now that I've made this one, we'll have to push up the timeline a bit more.' Also on Tuesday night, Alex Perkins threatened the national women's 50m butterfly record by clocking 25.36 seconds, 0.05 shy of Holly Barratt's benchmark set six years ago. Injury-plagued Ed Sommerville, 20, made his first senior long-course national team by winning the men's 200m freestyle in 1:44.93 ahead of Sam Short (1:45.71). Joshua Edwards-Smith prevailed in the men's 100m backstroke in 54.28 and and Matt Temple took out the men's 100m butterfly in 51.00.
