‘Absolutely insane': Harris wins first gold as Short digs deep after hospital visit
Short, who trains alongside Harris, watched her swim from the marshalling room ahead of his own 30-lap battle.
'It was absolutely insane,' Short said. 'She said to me, 'imagine if we both win gold'. I was thinking 'jeez that's going to be a tough ask for me'. But I wanted to pull my weight. She has worked so hard.'
While Harris, McEvoy, Mollie O'Callaghan and Kaylee McKeown all claimed individual golds in Singapore, as well two from Moesha Johnson in the open water, Short left the meet with a trio of what-ifs.
He missed gold in the 400m freestyle by 0.02 seconds, was forced to withdraw from the 800m due to illness, and fought bravely for fourth in the 1500m final, clocking 14:43.08 — the second-fastest time of his career.
Short had to cancel lunch plans with his parents at a Singapore pub on Saturday, convinced he'd be too battered by illness to even qualify for Sunday's final.
'It's been a pretty horrible week, to be honest,' said Short, who lost three kilograms while sick. 'The 800 heat felt phenomenal and the next two days were horrible.
'I couldn't really leave my bed. I was just throwing up and had really high temperatures. I was really down the dumps. I'm just stoked to get in the final.
'14:43 is a pretty good time after the week I've had.'
Head coach Rohan Taylor added: 'That was unbelievable. He's a fighter.'
With Australia's men's medley team failing to make the final, it was up to the Dolphins' women to try and land a final blow on the USA.
With the men's medley relay team failing to make the final, it was left to McKeown, Ella Ramsay, Alex Perkins and O'Callaghan (3:52.67) to chase one last gold for the Dolphins. But the Americans, anchored by Torri Huske, were too strong, taking the title in 3:49.34.
O'Callaghan, stuck on 11 world championship golds, will now have to wait until Budapest 2027 to surpass Ian Thorpe's Australian record.
There were more memorable moments on the final night: France's Leon Marchand claimed gold in the 400m individual medley, though fell short of his own world record.
Summer McIntosh won her fourth gold of the meet in the same race. If McIntosh were a country, she would have finished fourth on the medal tally.
And 12-year-old Chinese sensation Yu Zidi, turned heads again with another fourth-place finish but did become the youngest medallist at an international swimming meet in 89 years after helping China to a relay medal as a heat swimmer.
Forrester's silver medal — shared with Japan's Mio Narita — was especially sweet after she missed the final in Paris.
'I was honestly just in disbelief. That was crazy,' Forrester said. 'I feel like it's been a really tough two years. I'm super proud of myself.'
The USA pipping Australia on the medal tally will be salt in the wound but it was one of those weeks, with illness affecting both camps.
Australia could have won more and the same could also be said for the USA. With no Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown dropping the 50m backstroke, and Short robbed for the chance for supremacy in the 800m freestyle, there were golds left on the table in the first major international swimming competition since the Olympics.
There was also a bad mixed 4x100m freestyle heat that Australia will learn from.
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The Dolphins' haul of eight golds wasn't quite the 13 they collected in Fukuoka in 2023, but it remains their second-best world championship return since 2007.
'There was a lot of turmoil through the week but I think we handled it well,' Taylor said.
'Obviously, we were one gold medal short [of the USA]. It's nice for it to come down to the last relay. We did our best but they were too good on the day. It makes us more hungry.
'Jenna Forrester getting back on the podium is a great story. Harrison's Turner's bronze from lane eight. Jeez, that 800 freestyle final with Lani [Pallister] was special.
'The relays at the beginning were great. Sienna Toohey making a semi-final. Each moment was special to me.'
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The Advertiser
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'Can you get me tickets for the grand final?', is usually only a message I receive in the last weekend in September for the AFL. But, this year I was receiving them for a different sport, netball. It feels as though Super Netball is only getting better and has more interest year after year, and this year's grand final was no different. I couldn't get any, of course, because it was sold out. So, in front of a loud, sellout crowd of 15,013, the Melbourne Vixens pulled off a fairy tale one goal win over the West Coast Fever on Saturday night. A result that not only crowned a new champion, but in a match that, in my opinion, cemented Super Netball as the premier women's sporting league in Australia. The game had everything. The underdog Vixens, written off by many earlier in the season, clinched a win against a Fever side that had won 13 games straight. It marked the end of an era for Vixens coach Simone McKinnis, who bowed out after 13 years at the helm. And it showcased netball at its best – fast, skilful, insanely athletic, dramatic, and most of all, elite. But beyond the final, you can't help but remember just how far Super Netball has come, and how it's had to do it the hard way. My cousin played for the Thunderbirds in the early 2000s, so watching the differences in the league now compared to then, by how they train (no more after work training sessions) and how professional they are obviously backed by a real income, is huge. Unlike the AFLW, NRLW, or WBBL, all excellent leagues in their own right, and ones I support and love, Super Netball has built its empire without the safety net of a men's competition propping it up. While the others benefited from being extensions of established men's brands, they can expand, take risks, and grow with big financial losses in the hope it will pay dividends. Meanwhile, netball has done the hard yards solo. That's not a criticism of those leagues, far from it (with the female athletic talent in the country I believe they just jumped on too late), but when women's footy and cricket arrived, netball found itself fighting a battle on a few fronts. Firstly, it was losing not just some of its best junior athletes to rival sports but senior, established players who jumped codes. I played with former Australian netball captain, Sharni Norder (nee Layton) at Collingwood in the AFLW for example. Netball also saw corporate sponsorship dollars flow to women's arms of already well funded men's codes and female players, relatively new in the sporting world, rather than their league and their established players. How many netballers do you see on insurance, car or phone network ads? It's a scenario that could have buried the game, like it has with many other sports. Instead, Super Netball doubled down and knew it had a product worth fighting for. It developed world class pathways and a league that invited the best in the world to compete. It built a compelling product, that serviced its very loyal fans, but at the same time made it a game anyone would want to watch. It did this without being tied to a men's league, which meant it had to work harder, market smarter, and demand more from every part of the sport. Two years ago, players took a stand in a heated pay dispute with Netball Australia. At the time, some questioned the timing and ethics. Now, after a season like this, the fight from the players feels justified. The athletes knew their worth, and they've proved it every week since. This final was everything elite women's sport should be. It was fiercely contested, beautifully played, and impossible to look away from. It also caught the attention of Hollywood legend Whoopi Goldberg, a surprise entrant into the netball conversation, who announced this year she's backing the league and plans to bring it to a broader audience through her major network AWSN (All Women Sport Network). I can imagine her and her team would have watched the grand final and thought it had been money well spent. The Vixens' dramatic finish to the season has been the best possible advertisement for netball. Super Netball didn't just survive the storm of competing codes, it weathered it, evolved, and emerged stronger. Now it's not just competing, it's leading and is easily the best in the country. So while it does have a three decade head start on women playing footy and cricket at the same level, it's given us an idea on what standard we can expect with time, and doesn't it look great?
