Australian Swimming Trials for World Aquatics Championships begin in Adelaide

Australia Broadcast Center

4 hours ago

Coming off an outstanding Olympic performance when the Dolphins won a collective seven golds, nine silvers and three bronze medals, next month's World Aquatic Championships present the next chance for the team to take on the might of the United States and maintain Australia's place as one of the world's leading swimming nations.
However, the Dolphins will be without some big names even before the Australian Swimming Trials begin in Adelaide on Monday.
Dual Paris gold medallist and 400m freestyle world record holder Ariarne Titmus is taking the year off swimming.
Emma McKeon, Australia's most successful Olympian, has retired.
Cate Campbell is long gone, while her sister Bronte is yet to decide on her future but will not be swimming in Adelaide.
There have been other retirements, including Tokyo and Paris gold medallist Brianna Throssell, world championship gold medal-winning breaststroker Matt Wilson, and breaststrokers Chelsea Hodges and Jenna Strauch.
With injuries to rising star Iona Anderson (backstroke) and the recent national 50m and 100m breaststroke champion Sam Williamson, the Dolphins team that goes to the World Championships in many ways will represent a changing of the guard.
Head coach Rohan Taylor said he is as interested as anyone to see how his squad will shape up.
"There's a number of athletes who have taken a good extended break after Paris and just want to get back on and see where they're at," he said.
"I think they'll learn a lot about themselves.
"There's a lot of openings for some of the young swimmers that will jump into those events, and we'll get some new blood on to the team and that'll be their first international experience.
"For me, I just want to sit back and see where we're at after Worlds, and what we need to do to keep moving forwards.
"I think we've got a really core group of athletes who are experienced and who will carry us through to LA."
Taylor said his coaches are going to do everything they can to support the established stars who have committed to swimming at the 2028 LA Olympics.
"Our main goal is that the performances at trials are repeated or improved on at the World Championships," Taylor said.
"So, we want to see athletes qualify for the team and when they compete again in six weeks, they're swimming as fast or faster. We want that repeat-ability," he said.
With Australia going through a golden era in swimming, Taylor believes the Australian public will be keenly watching the events in Adelaide over the next week and then the World Championships.
"I think this group of athletes and coaches have really earned the right to have attention and focus on them," he said.
Despite several accomplished stars not competing this week, there is still plenty of star power in Adelaide.
Kaylee McKeown, Mollie O'Callaghan and Cam McEvoy all showed they were a class above their peers in their respective events at April's National Championships, despite being in the middle of solid training blocks.
O'Callaghan was peerless taking out the 100m-200m double at the National Championships.
McEvoy's 21.48 at the National Championships was the third fastest time in the world this year, which he credited to work on his starts and points to a potentially faster time in Adelaide this week.
Kyle Chalmers, gold medallist in the 100m freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics, swam the second-fastest time in the world this year for the 100m freestyle in Norway and a personal best in the 50m freestyle at a meet in Sweden in April.
"There's a lot that I still want to achieve and have success over the next few years and to be able to go to a fourth Olympics in LA would be amazing," Chalmers said.
"My fiancée is going to make a comeback to swimming as well, and our goal is to be able to go to that Olympics together and have our daughter in the stands watching us, which I think is, yeah, going to be pretty special if we're able to do that."
The star of the Paris Paralympics, dual gold-medallist Alexa Leary, said she could not wait for the trials to begin.
"I just know it's show time. I just love it," she said.
"Here's just you know, a bit of a warm-up. I'm still going to give it to them in the water, but I've just got to make it a little bit of a warm-up, big show-time in Singapore."
Other names to watch out for include the men's distance swimmers Elijah Winnington, Samuel Short, and rising 1500m swimmer Benjamin Goedemans.
Victorian Tara Kinder and Queenslander Ella Ramsay, both 20, enjoyed breakout performances at the National Championships.
Kinder claimed the 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley, while Ramsay won the 100m backstroke and 400m individual medley.