Pallister shines as Jack misses Dolphins cut for world championships

Sydney Morning Herald

a day ago

Lani Pallister capped a breakout week at Australia's swimming trials in Adelaide with a fourth personal best, while Shayna Jack fell short of Dolphins selection on the final night of racing ahead of next month's world championships in Singapore.
With Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus taking a break from the sport, Pallister emerged from the shadows with a coming-of-age campaign, having moved to train under Dean Boxall at St Peters Western earlier this year.
After winning the 400m freestyle in a personal best and smashing the national record in the 800m, Pallister closed out her week with a dominant victory in the 1500m freestyle on Saturday night.
Her time of 15:39.14 slashed 10 seconds off her previous best and broke the Commonwealth record held by New Zealand's Lauren Boyle.
It marked a rare sweep of lifetime bests in the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle.
'It's just nice getting a little bit of progress,' Pallister said on Channel Nine. 'It's one of those events where you can plateau for so long, but it's nice to have a big drop like that. I'm just really stoked with the week that I put together.'
Jack, meanwhile, had another uncharacteristic night. The Olympic finalist finished fifth in the women's 50m freestyle, where Meg Harris (24.17 seconds) took top honours. It followed an eighth-place finish in the 100m freestyle earlier in the week.
After the highs of Paris and an interrupted preparation, Jack knew she was underdone. But missing selection will still sting for someone who, until recently, was among the first picked.