World Swimming Championships: Meg Harris, relay, chances as Aussies chase gold
Australian sprinter Meg Harris gambled on herself and came up a world champion.
The 23-year-old was one of the big underdog stories of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, bolting from an outside lane to claim a shock silver medal in the 50m freestyle.
Inspired by that moment and the success of Australia's unique sprint king Cameron McEvoy, Harris decided to all but shelve the 100m event and focus on being a pure sprinter.
It was a huge risk, given she had collected two Olympic and five world titles gold medals by being part of a relay ensemble with her 100m strength, but Harris knew she had potential to stand atop the podium on her own if she went all in on the 50m.
Meg Harris celebrates after winning the women's 50m freestyle final. Picture: AFP)
So committed was Harris to her new life as a one-lap specialist, she pulled out of the 100m event after swimming a heat at the national trials and coaches needed to twist her arm just to line up for the 4x100m freestyle relay on the opening night of these world titles where she also won a gold medal.
But Harris has proven she could have her cake and eat it too.
Harris executed a near-perfect race to take Australia's eighth gold medal of the world titles, with a stunning start and underwater to come up clearly ahead of the field and hold on to win in 24.02 seconds from China's Qingfeng Wu (24.26s) and Yujie Cheng (24.28s).
She is Australia's first women's 50m freestyle world champion in a decade, joining Bronte Campbell as a one-lap hero after she won the title in Kazan in 2015.
It also means Australia boasts the fastest man and woman in the world after Cameron McEvoy also won the 50m freestyle earlier in the meet.
Meg Harris was part of five world championship-winning relay teams, with this her first individual title. Picture: AFP
'I still don't have the words to process this, but this is a dream,' Harris said.
'I felt really good the first 15m and that's been my weakness so far. I knew if I got that right I just had to hold on.'
Harris said she made the bold call to focus on the 50m after struggling to get back into the grind of swimming life post Paris.
'It was a bit of a tough one. I felt such a high coming off that, and then starting out this year I had to find a new motivation, not just coming in and doing the exact same thing,' she explained.
'I tried for the first couple months, but something just wasn't working. I needed to find a new way to do it. So I stripped everything back and started with the basics, all the things… like the reasons I started swimming. I love sprinting, I love racing.
'So we just took that all back, did everything that I love. I'm excited now to put together the rest when I get home. But yeah, cannot be happier.'
Meg Harris takes off, on her way to a world championships gold medal. Picture: Getty Images
In a post-Olympic year Australia's eight gold medals is perhaps a stronger return than expected for a swim team that was tipped to struggle with Ariarne Titmus taking the year off, Zac Stubblety-Cook out injured and Olympic great Emma McKeon retired.
But it is one more gold medal than the Dolphins secured at the Paris Olympics and importantly there were fresh faces like Harris showing they were ready to stand up as individuals in the path towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Meg Harris reacts after winning the women's 50m freestyle final. Picture: AFP
The emergence of Lani Pallister as a serious threat to Katie Ledecky in the 800m freestyle, the arrival of Alexandria Perkins as a 50m-100m butterfly medallist and the 'dirty gold' Harrison Turner in the 200m butterfly have given Australian optimism about regenerating a swim team that is still powered by greats like Kaylee McKeown, Mollie O'Callaghan, Cameron McEvoy and Kyle Chalmers.
While it wasn't quite the 13 gold medal haul from Fukuoka's 2023 world titles, the signs are promising enough that the Dolphins are keeping the US swim team honest in the medal table battle ahead of their home Games in three years.
Sam Short climbed out of his sick bed just three days after a horrendous bout of gastro for a gallant fourth place in the 1500m freestyle final in 14:43,06.
'I just wanted to get out there and see how hard I could push myself,' he said.
'I was pretty sick three days ago ... fourth I will take that.
'I didn't have to do the 1500 but there was no way I would sit in the stands without giving it a crack.'
Earlier, Isaac Cooper was seventh in the men's 50m backstroke.
Originally published as World Swimming Championships: Shocked Harris wins 50m freestyle world championship
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