One of the most mouth-watering events of the Australian swimming trials could see the world record change hands as Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus, record holder Mollie O’Callaghan and a stacked field do battle.
The women’s 200m freestyle will open proceedings on night three in Brisbane, with the top six finishers all likely to make the Australian squad as the 4x200m freestyle relay team – where the Aussies are favourites for gold.
But the solo event is the reward for the top two finishers, with even Titmus not guaranteed of a podium plce given the depth on offer.
Don’t miss all the 4K action this weekend on Kayo including selected NRL, AFL, SSN games and every qualifying session and F1 race. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial today.
McKeown and Giuliani star during night 2 | 01:57
Titmus was fastest in the heats with a 1:55.50 as she and O’Callaghan (1:55.68) already made it under the qualifying time of 1:56.49. O’Callaghan has the record, a 1:52.85 set at the 2023 world championships, the event where she also won gold in the 100m.
“I’m on the team already but I still want to swim fast this week,” Titmus said.
“This week is about building confidence, kind of knowing where I sit in terms of my prep and where I have to tweak to try and get better at a time between now and Paris.
“The pressure’s off a little bit but the 200m is really hotly contested. People want to be part of that relay team and people come out of nowhere to do that.
“People think that it’s probably just going to be Mollie and I out the front but I think the entire field is going to be competitive because it’s a very high chance that’s a gold medal possibility with that relay team.”
Austalia only won bronze in the 4x200m relay in Tokyo, but the team of Titmus, O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack and Brianna Throssell set the world record of 7:37.50 at last year’s world championships, going almost three seconds faster than China’s gold medal time at the Games.
Jack, Throssell and heats swimmer Lani Pallister are all in tonight’s final, along with 19-year-old Jamie Perkins (1:56.75, good for fourth in the heats), Olympic relay bronze medallist Meg Harris, and Brittany Castelluzzo. Kaylee McKeown was 11th in the heats.
Aussie stars shine in Olympic Qualifying | 02:29
Elsewhere on Wednesday night, the men’s 50m freestyle sees Cameron McEvoy attempting to become the first Aussie man to swim at four Olympics.
The 30-year-old reigning world champion was well under the 21.88 qualifying time in the heats, and will be a clear gold medal contender assuming he makes it through the splash and dash final.
Ben Armbruster and Isaac Cooper were just outside the qualifying time in the heats with Kyle Chalmers fifth-fastest.
Matthew Temple will need to find a second and a half in the men’s 200m butterfly final to qualify for Paris, after going fastest ahead of Bowen Gough in the heats.
In the men’s 800m freestyle, 2023 worlds silver medallist Sam Short and 2024 worlds silver medallists Elijah Winnington are the clear favourites.
NIGHT 3 EVENT SCHEDULE (All times AEST and estimated)
7:30pm: Women’s 200m Freestyle (Ariane Titmus, Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Brianna Throssell, Lani Pallister)
8:11pm: Men’s 800m Freestyle (Sam Short, Elijah Winnington)
8:42pm: Men’s 50m Freestyle (Cameron McEvoy, Kyle Chalmers, Isaac Cooper)
9pm: Men’s 200m Butterfly (Matthew Temple, Bowen Gough)
Ariarne Titmus v the World Record | 00:59
AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC SWIM TRIALS
To qualify for the Olympic team, a swimmer must finish in the top two of the A final of their event, and meet Swimming Australia’s qualifying time.
A swimmer only needs to qualify in one event to make the team, and can then attempt other events as well.
The meet is being held at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre and can be watched on Nine and 9Now, with the finals from 7:30pm AEST each night.
The final team will be announced on Saturday night.
Qualification times (men’s / women’s)
50m freestyle: 21.88 / 24.67
100m freestyle: 48.06 / 53.61
200m freestyle: 1:45.97 / 1:56.49
400m freestyle: 3:45.43 / 4:04.98
800m freestyle: 7:45.80 / 8:22.20
1500m freestyle: 14:54.29 / 16:01.95
100m backstroke: 53.21 / 59.62
200m backstroke: 1:57.28 / 2:09.74
100m breaststroke: 59.49 / 1:06.31
200m breaststroke: 2:09.50 / 2:23.91
100m butterfly: 51.17 / 57.17
200m butterfly: 1:54.97 / 2:07.72
200m individual medley: 1:57.23 / 2:10.62
400m individual medley: 4:12.50 / 4:38.53
World record times
50m freestyle: 20.91 / 23.61
100m freestyle: 46.80 / 51.71
200m freestyle: 1:42.00 / 1:52.85 (Mollie O’Callaghan)
400m freestyle: 3:40.07 / 3:55.38 (Ariarne Titmus)
800m freestyle: 7:32.12 / 8:04.79
1500m freestyle: 14:31.02 / 15:20.48
100m backstroke: 51.60 / 57.33 (Kaylee McKeown)
200m backstroke: 1:51.92 / 2:03.14 (Kaylee McKeown)
100m breaststroke: 56.88 / 1:04.13
200m breaststroke: 2:05.48 / 2:17.55
100m butterfly: 49.45 / 55.48
200m butterfly: 1:50.34 / 2:06.12
200m individual medley: 1:54.00 / 2:06.12
400m individual medley: 4:02.50 / 4:24.38
Source Agencies
