The country’s best swimmers are in Melbourne for the Australian swimming trials, ready to produce sharp times after hundreds of hours of brutal training sessions.
With just under 14 months until the Paris Olympics, there is one major world event that Australia’s swimmers care about before they turn their attention completely to the 2024 Games.
The World Swimming Championships take place next month (July 23 to 30) in Fukuoka and will provide great insight into who is likely to pick up gold medals when Paris rolls around a year later.
Spots on the team to Japan are up for grabs this week. There will be top-class swimmers who miss out on selection following six days of competition that starts on Tuesday in Melbourne.
Here are five reasons why you should tune in.
World record watch
There is a reasonable chance a world record will be broken at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Swimming ace Zac Stubblety-Cook.Credit: Getty
This is the meeting swimmers want to be firing at. Everyone has tapered and pulled back their workloads and are ready to unleash on their fellow Australians.
Realistically, there are probably only four events where a world record could be broken.
Zac Stubblety-Cook holds the world record in the men’s 200m breaststroke and is unbeaten in his pet event since he flew under the radar and won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kaylee McKeown in action.Credit: Getty
The 24-year-old posted a time of two minutes, 7.62 seconds at the Sydney Open last month, which was 1.67 seconds outside his world mark. When you factor in that Stubblety-Cook hadn’t tapered, he could be on the cusp of something special in Melbourne ahead of trying to defend his world title in Fukuoka.
The men’s 200m breaststroke final is on Saturday night.
Backstroker Kaylee McKeown is ultra-consistent and knows how to post fast times, no matter where she is in a training block. Her 100m and 200m backstroke world records could be in danger.
The 100m final is on Wednesday night, while the 200m race is on two days later.
Then there’s Ariarne Titmus, the reigning 400m freestyle Olympic champion. Which brings us to our next point…
Titmus warms up for showdown with Canadian rising star
Titmus will arrive at the Paris Olympics – barring a disaster – as one of Australia’s most recognisable and respected athletes, having picked up gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle events in Tokyo.
But Titmus has a new rival in the 400m freestyle. And it’s not American great Katie Ledecky.
Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus.Credit: Getty
Titmus has lost her world record – set at last year’s Australian Swimming Championships – to 16-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh.
The 22-year-old has been quietly going about her business with coach Dean Boxall at a training camp in Cairns. Titmus’ last proper race was at the Commonwealth Games in August.
Beware of the “Terminator”, who will be eager to send a message to McIntosh before the pair square off in Fukuoka in a race that should also feature Ledecky.
The women’s 400m freestyle is on the opening night of competition (Tuesday).
There will be plenty of attention on Cody Simpson this week.Credit: Getty
Chalmers and Simpson go head-to-head again
Last year’s Australian trials generated plenty of headlines when it came to Kyle Chalmers up against pop star turned Olympic hopeful Cody Simpson.
In short, Chalmers said he wasn’t going to compete at the world championships in Budapest but after coming second in the 100m butterfly, then changed his mind. It meant Simpson missed out on going to the world championships but he did qualify for the Australian Commonwealth Games team.
We haven’t seen a lot of Simpson recently after he struggled with illness at the Australian Championships on the Gold Coast in April. Whether he can make the required qualifying time remains to be seen.
However, the one to beat in the 100m butterfly (Sunday) is Matt Temple. He’s been a standout in the event and could win a medal in Fukuoka.
Meanwhile, Chalmers is swimming fast. Don’t be surprised if he pulls out something brilliant in his favoured 100m freestyle event (Friday).
Can McKeon be as good in Paris as she was in Tokyo?
Emma McKeon was nearly untouchable in Tokyo. She bagged four gold medals – including individual glory in the 50m and 100m freestyle – to solidify her standing as Australia’s most decorated Olympian.
She won another six gold medals at the Commonwealth Games before five more at the World Shortcourse Championships in Melbourne late last year.
It will be interesting to see if McKeon, now 29, can match those times and again dominate on the world stage. She has fierce competition, particularly in the 100m freestyle (Saturday), with Mollie O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack in superb form over the past 12 months.
Sam Short could be the real deal
The men’s 400m freestyle final takes place on night one and is intriguing in many ways.
Elijah Winnington, who finished a disappointing seventh at the Tokyo Games, is the reigning world champion after taking out the event in Budapest.
But the name on everyone’s lips is Sam Short, the 19-year-old prodigy who has been regarded as more of a 1500m specialist after going sub 15 minutes en route to Commonwealth Games gold last year.
That was until Short blitzed the field in the 400m freestyle at the Australian Swimming Championships earlier this year. He won the event in a time of 3:42.46 seconds.
Not only did Short beat Grant Hackett’s personal best, but it was the 10th quickest 400m freestyle time in history and just over two seconds outside Ian Thorpe’s 21-year-old Australian record (3:40.08).
Winnington’s personal best is 3:41.22.
2016 Olympic champion Mack Horton will also challenge for a spot on the team but with only two positions up for grabs, he’ll find it difficult to make the team.
The Australian swimming trials will be shown on 9Now, from Tuesday to Sunday, while the 2023 World Championships will be available exclusive, live, and free on the 9Network and 9Now from July 23 to 30.
