A massive selection blunder has cost Australia the chance to compete for the mixed 4×50 medley relay gold medal at on day two of the World Swimming Championships.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Australia, who were hot favourites to win the gold medal in the mixed-gender shortcourse event, failed to qualify for the final after a selection gamble backfired.
Australia touched the wall in second place in the first of four heats and looked on track to finish in the top eight, but ended up finishing 10th overall.
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Australia (1:39.41) finished 0.4 seconds behind Canada (1:39.01), in eighth position. The USA were the fastest qualifiers in 1:36.83.
Australia have historically selected weaker swimmers for relay heats, to keep their stars fit and fresh for the final.
Australia’s head coach Rohan Taylor selected Bradley Woodward (backstroke), Grayson Bell (breaststroke), Alex Perkins (butterfly) and Meg Harris (freestyle) for the morning heat swim.
Superstars Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeon and Kyle Chalmers were expected to come in for a final on Wednesday evening, but that required Australia actually making it through.
For the favourites for the gold medal to be bundled out in the heats was a major blunder by Taylor, costing Australia a potential first placed finish in one of their pet events at the short course event.
