Australian Swimming Trials - Day 3 Finals Wrap

THE Dolphins are set for Daddy Day Care at the Singapore World Championships with soon-to-be dads Cam McEvoy (pictured) and Kyle Chalmers going 1-2 – and under qualifying time – in the blue riband 50m freestyle final of the Australia Swimming Trials.

The oldest men in the field at 31 and 26 years of age clocked 21.30secs and 21.68 respectively with Thomas Nowakowski (21.78) and Isaac Cooper (21.83) third and fourth.

Jamie Jack was fifth (21.84) but still has the opportunity to stake his claim for Singapore in the men’s 100m freestyle tomorrow. If selected, he would join an exclusive Dolphins “Siblings Club” alongside sister Shayna.

McEvoy said: “My time was quicker than last year Olympic trials, so I’ll take it. This morning I raced 21.08 and backed off a little bit but then couple years ago, that was like the best I could hope for. So to be in this spot, is pretty special. To have that type of ability under my belt, I think that time was world number one this year, so far. That’ll probably change, but still nice in this moment.”

Chalmers said: “Yeah, it’s extremely satisfying (to swim a PB). I’ve been putting a lot of work into not necessarily the 50m, but my speed work. So this morning, I was a little bit disheartened with how hard I pushed for it.”

“But the 50m is such a weird event, like you try harder, but you actually go slower. This morning I took four more strokes over a 50m which is a lot more than I did in Norway when I did my PB, but you’re just spinning your arms and not holding any water. So tonight, I had to really trust myself and trust what I’ve been doing in training and just try and stay relaxed in an environment that is a little bit foreign for me. I’m not a 50m (freestyle) swimmer so I never really know what’s going to happen.”

In other events:

Women’s 200m Free:
Defending Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan clocked 1:54.43 to touch first ahead of Lani Pallister (1:54.89) – O’Callaghan’s time was the fastest time in the world this year.

Pallister is having a terrific week. After getting under 4:00 for the first time in the 400 free on Monday night, Pallister just put up another career best in the 200 free. Special shout out to Jamie Perkins (1:55.44) who touched third but will most likely play a role in the 4x200m relay.

O’Callaghan said: “Lani gave me a good challenge tonight, which was great. It’s nice to see these other girls stepping up, especially with Arnie not competing this year. It’s really showing the depth.”

“This year’s about having fun for me to be honest … but making the team and having that pressure taken off, it’s just about racing, meeting new people and having fun.

“Yeah it’s my fastest time of the year but even so, I always want to be my best.”

Women’s 50m Breaststroke: 

Teenager Sienna Toohey doubled down on her 100m title by winning the 50m. Toohey, 16, clocked 30.79 – another PB. Another Sienna, Sienna Harben, finished second (30.90) also a career best.

Men’s 200m Butterfly:

Harrison Turner ripped a big PB – his 1:54.90 well under qualifying and his celebration the best of the meet thus far. Not only did Turner easily clear the Australian qualifying time of 1:56.03, but he’s also now the #2 Australian all-time in the event.

Men’s 800m Free Final: 

Sam Short is on fire at this meet. A shock silver in the 200m free, a gold in the 400m and now another gold – a qualifying PB – in the 800m (7:40.95). Benjamin Goedemans, who recently broke the 15-minute mark in the 1500m, was a crowd favourite in finishing second (7:46.16) and becoming the latest Dolphin rookie. Elijah Winnington finished third (7:49.62).

Men’s 50m Backstroke Multi Class:
Paralympic champion Ben Hance (S14) dropped a 26.09 in the 50m backstroke tonight and set a VIRTUS world record – the only world-best time posted so far this meet (VIRTUS Games is an international competition for intellectually impaired athletes, this event is not a para swimming event).

Hance, who was the first to win back-to-back Paralympic golds in the S14 men’s 100m backstroke, scratched the 100 fly and 100 free from his program post Paris to focus on his world-first mission to win four consecutive titles.

“Everything I do from here on is focused on backstroke. For the last four years, I barely trained it. It was always: ‘Let’s do some 200 free, let’s do some 100 fly.’ I even went months without doing a single backstroke set with Ash (Delaney),” said the St Andrews’ swimmer.

“I’m doing all backstroke now, and we’ve made serious progress. I’m even bringing the 200 backstroke back – that’s going to be exciting.”

Breakout: Mate vs Mate

It was mate vs mate in the men’s 150m IM multi class.

Seasoned veterans Ahmed Kelly, 33, and Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson, 36, faced off in a race that they have shared plenty of podiums together, including consecutive Paralympic Games (Tokyo-Paris).

“The numbers are just numbers, to be honest. What really matters is the experience we get to share with each other – the challenges we face at every meet,” said Kelly.

“Having Scoot (Grant) by my side makes it extra special. It just adds a bit of spice – in the best way.”

The four-time Paralympian is excited for another opportunity to perform on the world’s stage with his great mate but hinted that the Singapore world championship is an important ‘checkpoint’ in his career.

“Singapore will be a really good checkpoint. It will show where I’m at physically and mentally, plus what I can do on the world stage … and after that (Singapore) I’ll check in, see how the old body’s holding up, and decide on LA,” said Kelly.

For Scooter Patterson, LA was no question.

“I’ve even got (Brisbane) 2032 pencilled in. A home Games would be pretty special and I want to go all the way,” said the North Queensland local.

“Ahmed and I have been mates for such a long time, and I think it’s because we’re similar in how we go about life. We both fell into swimming, and it’s something we truly love.”