Australian Swimming Trials - Final Day Preview

Now or never for Paris Olympians Brendon Smith, Jenna Forrester and Se-Bom Lee to get their passport stamped for the Singapore World Championships.

Paris silver medallist Meg Harris (pictured) dives in for her specialty event – the 50m freestyle – and then Dolphin veterans Matt Temple, Cam McEvoy, Kyle Chalmers and rookie Jesse Coleman hit the water in the 50m fly.

SWIMMERS’ SIX PACK

Meg Harris | Rackley | Women’s 50m Freestyle

Paris silver medallist Meg Harris held off fellow Dolphins Alex Perkins, Mollie O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack to win the national title in front of a home crowd just last month and she’ll face them again today in a final bid to secure her seat to Singapore.

Jenna Forrester | St Peters Western | Women’s 400m IM

Jenna Forrester is ranked number three on the Australian all-time list for the 400m IM behind Australian record holder Kaylee McKeown and 2008 Olympic champion Stephanie Rice. Forrester has eight laps to earn the chance to repeat her 2023 world championship heroics where she won bronze.

Olivia Wunsch | Carlile | Women’s 50m freestyle

Carlile’s Olivia Wunsch (53.38) is already Singapore bound when she went 1-2 with Mollie O’Callaghan (52.87) in the 100m freestyle last night and is expected to carry her speed into today’s sprint event. The 19-year-old clocked three PBs in the three events at last year’s Olympic Trials, including in the star-studded women’s 100m freestyle and helped the women’s 4x100m relay to Olympic gold.

Maddy Gough | North Coast | Women’s 1500m Freestyle

Maddy Gough is forever a part of history when she raced against Katie Ledecky in the first ever women’s 1500m freestyle event at the Olympics in Tokyo. Hailing from Coffs Harbour, Gough is the Australian female record holder in the event, her time of 15:46.13 still standing from the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials in Adelaide. Having recently moved to WA to train alongside open water Dolphin Kyle Lee at the Ian Mills-coached North Coast Swim Club, this could be Maddy’s moment. Lani Pallister, who has been on fire this meet, breaking Ariarne Titmus’ 800m national record and going under 4 minutes in the 400, is set to challenge Gough and her record in a bid to her already stacked Singapore program.

Jesse Coleman | Bond | Men’s 50m Butterfly

Jesse Coleman’s pin-dropping moment came on Day 2 in the 100m butterfly when he finished .09 of a second behind Australia’s fastest flier Matt Temple (51.00). The Bond swimmer is looking to add to his Singapore program but will have to break through a wall of some of the biggest names in Australian swimming – McEvoy, Chalmers, Temple and Isaac Cooper. Ben Armbruster is also lining up today in a final bid for Singapore after missing out in the 100m.

Brendon Smith | St Peters Western | Men’s 400m IM

National record holder Brendon Smith is yet to secure his spot for Singapore and has had to wait until the final day of racing for his pet event. Smith won bronze in Tokyo in the 400m IM to mark Australia’s first medal in the gruelling event since Rob Woodhouse  in the 1984 Games. The St Peters’ swimmer boasts the fastest seed time (4:10.18) but hot on his tail is 200m IM qualifiers Will Petric (4:11.78) and David Schlicht (4:20.78).

Final Day Race Times:
Heats start from 11am local time (ACST)
Finals from 7pm local time (ACST)

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