Night 1 Finals: Aussie Short Course- Short lights up

A HEADY mix of caffeine and redemption saw Singapore world championship medallist Sam Short crush the opening night of the 2025 Australian Short Course Championships in Melbourne.

The 22-year-old, seeking compensation for a Singapore campaign which was impacted by illness, clocked 3:36.12 in the men’s 400m freestyle to win by more than seven seconds and announce a clean bill of health.

Short is using the three-day meet to fine tune his preparations ahead of next month’s World Cup Series and the Brisbane-based Rackley Olympian lead from start to finish, IM specialist Will Petric touched second (3:43.65) with Thomas Hauck (3:45.59) third.

“I was so annoyed I got ill over at Worlds and couldn’t really show what I could do so I really wanted to attack this meet and I am so happy with that time,” he said.

“I had a few caffeine gels and in the marshalling area I was just kind of vibing. Short course is a lot of fun but my goal is to really use this meet to set up my world cups.”

Australia’s premier sprint butterflyer, dual Olympian Matt Temple made quick work of defending his 100m butterfly title.

The 26-year-old Australian record holder – who has a personal best of 48.62 – clocked 49.83 with Callum Halloran-Lavelle second (52.83) and noted 200m flyer Lucas Humeniuk third.

Temple credited a few weeks driving from South Australia to Cape York, 4WD driving and catching sharks with the reset he needed ahead of National Short Course and a big 12 months ahead that includes Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships.

“Success at the World Championships gave me a bit of confidence to continue on so now I’m looking forward to coming into training, and training hard. I’ve only done four or five weeks of training, and at this meet I know I have to use 100 per cent of the training  I’ve done,” he said.

“But I feel rested after a great break away and keen to rip in this week but I am not putting pressure on myself.”

 

In other results of Night One finals:

• Molly Walker, 20, won the women’s 400m free (4:06.92) with Sarah Locke second (4:11.44) and Adriana Fydler third (4:14.15). Walker has been in exceptional form, her record-breaking international debut for Australia A at the 2025 TYR Summer Pro Series in Irvine, California setting her up for an outstanding meet here – expect to see her feature again in the 800m.
• Paralympian Jack Ireland won the men’s 200m free multi class ahead of Riley Su and Ming Pang.
• World championship relay gold medallist Brittany Castelluzzo was the only swimmer to break the minute in the 100m IM – her 59.72 out touching Isabella Boyd (1:00.65) and Emma Doherty (1:01.09) but look out for the 200m – that’s the national title the Tea Tree Gully swimmer really wants to “nail”.