Night 2 Aussie Short Course: Southam 'froths' pressure; Forrester stuns

FLYNN Southam isn’t interested in preserving the status quo, he wants to overthrow it.

Stepping on to the blocks of the men’s 100m free final at the 2026 Australian Short Course Championships in Sydney, Southam wanted to make a statement swim of record proportions.

And while he may have missed the national record he was chasing, the sprinter has comfortably embraced the focus he has received after becoming the first Australian in almost 10 years to dethrone “King” Kyle Chalmers in the 100m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“It’s good to back up after Comm Games and be consistent but it’s been pretty hard to stay motivated and I’m pretty stoked with that time, to be honest … bring on the World Champs,” Southam said.

“The last time I raced short course was Short Course Worlds in Melbourne four years ago so I’m really looking forward to racing the big dogs.

“Comm Games is a good taste test for me with Matt Richards (Wales) and obviously Kyle. I know David Popovici (Romania) isn’t doing Worlds but Jack Alexy (USA) is someone else on my list who I’m looking forward to racing.

“(After this meet) I’m just gonna go back home, probably go for a fish over the next few days, and, get out in the outdoors.

“But as for expectation – bring on the pressure. Sometimes it does make me nervous, but I love it, and I breathe it. I froth it.”

In the space of two months, Southam has seemingly ended one era and ushered in a new one.

Scratching from the 200m free on the opening day, Southam was banking on the four-lap dash to punch his ticket to the World Short Course Championships in Beijing.

And the Bond swimmer didn’t just punch a ticket – he KO’d it, his 45.61 well under the qualifying time of 46.09.

Only 24 athletes will be selected to compete at the World Short Course Championships in Beijing and selection will be tight given performances at this meet.

In the women’s 100m freestyle, one of Australia’s top sprint freestylers, Olivia Wunsch went under 52 for the first time – her 51.72 under the QT of 52.31.

“It was pretty special to go under 52 for the first time. Doing 52 at World Cups last year was nice, but I think I surprised myself a little bit off the sort of short prep I’ve had into short course, but really enjoyed that,” Wunsch said.

“I had about three weeks off in total … I had my two weeks, and then ended up getting sick, so delayed my return back a little bit but, I actually did a Hyrox during my break … so probably kept my fitness up a little bit.

“But it’s been nice to just get back in the water, swim a little bit less, and just focus on getting my speed and just enjoying getting back into it.”

With Alex Perkins scratching from the final, Lani Pallister claimed silver (53.18).

In other results:

Women’s 400m Individual Medley:

St Peters’ Jenna Forrester cracked the women’s 400m individual medley national record which had stood for 17 years. Forrester’s new Australian-best time of 4:28.39 eclipsed the previous mark of 4:28.72 from 2009 and was was well clear of the qualifying time of 4:32.20 and the rest of the field.

“That was a shock. I came here with no expectations, just to jump in and have a bit of fun,” Forrester said.

“I haven’t done a lot of short course and that hurt doubling up (with the 200m backstroke) but I’ve done a lot of double-ups, especially internationally.

“I’ve always wanted to represent Australia at (World) Short Course, hopefully this year is my year.”

Rockhampton’s Junior Dolphin Amelie Smith placed second – also under the QT (4:30.87) with Kayla Hardy from Cruiz third (4:32.79).

Women’s 200m Backstroke:
Western Australia’s Iona Anderson led the charge in the 200m backstroke final which saw all top three finishers go under qualifying time (2:04.62). Stoked to be back racing, Anderson held off the Commonwealth Games champion Jenna Forrester to claim her second title of the meet in 2:03 and firm-up her chance for selection.

Fast-finishing Forrester (2:04.17) was the only swimmer to clock the final lap under 15-seconds. Her 14.79 saw her move past Highlander’s Alyssa Burgess to snatch second. Burgess, who trains with Anderson in WA, went 2:04.41.

Men’s 50m Freestyle Multiclass:
Rowan Crothers and Alex Tuckfield’s standard of fast racing and close finishes continued as the S10 athletes pushed each other to the wall. Marion’s Crothers equalled his national record time of 23.04 from 2020 as the Sydney local Tuckfield (Aquablitz Toongabbie) touched in 23.52. Next gen para-athlete Hamish Keenan (S9 – Propulsion) placed third overall.

On the opening night, Crothers and Tuckfield went under the S10 200m freestyle short course world record but it was Crothers who launched his 196-centimetre frame to stop the clock in 1:49.93.

Tuckfield tonight reflected on the feeling of going under the world record (1:50.79) but finishing second behind one of your great mates.

“I’m blessed to be Australian and to have the chance to race the best in the world over and over again at these meets … watch this space because we’ll be sharing a podium in LA,” Tuckfield said.

Crothers in response: “Every day Tuckers gets faster and closer and it’s bloody exciting to see.”

Men’s 50m Breaststroke:
Josh Collett backed up from his 100m breaststroke national record (56.61) to win the 50m breaststroke in a field that featured the event’s Australian record-holder Grayson Bell, Yong and Bond Uni clubmate Gideon Burnes.

Collett’s winning time of 26.09 was just a seventh of a second shy off Bell’s record (26.02). Burnes (26.11) added a silver to his 100m breaststroke bronze and James McKechnie from Starplex pinched bronze (26.49) from WA’s Yong (26.63). Bell placed fifth overall (26.75).