Trials Night 2 Preview: Prepare for a blockbuster

STRAP yourselves in for the second night of finals at the 2026 Australian Swimming Trials.

Questions raised during this morning’s heats session at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre will be answered over 130 minutes of racing tonight including:

• Was an ill Kaylee McKeown just conserving her energy ahead of tonight’s final? McKeown and 20-year-old Iona Anderson both swam under the Commonwealth Games’ qualifying time in the women’s 100m back but it was Anderson touching first in 59.32 ahead of McKeown’s 59.56.
• Sam Short is having a belter. The 22-year-old has stated his intentions to crack the men’s 4x200m relay team and dropped a PB (1:45.52) in heat one of the men’s 200m free. Ed Sommerville qualified second (1:45.88) with Kai Taylor third fastest (1:46.03). But don’t write off Charlie Hawke and Harrison Turner. A place in the men’s 4x200m relay is harder to get than a spot on NASA’s Artemis program.
• Pretty fly for a sprint guy. Will renowned Olympic freestyle king Kyle Chalmers keep the 100m fly on his dance card? Chalmers dropped a PB (51.04) to touch second behind national record holder Matt Temple (50.60). Also in the mix for tonight’s final is Turner (52.25).
• Isaac Cooper has already declared his desire to dominate the fast and furious one-lap backstroke and freestyle, so it remains to be seen where the 100m back fits in his program. Should he keep the 50 and 100 back, 50m free, and relays on his program – he would be swimming up to three times a day in Glasgow. Cooper qualified first in 54.37 ahead of Henry Allan (54.40). Allan, 17, is knocking on the door of a Dolphins debut after missing out last night by 0.06 in the 50m back.

In other races:
Decorated Dolphins Col Pearse, Tim Hodge, Emily Beecroft, Lewis Bishop and Jasmine Greenwood all locked down selection for the Para Pan Pacific Championships in their respective 100m butterfly events.

Unlike their able-bodied counterparts, internationally classified multi-class athletes can qualify in the heats. Pearse, Hodge, Greenwood and Beecroft will head to California via Glasgow as part of the 18-strong para squad announced ​last month for the Commonwealth Games.

Declan Budd, the fastest qualifier for the S14 men’s 200m freestyle, came agonisingly close to adding the 100m fly to his Para Pan Pacs roster but missed the qualifying time by a tenth of a second. He’ll have another shot in tonight’s final as will the S10 100m fly Paris Paralympic bronze medallist Alex Saffy.

In the women’s 50m butterfly, Alex Perkins – equal Oceania and Australian record holder – is looking sharp to double down on Commonwealth Games selection after her qualifying win in the 100m butterfly last night. Hoping to fly alongside Perkins is Rackley’s Lily Price who made her long course Dolphins debut at the 2025 Singapore World Championships.