Ultimate Guide to Swim GP

It will be fast and it will be furious as the F1’s of Australian swimming put on a show under LED lights in Melbourne on Friday 13 & Sat 14 Nov at MSAC.

Team Kraken, Wahoo, KingTide and Tsunami will race for points – and the inaugural Swim GP winner bragging rights – over two high-energy nights designed for fans-first engagement, maximum excitement and nail-biting finishes.

Built on the back of last year’s successful Australia vs The World, the Swim GP program combines traditional races, staggered-start events, elimination skins, and relays with fan voting, bonus points, and coaches calls all influencing the outcomes.

The four teams feature a mix of the Dolphins biggest stars and rising talent from across the Olympic and Paralympic program.

Each team is comprised of 20 athletes, including two Platinum athletes, who were pre-selected and exempt from the draft, and four Para athletes.

Saturday 14 Nov

• Mixed 100m Form Stroke Multiclass
• 50m Butterfly Elimination Skins
• 200m Mystery Medleys
• Mixed 100m Freestyle Multiclass
• 400m Checkpoint Freestyle
• 50m Freestyle Elimination Skins
• Skins Champions’ Race
• Mixed 4x50m Multiclass Medley Relay
• Mixed 4x50m Mystery Relay Grand Final

Event Explainers

ELIMINATION SKINS

The pressure is on in this back-to-back elimination sprint battle.

Held over 50m in each of the four form strokes – freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke – it’s a fast-finishing fight to stay in.

The slowest to touch the wall in each heat/round is eliminated, until only two athletes remain for the third and final round.

How it works:

• Heats: Eight athletes are split across two heats of four. The two slowest in each heat are eliminated, claim 1 point for last and 2 points for second last. The two fastest from each heat advance to Round 1.
• Round 1: Four athletes race. The slowest is eliminated and claims 5 points. The other three advance.
• Round 2: Three athletes race. The slowest is eliminated and claims 6 points. The final two advance.
• Round 3: The final two athletes race for the win. The winner wins 10 points and second place claims 7 points.

The pressure doesn’t stop at the wall because a two-minute clock is ticking.

The faster you swim, the more time you have to recover, reset and get ready to race again.

The winner of each stroke’s skins will face the other three skins winners on Saturday night in the Skins Champions’ Race. With one lane for each stroke and staggered starts, it’s the ultimate final showdown.

RELAYS + FANS’ CHOICE EVENTS

One lane per team. Time to go all in.

The points on the line for relay events are: 1^st = 10pts, 2^nd = 7pts, 3^rd = 5pts, 4^th = 3pts

Fans Choice: Mixed 4x25m Freestyle Relay

Bring a poncho for this ultimate splash and dash. Fans will vote if a male or female athlete will dive in first for the mixed 4x25m freestyle relay.

Fans Choice: Mixed 4x50m Combine Freestyle Relay

A unique combo of multi-class and able-bod action. Fans will vote on who the two able-bod swimmers (one male, one female) for each team will be in this event. The race order kicks off with a male para swimmer.

Fans Choice: Mixed 4x50m Mystery Relay Grand Final

Versatility is key in this one. With the relay teams already locked in, the fans have the power to choose if they will be racing a freestyle or medley 4x50m relay. The winning vote is revealed as the athletes get ready behind the blocks.

BESPOKE EVENT BREAKDOWNS

Points awarded for individual events, including Champions’ Race, the 25m freestyle sprint and mixed 100m multi-class events, will be: 1^st = 5pts, 2^nd = 3pts, 3^rd = 2pts, 4^th = 1pt

200m Mystery Medley

A 200m individual medley but the order of strokes is decided right then and there at the blocks from a live roulette wheel. Don’t look away as each lane will have a different “medley” order.

400m Checkpoint Freestyle

In the men’s and women’s 400m freestyle, it’s not just about the final touch – every lap counts! The leader at each 100m checkpoint will claim bonus points.

POWER PLAYS

Each team has one Power Play per night in their arsenal. They can activate a Power Play just prior to the event and whoever wins the event claims the double points.

Also to note:

• The TOs will be watching closely with DQ decisions to be made on the spot. Decisions are final – no ability to challenge or review the replay.
• No official results or records can be made at this event as it is not a World Aquatics approved meet.
• Voting for Fans’ Choice events will be held via @swimmingaustralia Instagram stories.
• Form stroke = butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke only.
• Doors open 6pm, racing starts 7:30pm at Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre.

Meet your Swim GP teams!

KingTide – powered by Carlile

• Head Coach: Mel Marshall
• Assistant Coach: Chris Nesbit
• Platinum athlete: Flynn Southam
• Platinum athlete: Lani Pallister
• Lizzy Dekkers
• Olivia Wunsch
• Kai Taylor
• Harrison Turner
• Alex Tuckfield
• Declan Budd
• Keira Stephens
• Victoria Belando Nicholson
• Bailey Lello
• Claudia Fydler
• Hannah Fredericks
• Gideon Burnes
• Isabella Boyd
• Jesse Coleman
• Lukas Dunn
• Maya Zunker
• Mia O’Leary
• Tristen Waugh

Kraken – powered by GOswim

• Head Coach: Craig Jackson
• Assistant Coach: Bobby Jovanovich
• Platinum athlete: Kyle Chalmers*
• Platinum athlete: Mollie O’Callaghan
• Brittany Castelluzzo
• Alex Perkins
• Brendon Smith
• Sam Williamson
• Col Pearse
• Tim Hodge
• Jasmin Fullgrabe
• Madeleine McTernan
• Amelia Weber
• Amelie Smith
• Chloe Rowe-Hagans
• David Schlicht
• Enoch Robb
• Joshua Anderson
• Lilla Ribot-de-Bresac
• Lily Koch
• Mark Nikolaev
• Tex Cross

Wahoo – powered by Rackley

• Head Coach: Damien Jones
• Assistant Coach: Michael Sage
• Platinum athlete: Meg Harris
• Platinum athlete: Sam Short
• Ben Armbruster
• Iona Anderson
• Zac Stubblety-Cook
• Jenna Forrester
• Ella Ramsay
• Ben Hance
• Callum Simpson
• Emily Beecroft
• Jenna Jones
• Charlie Hawke
• Jaimie de Lutiis
• Joshua Collett
• Lily Price
• Mackenzie Burns
• Marcus da Silva
• Sienna Harben
• Stuart Swinburn
• Se-Bom Lee

Tsunami

• Head Coach: Ian Hulme
• Assistant Coach: Jol Finck
• Platinum athlete: Kaylee McKeown
• Platinum athlete: William Petric
• Jamie Jack
• Tara Kinder
• Matt Temple
• Milla Jansen
• Tom Gallagher
• Jasmine Greenwood
• Lakeisha ‘Lucky’ Patterson
• Rowan Crothers
• Alex Quach
• Alyssa Burgess
• Ben Goedemans
• Edward Sommerville
• Hannah Casey*
• Joshua Yong
• Ollie Moclair
• Poppy Stephen
• Sienna Toohey
• Tiana Kritzinger

*Withdrawn from racing due to injury