Australia has named a strong swimming team for next month’s Commonwealth Games, headlined by world record holders Kaylee McKeown and Cam McEvoy, along with 15 Dolphins debutants, including emerging backstroke star Henry Allan.
On the sixth and final night of Australian trials, selectors unveiled a squad of 60 swimmers — across both able-bodied (42) and para (18) programs — for the Games in Glasgow, which begin on July 24.
McKeown and McEvoy hold longcourse world records – Ariarne Titmus retired last year – while the likes of Mollie O’Callaghan, Kyle Chalmers, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Shayna Jack, Sam Short and Meg Harris are among the household names who will spearhead Australia’s campaign during six days of competition in Scotland after the Games were controversially relocated from Victoria.
As far as trials go, the results were encouraging, although there were only a handful of truly standout performances. There was little jeopardy in results throughout the week, with most favourites getting the job done.
Seasoned campaigners such as McKeown, O’Callaghan, Chalmers, McEvoy and Harris did not produce personal bests in Sydney, but several of those benchmarks are world records. All were content knowing their preparations are geared towards peaking in Glasgow in six weeks.
Dolphins team for Commonwealth Games (July 24 to August 2)
Henry Allan, Iona Anderson, Ben Armbruster, Emily Beecroft, Victoria Belando Nicholson, Hannah Casey, Brittany Castelluzzo, Kyle Chalmers, Jessica Cole, Isaac Cooper, Lizzy Dekkers, Jenna Forrester, Hannah Fredericks, Jasmin Fullgrabe, Matt Galea, Alyssa Gillespie, Ben Goedemans, Jasmine Greenwood, Meg Harris, Kirralee Hayes, Timothy Hodge, Mia Hogan, Jack Ireland, Jamie Jack, Shayna Jack, Jenna Jones, Tara Kinder, Tiana Kritzinger, Se-Bom Lee, Bailey Lello, Beau Matthews, Cam McEvoy, Kaylee McKeown, Madeleine McTernan, Inez Miller, Tommy Neill, Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Lakeisha Patterson, Col Pearse, Alexandria Perkins, William Petric, Ella Ramsay, Alex Saffy, Gemma Sellick, Sam Short, Brendon Smith, Edward Sommerville, Flynn Southam, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Kai Taylor, Matt Temple, Liam Togher, Sienna Toohey, Harrison Turner, Harrison Vig, Molly Walker, Amelia Weber, Sam Williamson, Elijah Winnington.
That was until McEvoy broke the 23-second barrier for the first time in the 50m butterfly on Saturday night — a significant milestone given the event follows his favoured 50m freestyle on the Commonwealth Games program.
Among the established stars, Short (200m, 400m and 800m freestyle), Lani Pallister (200m freestyle), Lizzy Dekkers (200m butterfly) and Jenna Forrester (400m individual medley) all lowered lifetime bests.
But it was 17-year-old breaststroke prodigy Sienna Toohey who delivered one of the moments of the week, staring open-mouthed at the board after slashing 0.46 seconds from her personal best in the 100m breaststroke.
Short was arguably the swimmer of the meet, winning four events and showing the benefits of the demanding training regime designed by coach Damien Jones ahead of his second Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, Pallister was impressive on the women’s side. “To be able to throw down a 15:40 feeling as poor as I do, I’m happy with that,” she said of her 1500m freestyle victory on the final night.
“I wasn’t super stoked with my 400 and 800. I woke up sick a bit yesterday, so today it was coming in and ticking a box. Not being sick is an excuse.”
Freestyle shapes as a major strength for Australia in Glasgow, with a clean sweep of gold medals in that stroke a possibility.
Australia can enter three swimmers per event at the Commonwealth Games, compared with two in finals at the Pan Pacific Championships, for which a team was also named.
Dolphins team for Pan Pacs (August 10-15)
Iona Anderson, Ben Armbruster, Hannah Casey, Brittany Castelluzzo, Isaac Cooper, Jacqueline Davison-McGovern, Lizzy Dekkers, Chelsea Douyere, Jenna Forrester, Hannah Fredericks, Matt Galea, Max Giuliani, Ben Goedemans, Meg Harris, Charlie Hawke, Jamie Jack, Milla Jansen, Moesha Johnson, Tara Kinder, Tiana Kritzinger, Se-Bom Lee, Bailey Lello, Euan Liney, Kaylee McKeown, Inez Miller, Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Alexandria Perkins, William Petric, Ella Ramsay, Sam Short, Nick Sloman, Brendon Smith, Ed Sommerville, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Stuart Swinburn, Kai Taylor, Sienna Toohey, Harrison Turner, Molly Walker, Amelia Weber, Sam Williamson, Elijah Winnington, Olivia Wunsch.
Allan, 17, booked his first Dolphins berth after claiming the men’s 100m backstroke title.
“Commonwealth Games is good in the sense where it’s not a world championship and not an Olympic Games so you don’t have the full depth of the world attacking you,” McEvoy said of the team’s rookies.
“It gives them one under the belt before they come in and do a world champs and then an Olympics in LA. I would probably say it’s the best year to be a rookie in a four-year cycle.”
Meanwhile, Chalmers, McEvoy, Jack, Flynn Southam, Matt Temple and Allan have all opted out of the Pan Pacific Championships, which will be held in Irvine from August 10 to 15.
The Dolphins, featuring both able-bodied and para athletes, will be chasing a record gold-medal haul in Glasgow, with the 28 titles events on the Gold Coast in 2018 firmly within reach. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Australia’s swimmers collected 25 gold medals.
Australia’s prospects have also been boosted by an expanded swimming program. There will be 56 events in Glasgow — 42 able-bodied and 14 para — up from 52 in Birmingham and 50 on the Gold Coast.
Dolphins team for Para Pan Pacs (August 28 to 30)
Montana Atkinson, Jesse Aungles, Emily Beecroft, Victoria Belando Nicholson, Ricky Betar, Lewis Bishop, Stephanie Bruzzese, Declan Budd, Rowan Crothers, Jasmin Fullgrabe, Tom Gallagher, Jasmine Greenwood, Brenden Hall, Benjamin Hance, Kirralee Hayes, Tim Hodge, Jack Ireland, Jenna Jones, Ahmed Kelly, Beau Matthews, Maddie McTernan, Jake Michel, Riley Moore, Chloe Osborn, Lakeisha Patterson, Grant Patterson, Col Pearse, Alex Saffy, Callum Simpson, Darren Sisman, Amelie Springett-Kelly, Keira Stephens, Ruby Storm, Kael Thompson, Liam Togher, Alexander Tuckfield, Harrison Vig.
Another advantage is the absence of Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh, who has elected to bypass the Commonwealth Games and focus on Pan Pacs.
The Australian team will depart on July 11 for a training camp in Germany before arriving in Glasgow on July 21. After the Commonwealth Games, the squad will travel to San Diego for a staging camp ahead of the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine.
“The Commonwealth Games is a great competition for Australia to get a lot of profile and exposure,” said Australian coach Rohan Taylor. “Unfortunately, it’s not a village environment … but any international racing is good.
“Pan Pacs becomes more about simulating our LA experience with the staging camp and the competition itself is really short and sharp.”
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Tom Decent is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
