2022 Australian Trials: Day 5 Finals Live Recap

2022 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

This finals session marks the conclusion of the 2022 Australian Swimming Championships, and the last few roster spots for the 2022 FINA World Championships and Commonwealth Games teams will be decided.

We start off with the women’s 50 free, where Shayna Jack comes in as the top seed from prelims. She swam a time of 24.23, which stands as the third-fastest swim in the world for the 2021-22 season. The second, third, and fourth place finishers in the heats were seperated by just 0.03 seconds, as Meg Harris swam a time of 24.84 while Mollie O’Callaghan and Madi Wilson both went 24.87.

While the men’s 100 back was advertised to be a battle between Australian and Commonwealth record holder Mitch Larkin and 18-year-old phenom Isaac Cooper, it was actually Bradley Woodward and Joshua Edwards-Smith who were the fastest in prelims. It will be interesting to see whether Larkin and Cooper can go near their personal bests and finish top 2 in finals, or if Woodward or Smith will pull off an upset. Similarly, Brianna Throssell and Elizabeth Dekkers were expected go 1-2 in the women’s 200 fly. However, 17-year-old Abbey Connor could potentially disrupt the two of them, as she swam a massive personal best in prelims to qualifying into finals as the second seed while Throssell was first and Dekkers was third.

Samuel Willamson swam the fastest time in prelims by nearly half a second in the men’s 50 breast, and is the favorite to win the event in finals. Matthew Wilson, who had the top entry time headed into the meet, will be missing this final as he scratched the race in prelims.

Olympic Champions Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown are set to take on the women’s 400 free and 200 IM respectively. Titmus was the top qualifier in the 400 free by over two seconds, but was well off her best time of 3:56.69 and her 2021-22 season-best of 4:00.03. However, considering that she scared the world record in the 200 free earlier this meet, there is still hope that she was taking it easy in prelims and will get much faster in finals to close off her meet.

McKeown was also off what she could usually go in the 200 IM, swimming a time of 2:14.15 of prelims. She didn’t even swim the fastest time in the heats, as Jenna Forrester was in front of her by 0.01 of a second with a 2:14.14. However, considering that McKeown has constantly dropped a huge amount of time from prelims to finals this meet, expect her to have a big drop in finals.

Concluding the session will be the fastest heat of the men’s 1500 free. Samuel Short comes in as the only swimmer that has an entry time under 15 minutes, being the top seed with a 14:57.22.

Women’s 50 Free Finals

  • World Record: Sarah Sjostrom – 23.67 (2017)
  • World Junior Record: Cate Campbell – 23.99 (2009)
  • Australian Record: Cate Campbell – 23.78 (2018)
  • Commonwealth Record: Cate Campbell – 23.78 (2018)
  • FINA ‘A’ Cut: 25.04

Top 3:

  1. Shayna Jack – 24.14
  2. Meg Harris – 24.50
  3. Mollie O’Callaghan – 24.52

Shayna Jack took just under a tenth of a second off her prelims time of 24.50 to win this race in 24.14, setting another personal best. She remains the third-fastest performer in this event for the 2021-22 season, just behind Sarah Sjostrom’s 24.06 and Liu Xiang’s 23.97. With her win, Jack becomes the first non-Campbell sister to win this event since 2011.

Making her first individual spot, Meg Harris finished second in 24.50, a 0.01 second improvement from the 24.51 she swam at trials last year to set a new lifetime best. Mollie O’Callaghan was 0.02 seconds short of getting a fifth individual berth at Worlds when she finished third with a time of 24.52, but she still improved significantly from her previous best time of 24.80

Madi Wilson also swam a sub-25 time of 24.91 to finish in fourth.

Men’s 100 Back Finals

  • World Record: Ryan Murphy – 51.85 (2016)
  • World Junior Record: Kilment Kolesnikov – 52.53 (2018)
  • Australian Record: Mitch Larkin – 52.11 (2015)
  • Commonwealth Record: Mitch Larkin – 52.11 (2015)
  • FINA ‘A’ Cut: 54.03

Top 3:

  1. Isaac Cooper – 54.02
  2. Mitch Larkin – 54.30
  3. Joshua Edwards-Smith – 54.59

18-year-old Isaac Cooper qualified for the Worlds team by a hair when he won this race, getting under the FINA ‘A’ cut by 0.01 of a second. He was well off his best time of 53.43, but was still fast enough to lead the field from start to finish in this race, splitting 26.28/27.74. This is his second Australian title of the week, as he broke the national record in the 50 back earlier this meet.

Mitch Larkin, who has long been the staple backstroker for the Australian men, finished in second place. However, his time was slower than the FINA ‘A’ cut, meaning that he will not be able to swim this event at worlds. Thomas Neill, who did not qualify for his primary mid-distance freestyle events earlier this meet, finished sixth in the 100 back and set a best time of 55.67. This is an improvement from the 55.93 he swam in prelims, which was already a massive jump from his pre-meet lifetime best of 56.67

Women’s 200 Fly Finals

  • World Record: Liu Zije – 2:01.81 (2009)
  • World Junior Record: Jiao Liuyang – 2:04.72 (2008)
  • Australian Record: Jessicah Shipper – 2:03.41 (2009)
  • Commonwealth Record: Jessicah Shipper – 2:03.41 (2009)
  • FINA ‘A’ Cut: 2:09.21

Top 3:

  1. Elizabeth Dekkers – 2:07.62
  2. Abbey Connor – 2:08.58
  3. Brianna Throssell – 2:08.71

Brianna Throssell, who was the favorite to win this race, took the lead out early and was first the 100 mark. However, 18-year-old Elizabeth Dekkers had a great back half and ended up winning the event by nearly a second. This race was a moment of redemption for her, as she missed the Olympic team by 0.14 seconds last year.

Another teenager, 17-year-old Abbey Connor, split 33.73 on her last 50 to overtake Throssell on the last lap. She picks up the second qualifying time to make her first senior international team. Connor set once again another best time, dropping 0.46 seconds from her prelims time of 2:09.04. Just from this meet, her best time went from a 2:09.98 to a 2:08.58. Throssell ended up falling to third with a time of 2:08.71.

Brittany Castelluzo finished just outside the top three, placing fourth with a time of 2:08.79. She swam a massive personal best though, improving on her mark of 2:09.55 from all the way back in 2019.

Men’s 50 Breast Finals

  • World Record: Adam Peaty – 29.95 (2017)
  • World Junior Record: Nicolo Martinenghi – 26.97 (2017)
  • Australian Record: Christian Sprenger – 26.74 (2014)
  • Commonwealth Record: Adam Peaty – 29.95 (2017)
  • FINA ‘A’ Cut: 27.33

Top 3:

  1. Samuel Williamson – 27.05
  2. Jake Packard – 27.67
  3. Nash Wilkes – 27.75

After leading the prelims heats by a considerable margin, Samuel Williamson won the 50 breast finals by 0.62 seconds to become the fourth-fastest Australian of all time in the event, behind Christian Sprenger (26.74), James McKechnie (26.78), and Brenton Rickard (26.95).

Veteran Jake Packard improved from his prelims time of 28.00 to take second in 27.67, while Nash Wilkes was slightly behind him in third.

The 50 breast is not a selection event for World Championship and Commonwealth Game qualification, meaning Williamson does not make the team solely from winning this event.

Women’s 400 Free Finals

  • World Record: Katie Ledecky – 3:56.46 (2016)
  • World Junior Record: Katie Ledecky – 3:58.37 (2014)
  • Australian Record: Ariarne Titmus – 3:56.69 (2021)
  • Commonwealth Record: Ariarne Titmus – 3:56.69 (2021)
  • FINA ‘A’ Cut: 4:10.57

Top 3:

  1. Ariarne Titmus – 3:56.40 (WORLD RECORD)
  2. Lani Pallister – 4:02.21
  3. Kiah Melverton – 4:04.49

After becoming the first to beat Katie Ledecky in the 400 free at a major international meet, Ariarne Titmus is now the first swimmer to break one of Katie Ledecky’s world records. She just got under the American’s 5-year mark of 3:56.46 by 0.06  seconds to swim a time of 3:56.40. Titmus, who is better known for her back half, actually opened the race faster than Ledecky: splitting 1:56.99 on her first 200 compared to Ledecky’s 1:57.11. Titmus was actually under world record pace for the majority of the race, and although the line almost escaped her on her final lap, she held out to become the fastest-ever.

Titmus now has three out of the four fastest times ever in the 400 free, and has now been under 3:57 three different time while Ledecky has only been under that mark once.

The rest of this race was impressive as well, as Lani Pallister became the second-fastest Australian of all time when she finished second with a time of 4:02.21, an improvement from her best time of 4:05.42 from 2019. She qualifies for her third individual event after winning the 800 and 1500 free earlier this meet. Kiah Melverton was third in 4:04.49, just a bit off her best time of 4:03.43.

Women’s 200 IM Finals

  • World Record: Katinka Hosszu – 2:06.12 (2015)
  • World Junior Record: Ye Shiwen – 2:07.57 (2012)
  • Australian Record: Stephanie Rice – 2:07.03 (2009)
  • Commonwealth Record: Stephanie Rice – 2:07.03 (2009)
  • FINA ‘A’ Cut: 2:12.98

Top 3:

  1. Kaylee McKeown – 2:09.15
  2. Ella Ramsay – 2:12.12
  3. Abbey Harkin – 2:12.74

Kaylee McKeown had a slight lead over the rest of the field after the butterfly leg, but really pulled ahead on backstroke and breaststroke, splitting 28.42/32.31/37.39/31.03 to win in a time of2:09.15. She was just under a second slower than her personal best time of 2:08.19 set last year.

McKeown’s time is the second-fastest in the world this year, just behind Alex Walsh‘s 2:07.84 from U.S. trials this year.

Just getting under the FINA ‘A’ cut by a few tenths, Ella Ramsay finished in second with a time of 2:12.12 to also qualify for the Worlds team. She had a close battle with third-place finisher Abbey Harkin on the freestyle leg, out-splitting Harkin with a 31.89 compared to her 32.22 on the last name.

Men’s 1500 Free Finals:

  • World Record: Sun Yang – 14:31.02 (2012)
  • World Junior Record: Franko Grigic – 14:46.09 (2019)
  • Australian Record: Grant Hackett – 14:34.56 (2001)
  • Commonwealth Record: Grant Hackett- 14:34.56 (2001)
  • FINA ‘A’ Cut: 15:04.64

Top 3:

  1. Samuel Short – 15:05.55
  2. Alec Mander – 15:15.02
  3. Kieren Pollard – 15:16.30

Samuel Short led from start to finish in the longest event of the night, but had a mishap in the race when he miscounted and briefly stopped at the wall at the 1400-meter mark. He ended up finishing with a time of 15:05.55, missing the FINA ‘A’ cut. Short is already on the team in the 800 free, but his status for Commonwealth Games is up in the air as the men’s 800 free is not swum at that meet.

Alec Mander finished second with a 15:15.02, dropping a significant amount of time from his previous best of 15:40.68. Kieren Pollard had a disappointing third place finish, failing to make worlds team once again after he missed by just 0.01 of a second in the 400 IM yesterday.

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Bobo Gigi
2 years ago

As usual the women in sprint and mid-distance freestyle have been impressive.
McKeown on women’s back and IM and Stubblety-Cook in the men’s 200 breast were great too.
But in the meantime still plenty of events where Australia is a nonfactor for international medals.
Amazing how their women perform so much better than the men overall.

Swimswamswum
Reply to  Bobo Gigi
2 years ago

Ah Bobo with backhanded compliment.

Let’s see what France will do.

Robbos
Reply to  Bobo Gigi
2 years ago

Only 1 country have the depth to cover all strokes, distances & gender, that is the US.
Australia only has a population of 26 Million people, we are very happy to have some many good swimmers, despite not covering all events, no matter what you think Bobo.

ICU
Reply to  Robbos
2 years ago

USA aren’t good at many strokes: W 100, 200, and a lot of the multiple medals swimmers are oldies: Dressel, Ledecky etc…

Swimswamswum
Reply to  Robbos
2 years ago

I bet Bobo would love to trade French swimming for Australian swimming despite “plenty of events where Australia is a nonfactor for international medals”

Bobo Gigi
2 years ago

Big congrats to Ariarne Titmus. She’s clearly the number one in the women’s 200 free/400 free since last year. And it will likely remain like that until 2024.

Kelly Mingo
Reply to  Bobo Gigi
2 years ago

Doubt but we will see

Nono
2 years ago

Sorry I don’t know how to embed images here.

I took photos of the WC CG roster
https://imgur.com/a/qvxDbl7

Last edited 2 years ago by Nono
Bub
2 years ago

First off, huge congrats to Titmus for that record. Second (and my main point), I don’t know if I’m in the minority for this but I don;t appreciate how the record got spoiled by another article before I got to read the recap. Took all the suspense of it away

Swimmerj
Reply to  Bub
2 years ago

You are not in the minority, I was dissappinted too. However, it is the job of SwimSwam to put out the most up to date swimming coverage, and that’s exactly what they did. In situations like this with big meets (and potential world records) on the other side of the world that we’ll be sleeping for, I often leave my browser on the prelims recap page and just head straight to the live results when I wake up and want to check the finals. Or just squint and pick out “live recap.”

Last edited 2 years ago by Swimmerj
Awsi Dooger
Reply to  Bub
2 years ago

Same thing happened to me. I always scroll from the bottom to avoid that type of thing. But I scrolled too rapidly and the world record thread appeared on my screen just above this summary thread.

Yesterday I saw the Preakness result on a site I never imagined anyone would be talking about horse racing.

BTW, the video of Titmus’ record is available on YouTube. The Australian announcers were overconfident during the final 100 and seemed to think she was going to break the record by margin. They kept emphasizing Titmus’ closing speed. Meanwhile if you take it out faster some of that late flurry is compromised. The record looked like it might hold up over the final… Read more »

Robbos
Reply to  Awsi Dooger
2 years ago

The Australian commentator was Grant Hackett & he knows a bit about 400 free swimming & the times required at each 100 to break a WR, a PB or do a certain time.

LBSWIM
Reply to  Robbos
2 years ago

I’m sure Grant knows a lot. But still doesn’t deflate the argument that he didn’t really call the race the best way.

Luap
Reply to  Bub
2 years ago

I open the main Swimswam page and scroll down focusing only on number of comments. See a large number click on that page and then right to results. Works every time

Kelsey
2 years ago

So no Seebohm or McLoughlin at CG even though they’re preselected?

jamesjabc
Reply to  Kelsey
2 years ago

McLoughlin has always said he’s not competing at all this year I believe. Not sure what the deal with Em is.

Troyy
Reply to  jamesjabc
2 years ago

Em is also on a break.

boyohboy
Reply to  Kelsey
2 years ago

only 3 swimmers accepted the pre-selection superstar offer.

Jacob Whittle 46.90 in Paris
2 years ago

It’s been looked over because of the Titmus world record but Isaac Coopers 100 Back was incredibly disappointing. 54.02

jamesjabc
Reply to  Jacob Whittle 46.90 in Paris
2 years ago

It wasn’t overlooked. A lot of us commented on it. It was shocking.

ICU
2 years ago

Aussie Trials: 2 world records which are both olympic events + 2 new stars born in Mollie and Lani

US Trials: 1 world record in a non-olympic event

Is Australia now the dominant swimming nation?

Swimswamswum
Reply to  ICU
2 years ago

Stop spreading toxic

Miss M
2 years ago

I think I got this right.

These are the athletes selected on Comm Games team that are not on the worlds team:

* Armbruster
* Minna Atherton
* Hollie Barratt
* Chelsea Hodges
* Bronte Job
* Emma McKeon
* Taylor McKeown
* Kieran Pollars
* Alexandria Perkins
* Cody Simpson
* Flynn Southam
* Sam Williamson
* Bradley Woodward
* Josh Yong

Leah Neale not on Comm Games team but going to worlds

Pacheco
Reply to  Miss M
2 years ago

Same for Cartwright not on comm games but going to worlds

Miss M
Reply to  Pacheco
2 years ago

Grayson Bell
Jack Cartwright
Kyle Chalmers
Abbey Connor
Isaac Cooper
Lizzy Dekkers
Josh Edwards-Smith
Jenna Forrester
Bowen Gough
Abbey Harkin
Meg Harris
Max Horton
Zac Incerti
Shayna Jack
Moesha Johnson
Mitch Larkin
See Bohm lee
Kaylee McKeown
Kiah Melverton
Leah Neale
Notawoski
Mollie O
Lani Pallister
Ella Ramsay
Samuel Short
Brendan Smith
Jenna Strauch
Zac S-C
Matt temple
Bri Throssell
Madi Wilson
Matt Wilson
Elijah Winnington
William Yang

Miss M
Reply to  Pacheco
2 years ago

I think Cartwright is on the worlds team …

Pacheco
Reply to  Miss M
2 years ago

Yeah that’s what I said it’s very interesting to see especially southam not going to worlds with a 3rd in the 100 and 4th in the 200

Miss M
Reply to  Pacheco
2 years ago

Ah, I’d missed that Cartwright wasn’t on the Comm Games team!

Troyy
Reply to  Pacheco
2 years ago

Maybe two big meets is too many for a kid still in school?

Jess
Reply to  Troyy
2 years ago

Could also be that I’m sure both Neale and Cartwright qualified as relay only swimmers. The additions for the Comm games will be for individual events by virtue of the extra competitor we’re allowed to enter but the selectors may feel the additions will cover the relays just as well.

Editor
Reply to  Pacheco
2 years ago

Agreed from my perspective.

jamesjabc
Reply to  Miss M
2 years ago

How TF is Southam not on the worlds team? What a joke. Unless that’s his choice?

Troyy
Reply to  jamesjabc
2 years ago

Maybe it has something to do with his age and being away from home and school too long.

jamesjabc
Reply to  Troyy
2 years ago

Each event is maybe a week and a half off school? in two different terms. That seems a little ridiculous to be the reason when you train 30-40 hours a week for the sport.

Bertie
Reply to  jamesjabc
2 years ago

They will be away for about 7-8 weeks if they are in both teams I think . It’s long for a kid

Last edited 2 years ago by Bertie
Ailin
Reply to  jamesjabc
2 years ago

If he goes for both teams he’ll essentially miss a whole term. They aren’t coming back from Budapest. Someone mentioned on the live stream that they’re having a camp in Spain during the period between worlds and CGs

Joel
Reply to  jamesjabc
2 years ago

They have to fly in at least 10 days before the meet really for huge time zone changes. Jet lag etc . How do you get a week and a half ?

Swimswamswum
Reply to  Troyy
2 years ago

Kyle Chalmers went to 2015 worlds and 2015 junior worlds at the same age

Unless, this is personal choice by Southam, this is a big mistake.

Competing at 2015 worlds (albeit only in 4×100 prelims) gave Chalmers experience swimming against elites at world stage. It worked wonder for his Rio outing.

Bianca
Reply to  Swimswamswum
2 years ago

World juniors was in Singapore in 2015 so Kyle could come home between meets and he wasn’t in his final year of high school. It was also the year before the Olympics.

Flynn would be away for 7-8 weeks, 2 months before his final exams.

Seems like a no-brainer to only pick one meet you go to this year. Flynn can go to worlds and world juniors next year.

About Yanyan Li

Yanyan Li

Although Yanyan wasn't the greatest competitive swimmer, she learned more about the sport of swimming by being her high school swim team's manager for four years. She eventually ventured into the realm of writing and joined SwimSwam in January 2022, where she hopes to contribute to and learn more about …

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