2025 Australian Swimming Trials – Day 6 Live Prelims

2025 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING TRIALS

• Monday, June 9th – Saturday, June 14th
• SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre, Oaklands Park, South Australia
• Prelims at 11am local (9:30pm ET night before)/Finals at 7:30pm local (6:00am ET) nights 1&2; 7pm local (5:30am ET) nights 3-6
• LCM (50m)
• Swimming Australia World Championships Selection Criteria
• Meet Central
• Start List
• Heat Sheets
• Results
• Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
  • Finals: Day 1 |Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

It may be a chilly and rainy day outside the pool, but the action today in the pool is sure to be scorching. The Women’s 50 free, Men’s and Women’s 400 IM, and Men’s 50 fly are the last events to be held at this meet as the Aussies prepare to finalize their team for the 2025 World Championships in Singapore.

That said, just because it’s the last day doesn’t mean it’s not an exciting day, as numerous Olympic and World Medalists are set to compete, and several of them are still waiting for their ticket onto the plane.

Top seed Meg Harris had a great prelims swim yesterday morning in the 100 free but withdrew from the final in the hunt to win the 50 free, an event in which she earned her first major international medal, claiming silver last summer in Paris. The #2 seed, Shayna Jack, beat her last summer by qualifying first for the Paris Games, but after a disappointing 8th place finish last night in the 100 free, she too is still looking for a nomination to the team. It won’t be an easy task as Olivia Wunsch and Alex Perkins were very strong in the 100 last night, and as ever, Mollie O’Callaghan could be looking for a possible 5th individual event.

Brendon Smith, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist in the 400 IM, and Jenna Forrester, the 2023 Fukuoka Worlds bronze medalist, are down to their last, but arguably best chance to make the team. Smith had a rough 200 free early in the week, and his 200 IM wasn’t up to snuff. Forrester hasn’t been firing on all cylinders, but having run into the strong opposition that is Ella Ramsay and Tara Kinder hasn’t helped either. Those two are seeded ahead of Forrester, so she’ll need to be not only under the QT tonight but also amongst the top two. Smith, too, won’t be sliding in on a shrimp sandwich, as both William Petric and David Schlicht have already qualified for the team, so will be under less pressure.

Newly minted as an Olympic Event, the 50 fly concludes the last prelims session. Top seeds Cam McEvoy and Kyle Chalmers, already named to the team lead the field separated by just .01. Allcomers record holder Ben Armbruster sits 3rd but not only will it be tough to be the top two but none of them are seeded under the qualifying time of 23.05.

Women’s 50 Freestyle – Prelims

• World Record: 23.61 – Sarah Sjostrom, SWE (2023)
• Australian Record: 23.87 – Cate Campbell, (2018)
• AllComers Record: 23.87 – Cate Campbell, AUS (2018)
• 2024 Trials Winner: Shayna Jack – 23.99
• SwimAustralia Qualifying Time: 24.72

Top 8 

1. Meg Harris (RACKL) – 24.24
2. Olivia Wunsch (CARL) – 24.80
3. Mollie O’Callaghan (STPET) – 24.90
4. Alexandria Perkins (USCS) – 24.96
5. Shayna Jack (STPET) – 25.01
6. Milla Jansen (BOND) – 25.15
7. Hannah Casey (BOND) – 25.23
8. Abbey Webb (CRUIZ) – 25.25

Meg Harris, the Olympic Silver medalist, shot off the block and led from start to finish. Harris, who claimed that medal in 23.97, had easy speed, never looking like she was over kicking or spinning her arms as she casually cruised to the fall with a time of 24.24. Over the course of the last 25, Harris pulled even further away from the field as she distanced herself from the likes of Mollie O’Callaghan and Hannah Casey, who touched well back in 24.90 and 25.23.

The second heat was a slower but closer affair, with the touch going the way of Shayna Jack. Jack, who beat Harris last summer to win the 50 at Trials, placed 8th in the final in Paris in a time of 24.39. This morning, she held off Milla Jansen with Jack touching in 25.01 and Jansen .14 back at 25.15. The pair were slower than Harris and O’Callgahan but slot into the 3rd and 4th spots on the leaderboard.

The last heat saw two of the more on-form swimmers on the women’s side as Olivia Wunsch and Alexandria Perkins took to the blocks. Not much separated the pair at the start, and through the middle of the pool, it looked like Perkins, who won the 50 and 100 fly earlier in the week, might just be gaining the momentum to touch first, but Wunsch, the 2023 World Junior Champ and last night’s runner-up in the 100 free used as  strong finish to take the win in 24.80. Perkins wasn’t that far back, joining her under 25, stopping the clock in 24.96.

Men’s 400 I.M. – Prelims

• World Record: 4:02.50 – Leon Marchand, FRA (2023)
• Australian Record: 4:09.29 – Brendon Smith, (2021)
• AllComers Record: 4:06.22 – Michael Phelps, USA (2007)
• 2024 Trials Winner: Brendon Smith – 4:10.18
• SwimAustralia Qualifying Time: 4:17.48

Top 8

1. William Petric (STPET) – 4:18.17
2. Brendon Smith (STPET) – 4:20.96
3. See-Bom Lee (SOSC) – 4:21.94
4. David Schlicht (MLC) – 4:21.97
5. Samuel Higgs (WASC) – 4:22.34
6. Karl Albertyn (MIAMI) – 4:23.24
7. Noah Kamprd (BOND) – 4:25.06
8. Thomas Hauck (ALLSA) – 4:25.20

The first heat of the 400 IM was a cat-and-mouse affair for the top two seeds, Brendon Smith and See-Bom Lee. The pair who were teammates in this event in Tokyo have not yet qualified for the team to Singapore. Smith opened up the race quickly in 57.21, and he continued that at 200, flipping in 2:03.08. Lee, who swam the 200 back in Paris, slipped ever more back over the 2nd 100, going from exactly one second back to trailing by 1.38.

However, Lee started to close ground on Smith as soon as the backstroke finished and was joined by lane 3’s Samuel Higgs in encroaching upon Smith. Lee closed .7 of a second on the first 50, while Higgs’ 36.87 was close 1.5 faster than Smith. By the time the trio got to the 300 wall, Lee and Smith were dead even at 3:20.89, while Higgs was .23 back.

The 100 free saw the games as the Smith slowly pulled ahead of the pair, then went to his legs to build a large lead on the last 50 to only shut it down and essentially glide into the finish. He stopped the clock at 4:20.96 to Lee’s at 4:21.94, with Higgs not being able to match Smith’s and Lee’s last 50s of 28.81 and 29.46, closing in 30.18 to hit the wall in 4:22.34.

The second of just two circle-seeded heats, heat 2 was a little different of an affair as William Petric let David Schlicht take the first 100 out and then just reeled him in over the backstroke and never looked back. Schlicht opened in 57.09 to Petric’s 57.32, but over the 100 of backstroke, Petric’s negative split the stroke, going 33.04/32.72 to touch the wall in 2:03.08 at the 200 turn. Schlicht, too, negative split the stroke but was much slower going 34.67/33.72.

Petric was about a second quicker on the breaststroke as well and, by the 300, had a lead of 3.36 seconds and shut it down from there, coming home in 31.48/30.47 to stop the clock in 4:18.17. Schlicht, too, cruised on the last 100, closing in 31.60/30.79 to touch in 4:21.97.

Women’s 400 I.M. – Prelims

• World Record: 4:23.65 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2025)
• Australian Record: 4:28.22 – Kaylee McKeown, (2024)
• AllComers Record: 4:28.22 – Kaylee McKeown, AUS (2024)
• 2024 Trials Winner: Ella Ramsay – 4:36.56
• SwimAustralia Qualifying Time: 4:43.06

Top 8

1. Jenna Forrester (STPET) – 4:44.99
2. Tara Kinder (MVC) – 4:49.49
3. Ella Ramsay (GUSC) – 4:50.14
4. Kayla Hardy (CRUIZ) – 4:50.48
5. Amelie Smith (ROCKC) – 4:53.62
6. Julia Remington (ALLSA) – 4:55.92
7. Lexi Harrison (MNLY) – 4:56.50
8. Dakoda Mathers (NUN) – 4:59.24

Jenna Forrester, like Smith and Lee in the event before, has yet to be named to the team. Forrester opened in 1:04.67 but was trailing top seed Ella Ramsay by 1.63 seconds, with Ramsay opening in a swift 1:03.04. However, from there, it was all Forrester. The 2023 World bronze medalist, who at the same meet made the final of the 200 back, negative split her 100 back by 1.5 seconds, going 34.97/33.47 to quickly pass Ramsay, who was 37.13/37.64 over that same distance.

With a lead now of 4.7, Forrester transitioned into the breaststroke but appeared to slowly bring down her pacing, but so too did Ramsay. The pair, well now out in front, really cruised on the last 100, with Forrester finishing with a freestyle split of 1:08.75, touching with an overall time of 4:44.99. Ramsay was even smoother on the last 100, splitting 1:10.53 to hit the wall in 4:50.14.

The second heat was a tighter affair, as Tara Kinder and Kayla Hardy were never able to put one another away. Hardy led after the 100 fly by .05, 1:04.78 to 1:04.83, and had inched it up to .16 of a second after the backstroke as she hit the halfway point in 2:19.63. Transitioning to the breaststroke, Kinder, who placed 2nd and qualified for Singapore in the 200 breaststroke, took over the lead and was up by .23.

Nearly dead-even Hardy made the change in pace and muscle groups from breaststroke to freestyle a little quicker as she opened the freestyle leg in 34.50, as compared to Kinder’s 35.58, but Kinder turned on the jets, closing in 31.51 to take the win in 4:49.49, ahead of Hardy’s 4:50.48.

Kinder and Ramsay should be much faster tonight, as the pair entered with seed times of 4:37.14 and 4:36.56. So too should Forrester as she also was seeded under 4:40 at 4:38.16.

Men’s 50 Butterfly- Prelims

• World Record: 22.27 – Andriy Govorov, UKR (2018)
• Australian Record: 22.73 – Matt Targett, (2009)
• AllComers Record: 23.05 – Ben Armbruster, AUS (2022)
• 2023 Trials Winner: Cam McEvoy – 23.07
• SwimAustralia Qualifying Time: 23.05

Top 8

1. Kyle Chalmers (MARI) – 23.08
2. Cameron McEvoy (SOMAQ) – 23.37
3. William Yang (SYDU) – 23.38
4. Ben Armbruster (BOND) – 23.46
5. Jesse Coleman (BOND) – 23.67
6. Isaac Cooper (STAND) – 23.68
7. Matthew Temple (MARI) – 23.82
8. Thomas Pattison (SOMAQ) – 23.86

The inclusion of the 50s of stroke to the Olympic cycle certainly made their presence known. The time to qualify into the final was .13 faster than it was in 2023. And while that number is relatively small, Thomas Pattison’s 23.86, good for 8th this morning, would have been two years ago.

The 2023 results also saw just one swimmer under the 23.60 barrier, whereas this morning, there were four swimmers, led by Kyle Chalmers. After having set a PB in the 50 free, Chalmers did so again this morning as he won the 2nd heat in 23.08. While just a cut of .02 from his best, the time secures him lane 4 tonight and puts him that much closer to the SwimAustralia qualifying time of 23.05, a mark that exactly equals Ben Armbruster‘s Allcomers’s record.

Armbruster qualified into tonight’s final as the 4th seed after winning heat 3 in 23.46. He trailed only Chalmers and Cameron McEvoy (who looked good in heat 1, winning it in 23.37 over 100 fly champ Matt Temple’s 23.82) up until the last heat. The equal-slowest entrant, 2024 Olympian William Yang, took to the blocks in heat 9 of 9.

Yang has had a rough meet, no-showing the 50 free prelims and placing on the outside looking in in the 100 free, as he touched in the prelims in 9th. This morning he appeared to be shot out of a cannon as he skimmed over the water to win the heat in 23.38, displacing Armbruster as the #3 seed into tonight’s final. Yang has a PB of 23.23, so the result is not that shocking, but with the week he has been having it must be a confidence boost to make the final with a strong swim.