2026 Australian Open: Chalmers And McKeown Take Top Seeds In Day 2 Prelims

2026 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

• Monday, April 6th – Wednesday, April 8th
• Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, Southport, Queensland, Australia
• Prelims M 9am local (7pm ET previous night)/Finals at 6pm local (4am ET)
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview #1
• SwimSwam Preview #2
• Meet Central
• Start List
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results
• Livestream (Aussie only or use VPN)

Kaylee McKeown led the way in the women’s 100 back as the only swimmer to break the 1:00 barrier, clocking a time of 59.36 to take the top seed for tonight’s final by nearly a second as she neared her season best of 59.07. Mollie O’Callaghan 1:00.23 for the second seed out of prelims, off her season best of 58.64.

Kyle Chalmers was the fastest swimmer in the men’s 50 fly by four tenths of a second in 23.24 this morning, off the season-best 23.00 he produced at the China Open two weeks ago. Ben Armbruster (23.65) and Isaac Cooper (23.66) were a hundredth apart in the battle for the second seed, and will flank Chalmers tonight.

William Petric swam the 200 free/200 IM double this morning, placing 4th in the former in 1:47.97 and taking top spot in the latter in 2:01.10. Lewis Clareburt was 2:01.68 for 3rd in the 200 IM after nearing his 400 free New Zealand record on day 1, while the medal-winning pair of Maximilian Giuliani and Flynn Southam both missed the ‘A’ final in the 200 free. Giuliani was 13th in 1:49.95, while Southam missed the finals entirely in 23rd with a time of 1:52.39.

Bailey Lello notched a time of 1:00.92 to lead the men’s 100 breast, while Sam Williamson was 2nd in 1:01.01 as he continues his return from a serious knee injury last spring. Zach Stubblety-Cook was 4th in 1:01.64. 2025 World bronze medalist Alex Perkins took top spot in the women’s 100 fly, swimming 57.97 as the only woman under 59 seconds, with Olivia Wunsch in 2nd in 59.14 before she finished in the same position in the 50 free.

Shayna Jack was the fastest woman in that event, clocking 24.67 to lower her previous season best of 24.71, while Wunsch was 24.78. Perkins and O’Callaghan also qualified for the final in 5th and 6th respectively.

Mark Nikolaev was the only man under 55 seconds in the 100 back in 54.64, leading Bradley Woodward (55.33) and Enoch Robb (55.54). Tara Kinder followed up her strong 400 IM performance last night with a 2:26.11 in the women’s 200 breast to lead the field by more than two seconds. Brendan Smith was the fastest swimmer out of the men’s early 800 free heats in 8:09.81, with Sam Short set to race tonight after a rapid 3:42.53 in the 400 free last night.

Finally, Erika Fairweather (4:06.29) and Lani Pallister (4:07.30) made it safely through to the women’s 400 free final as the top two seeds, setting up a mouthwatering battle between the two sub-4:00 swimmers. Pallister had the edge in last night’s 800 free, clocking 8:11.28 to Fairweather’s 8:26.55, with Brazil’s Maria Fernandes Costa taking 2nd there in 8:23.98 She will be on the other side of Fairweather in the final tonight after swimming 4:08.56 this morning, with Jenna Forrester the only other women under 4:10 in 4:09.26.