2026 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING TRIALS
- Monday, June 8 – Saturday, June 13, 2026
- Sydney, Australia
- Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Central
- Commonwealth Selection Criteria
- Pan Pac Selection Criteria
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Stream
- Storylines To Watch
- Live Recaps:
- Day 4 Finals Heat Sheet
It will be another exciting night of racing on Day 4 of the 2026 Australian Swimming Trials with a star-studded cast headlined by Kaylee McKeown, Kyle Chalmers and Lani Pallister competing in arguably their best events.
McKeown, who dropped out of the 200 IM on the opening day due to an illness, will be aiming to complete a sweep of the women’s backstroke events, having won the 50 back (27.13) on Monday and the 100 back (57.77) on Tuesday with a pair of season-best times.
She currently ranks 3rd in the world in the 200 back, having been 2:05.08 in March, with Americans Isabelle Stadden (2:04.37) and Regan Smith (2:04.85) leading the world rankings.
Chalmers will race in the evening for the first time this week in the men’s 100 free, having set a personal best in the 100 fly prelims on Tuesday morning before scratching the final. He comes into the meet ranked 10th in the world this season after clocking 47.70 at the China Open in March.
In this morning’s prelims, Flynn Southam impressed by being the only one under 48 seconds in 47.98.
Pallister, who won the 400 free on the opening night and then followed up by shattering her personal best and tying Summer McIntosh as the fifth-fastest performer of all-time in the 200 free on Wednesday, headlines the women’s 800 free after dropping a stunning time of 8:05.98 en route to winning silver last summer at the World Championships.
Pallister was aggressive en route to her victory in the 400 free, sitting under world record pace through the halfway mark, but she fell off a bit coming home and was disappointed not to hit a personal or even season-best. It will be interesting to watch what type of pacing strategy she employs tonight, especially after seeing Sam Short go out like a rocket and ultimately lower the textile world record last night in the men’s race.
We’ll also see finals in the men’s 200 IM and women’s 200 fly tonight, with William Petric and Elizabeth Dekkers leading the charge.
Dekkers was 3rd in the 200 fly last year at the Aussie Trials, but a scratch from Abbey Connor bumped her onto the World Championship team, where she went on to win the bronze medal in a time of 2:06.12.
In the men’s 200 IM, Petric was the runner-up to David Schlicht at last year’s Trials, and went on to place 12th at the 2025 World Championships, with Schlicht in 16th. This past December, Petric lowered his lifetime best to 1:57.18 at the Queensland Championships, making him the clear favorite here.
WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – FINAL
- World Record: 2:03.14, Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2023
- Commonwealth Record: 2:03.14, Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2023
- Australian Record: 2:03.14, Kaylee McKeown – 2023
- All Comers Record: 2:03.14, Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2023
- SA Qualifying Time: 2:09.09
‘A’ Final
- Kaylee McKeown (USC Spartans), 2:03.98
- Iona Anderson (Highlanders), 2:07.59
- Hannah Fredericks (St. Peters Western), 2:07.99
- Jenna Forrester (St. Peters Western), 2:09.13
- Zoe Ammundsen (Nudgee College), 2:12.85
- Alannah Banks (Melbourne Vicentre), 2:13.30
- Ivy Miller (Griffith), 2:14.00
- Heidi Shumack (SOPAC), 2:14.61
Despite fighting an illness this week, Kaylee McKeown was fearless in the final of the women’s 200 backstroke, kicking off Thursday night’s finals session with a bang as she flipped under world record pace through the halfway mark.
McKeown went out in 1:00.58 at the 100, 15 one-hundredths under her world record pace of 1:00.73 set back in 2023, and then she was still only two-tenths off WR pace the 150 mar in 1:32.08.
Coming home, McKeown said she was in “so much pain” as she slowed a tad, splitting 31.90 to touch in a time of 2:03.98, the eighth-fastest swim of her career and the 12th-fastest performance of all-time.
The 24-year-old said she’d have liked to do a bit better tonight, and when pressed, admitted she can’t wait to go under her lifetime best and world record of 2:03.14, which has been on the books since March 2023.
The swim was a new season-best for McKeown, who improves on her 2:05.08 from March to take over the top spot in the world rankings from American Isabelle Stadden (2:04.37).
McKeown also completes a sweep of the backstroke events here in Sydney, having won the 50 (27.13) and 100 (57.77) earlier in the meet.
The field behind McKeown was also blazing fast, with two other women breaking the 2:08 barrier, both doing so for the first time.
Highlanders’ Iona Anderson, the runner-up in the 100 back, earned another 2nd place finish tonight by evenly splitting her way to a time of 2:07.59, shattering her previous best time of 2:09.22 to become the ninth-fastest Aussie of all-time and slot into 6th in the 2025-26 world rankings.
Close behind her was St. Peters Western’s Hannah Fredericks, who made up nearly four-tenths on Anderson over the last 50 to sneak under 2:08 in a time of 2:07.99, lowering her previous best of 2:08.25 to also crack the top 10 in the world this season in 8th.
2025-2026 LCM Women 200 BACK
MCKEOWN
2:03.98
| 2 | Isabelle Stadden | USA | 2:04.37 | 05/01 |
| 3 | Regan Smith | USA | 2:04.85 | 06/07 |
| 4 | Peng Xuwei | CHN | 2:07.74 | 11/16 |
| 5 | Leah Shackley | USA | 2:07.21 | 12/06 |
| 6 | Iona ANDERSON | AUS | 2:07.59 | 06/11 |
| 7 | Phoebe Bacon | USA | 2:07.62 | 05/22 |
| 8 | Hannah Fredericks | AUS | 2:07.99 | 04/06 |
Both Anderson and Fredericks set their previous best times at the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials. Both comfortably under the SA qualifying time of 2:09.09, Anderson has locked up Commonwealth and Pan Pac qualification, while Fredericks will have a chance depending on roster size.
Jenna Forrester, who’s had an impressive meet thus far, made it four women under 2:10, clocking 2:09.13 to dip under her previous best time of 2:09.74 set back in 2023.
MEN’S 200 IM – FINAL
- World Record: 1:52.69, Leon Marchand (FRA) – 2025
- Commonwealth Record: 1:55.28, Duncan Scott (GBR) – 2021
- Australian Record: 1:55.72, Mitch Larkin – 2019
- All Comers Record: 1:54,98, Michael Phelps (USA) – 2007
- SA Qualifying Time: 1:57.49
‘A’ Final
- William Petric (Nunawading), 1:57.55
- Thomas Neill (Rackley), 1:58.90
- Brendon Smith (St. Peters Western), 1:59.11
- David Schlicht (MLC Aquatic), 1:59.15
- Lukas Dunn (Knox Pymble), 2:01.05
- Samuel Higgs (Nunawading), 2:01.38
- Joshua Kerr (Miami), 2:02.31
- Callum Halloran-Lavelle (Nunawading), 2:03.42
William Petric narrowly missed out on locking in his qualifying spot for the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships in the final of the men’s 200 IM, though he still produced a decent time and won the national title in dominant fashion.
The 21-year-old Nunawading product grabbed the early lead and never relinquished it, clocking 1:57.55 for the third-fastest swim of his career, missing the SA qualifying time of 1:57.49 by six one-hundredths.
Post-race, Petric didn’t seemed fazed about the narrow miss, opting to look as it as extra pressure—which he welcomes—heading into the 400 IM on Saturday. Regardless of the 400 IM, Petric would still have a chance of being named to the team after this swim.
He set a new personal best of 1:57.18 this past December at the Queensland Championships, which ranks him 9th in the world this season.
Rackley’s Thomas Neill secured the runner-up position in a close race with St. Peters Western’s Brendon Smith and MLC Aquatics’ David Schlicht clocking 1:58.90 to hold off Smith (1:59.11), who had the fastest last 50 in the field (28.18), and pull ahead of Schlicht (1:59.15), who sat in 2nd at the final turn but faded on free.
Neill owns a lifetime best of 1:57.41, set in December 2023, while Smith’s 1:58.12 PB was set at the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials. Schlicht established his 1:58.10 personal best at last June’s Trials.
Racing in the ‘B’ final, South Africa’s Matt Sates produced the second-fastest swim of the night, clocking 1:58.33 for his fastest showing since 2023 and moving into 23rd in the world this season. Sates intends on obtaining Australian sporting citizenship in time for the 2028 Olympics.
WOMEN’S 400 FREESTYLE MC – FINAL
Top 3
- Lakeisha Patterson S9 (USC Spartans), 4:36.79 – 866 pts
- Chloe Osborn S7 (Blacktown), 5:19.24 – 761 pts
- Annabelle Moloney S10 (Cotton Tree), 4:57.06 – 703 pts
Lucky Lakeisha Patterson had a very solid performance in tonight’s final of the women’s multi-class 400 freestyle, putting up a time of 4:36.79 to comfortably go under the S9 qualifying time and book her ticket to the Para Pan Pacs.
The 27-year-old was unable to compete at the 2025 Trials due to seizures, and she shared how meaningful it was to be back and swimming well in her post-race interview. Her time was just shy of the 4:36.15 she produced at the Australian Open in April, with her personal best of 4:35.56 having been set back in 2019.
Chloe Osborn, S7, and Victoria Belando Nicholson, S9, also qualified for Para Pan Pacs with their performances. Osborn was 2nd overall with 761 points after clocking 5:19.24, while Belando Nicholson was 4th with 663 points after going 5:02.53.
MEN’S 400 FREESTYLE MC – FINAL
Top 3
- Callum Simpson S8 (Flinders Phoenix), 4:26.53 – 926 pts
- Brendan Hall S9 (USC Spartans), 4:20.33 – 885 pts
- Harrison Vig S9 (University of Queensland), 4:20.61 – 882 pts
WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – FINAL
- World Record: 2:01.81, Liu Zige (CHN) – 2009
- Commonwealth Record: 2:01.99, Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2025
- Australian Record: 2:03.41, Jessicah Schipper – 20009
- All Comers Record: 2:05.20, Elizabeth Dekkers (AUS) – 2024
- SA Qualifying Time: 2:07.95
‘A’ Final
MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL
- World Record: 46.40, Pan Zhanle (CHN) – 2024
- Commonwealth Record: 47.04, Cameron McEvoy (AUS) – 2016
- Australian Record: 47.04, Cameron McEvoy – 2016
- All Comers Record: 47.04, Cameron McEvoy (AUS) – 2016
- SA Qualifying Time: 47.64
‘A’ Final
WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE MC – FINAL
Top 3
MEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE MC – FINAL
Top 3
WOMEN’S 800 FREESTYLE – TIMED FINAL
- World Record: 8:04.12, Katie Ledecky (USA) – 2025
- Commonwealth Record: 8:05.07, Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2025
- Australian Record: 8:05.98, Lani Pallister – 2025
- All Comers Record: 8:10.84, Lani Pallister (AUS) – 2025
- SA Qualifying Time: 8:27.51
Top 8 Overall (AUS)
100 free predictions?
Southam to go 47.5
Chalmers 47.4
chalmers 47.35 / southam 47.44
Giann not knowing that Chloe Osborn cannot swim at comm games in her classification. Please let Ellie Cole interview all swimmers.
Queen Kaylee👑
Sates won the B final and would’ve gotten 2nd overall.
Leny Grigor not at his best in this meet, ah well.
Grigor isn’t open relevant yet, so it’s just a good opportunity to get some exposure before he goes and competes at junior international level.
That’s a new PB for Fredericks in the 200 back, as well?
2:09:13 also PB for Forrester (from what I can see)
3 PBs behind Kaylee, great depth brewing
She did – a significant drop too (0.7).
Yes.
And I think Lukas Dunn also did the same in the next event.
Watching 200 pace Kaylee is like watching Ian Thorpe freestyle. Masterclass
How’s Petric still stuck in the 1:57s with how much his freestyle improved?
will have to see splits
Without looking at the splits it seems like his breaststroke might have regressed which used to be his strength.
Breast was 33.8. Pretty good in the IM
Agree. He has been ripping PBs since Dec 25 in multiple events, and great in season swims.
Hopefully 4IM redemption sub 4:10 coming
Had a decent back half, but if he is going to be competitively internationally and make finals that front half needs a drastic improvement. 25.1 fly / 29.9 bk is what’s letting him down.