2026 Australian Swimming Trials: Storylines to Watch in Sydney

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

The 2026 Australian Trials kick off on Monday, and this will be our first major look at many of the Australian superstars as they gear up for the Pan Pacific Championships and Commonwealth Games later this summer.

As we get closer to the meet start, SwimSwam has compiled some of the top storylines to watch in Sydney this week.

Pan Pacs and Commonwealth Games Selection

The meet will serve as the sole selection meet for both the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships and the 2026 Commonwealth Games for the Swimming Australia team.

Both teams have the same criteria for selection, though the Commonwealth team will consist of a maximum of forty-two athletes while the Pan Pacs team will be fifty-six athletes deep.

• See Also: Commonwealth Games Selection Criteria
• Pan Pacs Selection Criteria

The top two athletes in each event will be selected to both teams as long as they meet the qualifying times listed in the documents. Just because athletes are selected to the team does not mean they will necessarily compete. Swimming at the Commonwealth Games will run from July 24-29 in Glasgow, Scotland, just over two weeks before Pan Pacs, which will run from August 10-15 in Irvine, California. This means that athletes may choose to swim at only one of the two meets, but we will be attempting to track the rosters as the meet goes on.

Enhanced Games Response

As indicated by the SwimSwam Pulse last month, all eyes will be on the official fastest swimmer in history, Cameron McEvoy.

In March, he broke the 50 freestyle World Record, swimming 20.88 to break the 17-year-old supersuit record set by Cesar Cielo back in 2009.

A few weeks ago, Kristian Gkolomeev swam 20.81 at the Enhanced Games while wearing a supersuit and with the help of performance enhancing drugs.

McEvoy posted his response to his Instagram story, which was two memes, one of which had the text “Seriously?! Thats all you got?”.

He will be racing the event in Sydney next week as he will be looking to respond to Gkolomeev’s swim, potentially lowering his own world record, as he qualifies for this summer’s Commonwealth Games. He announced earlier this year that he would be foregoing Pan Pacs.

Will the Women Continue to Dominate?

The Australian women are some of the strongest in the world and there are a number of storylines to focus on regarding them this summer as they try to maintain their dominance in a number of events.

Lani Pallister is coming off huge year in 2025 that saw her set some huge times with massive drops, including a silver medal in the women’s 800 freestyle race in Singapore. She also had very strong performances in the 200, 400, and 1500 freestyle events. This will be her 3rd meet this calendar year, but she has already had a strong start, swimming 8:11.28 in the 800 free in April.

Kaylee McKeown has been absolutely dominant in the backstroke events for years now. She is used to having American Regan Smith hot on her heels, and their rivalry has been one of the biggest storylines in swimming the last few years as they held absolute control over the top backstroke times in the world.

That is no longer the case, as coming into Australian Trials, McKeown ranks 3rd in the world in both the 100 and 200 backstroke events behind Smith and newly emerging American backstroker Isabelle Stadden, who has recently become the #3 performer in history in the 100 back and the #4 performer in the 200 back.

McKeown will be looking to retake the top spots in both. She will not get a head-to-head opportunity against Stadden this summer, but she will be racing Smith at Pan Pacs.

200 Freestyle Reign

This will be the first Australian Trials since 200 freestyle World Record holder Ariarne Titmus announced her retirement in October.

Mollie O’Callaghan is the former World Record holder in the event, holding the record for about 11 months before Titmus took it in June of 2024 at the Australian Olympic Trials.

Since Titmus’ retirement, O’Callaghan has been on fire, and in late October, she broke the world record twice in the 200 short course freestyle, swimming 1:49.36 at the final stop in Toronto after becoming the first woman under 1:50 with her 1:49.77 in Westmont.

She currently has the fastest time in the world this season with the 1:53.52 she swam at the China Swimming Open, and will be the heavy favorite in the event no matter what meets she targets this summer. The biggest question surrounding O’Callaghan is if she can recreate her short course magic in long course and take back the world record.

Women’s 100 Freestyle World Rankings

The women’s 100 freestyle world rankings have seen some major surprises already this season. American Anna Moesch and Dutch swimmer Marrit Steenbergen became the #2 and #3 performers in history with major drops just days apart from each other.

The #4, #6, #9, #10 performers in history are all Australian including the #9 performer Mollie O’Callaghan.

She will be joined in the event at Australian Trials by Meg Harris and Shayna Jack, who are both coming in with seed times under 53 seconds. All three will be trying to put their names in the conversation with Steenbergen and Moesch, though it is likely that none of the athletes will get the opportunity to directly race each other this summer since Moesch is not on the Pan Pacs team.

Rising Teenage Stars

Sienna Toohey and Henry Allan have been dominating the Australian teenage rankings since both having major breakouts last summer.

Toohey earned a spot on the senior Australian team for the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, racing the breaststroke events where the Aussie women have been recently weak. She ended up finishing 13th in the 50 breast semifinals and 22nd in the 100 breast prelims after she won the 100 breaststroke at the Australian Trials.

So far this year, she has cut a tenth off her best in the 100 breast, swimming 1:06.43 at the Australian Age Championships. This is the 13th ranked time in the world this season, and she will be attempting to move up those rankings as she wins her 2nd Australian Trials in a row.

Allan did not race at last summer’s Trials meet, but he did qualify for the World Junior Championships in Otopeni. There, he picked up 4th place finishes in the 50 back and 100 back.

At the Age Championships in April, he swam 24.51 in the 50 backstroke and 53.45 in the 100 backstroke. His 50 back is currently tied for 9th in the world this year, while his 100 back is 14th. If he swims well this week, he will make his first senior international teams for Australia.

There are a few other young stars to watch, not just for potential senior team qualifications, but as they continue to develop into major players in the coming years: Leny Grigor (200 fly, 200 breast, 200 IM, and 400 IM), Molly Young (200 free, 400 free, 800 free, and 1500 free), Christopher Montana (50 breast, 100 breast, 100 free), and Bryce Krause (50 back, 100 back).

The meet starts Monday, June 8th and will run until Saturday, June 12 at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.