2026 Australian Open: Day Two Finals Live Recap

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)

We’ve entered day two of the 2026 Australian Open from the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre with most of the nation’s top-tier athletes racing as a tune-up opportunity ahead of June’s Trials. That latter meet represents the primary qualification opportunity for Aussies to clinch roster spots for this year’s Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships.

Already through day one we saw impressive performances on both the men’s and women’s sides, including a 400m free season-best by Sam Short and an 800m free season-best by Lani Pallister.

Follow along and refresh often to get the latest and greatest on day two of this short competition.

MEN’S MC 100 FREE – FINAL

GOLD – Rowan Crothers (S10) – 51.18
SILVER – Alexander Tuckfield (S10) – 53.39
BRONZE – Callum Simpson (S8) – 59.36

Rowan Crothers came within half a second of his Australian record of 50.70 tonight to touch more than a second and a half ahead of the field and claim a dominant win. Jack Ireland (S14) touched 2nd in 52.68 but placed 4th overall based on World Para points, with Alexander Tuckfield, the 2021 Paralympic bronze medalist in the 400 free, placing 2nd in 53.39.

Callum Simpson placed 3rd in 59.36 as an S8 swimmer, just over two seconds off his Australian record of 57.15.

WOMEN’S MC 100 FREE – FINAL

GOLD – Chloe Osborn (S7) – 1:12.72
SILVER – Lakeisha Patterson (S9) – 1:03.20
BRONZE – Ikuh Nakahigashi (S15) – 1:02.81

Chloe Osborn took the win in the women’s para 100 free tonight, clocking 1:12.72 to take the win on World Para points. Lakeisha Patterson, who has moved up from S8 to S9, took silver in 1:03.20, just 0.18 seconds off her Australian Record in the S8 category, with visiting Japanese swimmer Ikuh Nakahigashi taking bronze.

Madeleine McTernan was the fastest swimmer in the heat, notching a time of 1:00.37 to finish just 0.13 seconds off her S14 Australian record of 1:00.24 that she set in December.

MEN’S 50 FLY – FINAL

• Australian Record – 22.73, Matt Targett, 2009
• Oceanian Record – 22.73, Matt Targett (AUS), 2009

GOLD – Kyle Chalmers – 22.77
SILVER – Ben Armbruster – 23.46
BRONZE – Isaac Cooper, 23.57

Kyle Chalmers shaved 0.12 seconds off his personal best of 22.89 to come within 0.04 seconds of Matt Targett’s Australian Record of 22.73. Chalmers also takes over top spot in the world rankings for this season, 0.01 seconds ahead of Maxime Grousset, moving up from his previous ranking of 4th.

This swim outlines that Chalmers could be a serious threat for the podium at this summer’s Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships. He now owns the fastest personal best of any swimmer who will be at either of those competitions.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE – FINAL

• Australian Record – 3:55.38, Ariarne Titmus, 2023
• Oceanian Record – 3:55.38, Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 2023

GOLD – Lani Pallister – 3:59.36
SILVER – Erika Fairweather (NZL) – 4:02.09
BRONZE – Maria Costa (BRA) – 4:03.41

Pallister roared to her second-fastest swim ever tonight, clocking 3:59.36 to take the win by nearly three seconds ahead of Erika Fairweather. Both swimmers were out under 2:00, but Pallister had the stronger back half to pull away from the New Zealand swimmer.

This is Pallister’s fastest in-season swim, topping the 3:59.72 she swam at Australian Trials last year. Her personal best stands at the 3:58.87 she swam for 4th in Singapore last summer, while Fairweather’s best is 3:59.44 from the 2024 World Championships.

This swim for Pallister knocks 1.25 seconds off her season best of 4:00.61, swum last month at the China Open, as she leapfrogs Katie Ledecky for 2nd. Fairweather also lowers her previous season best of 4:02.52.

Maria Costa placed 3rd in a season best time of 4:03.41, with Jenna Forrester in 4th in 4:08.21.

MEN’S 200 FREE – FINAL

• Australian Record – 1:44.06, Ian Thorpe, 2001
• Oceanian Record – 1:44.06, Ian Thorpe (AUS), 2001

GOLD – Lewis Clareburt (NZL) – 1:45.57
SILVER – Edward Sommerville – 1:46.08
BRONZE – Kai Taylor – 1:46.67

Lewis Clareburt followed up his 400 free bronze last night by moving up to the top step of the podium in the 200 free, clocking a new New Zealand record in the process. He lowered his former record of 1:47.03 by 1.46 seconds, and moved up to 9th in the world this year.

That is a big-time swim for the Kiwi swimmer, and sets him up for some potentially huge IM swims this summer. He split a relatively consistent race, swimming 51.44/54.13, including a 26.91 final 50 which saw him overhaul early leader Edward Sommerville.

Sommerville was out in 50.83 to lead at halfway, but split 27.44/27.91 on the back half to fall to 2nd. This was 0.74 seconds off his seasons best of 1:45.34 from November.

Kai Taylor took bronze in 1:46.67, with William Petric 4th in 1:47.21 ahead of the 200 IM, where he is the top seed. Max Giuliani won the ‘B’ final in 1:48.90, having been 1:49.95 this morning.

WOMEN’S 100 FLY – FINAL

• Australian Record – 55.72, Emma McKeon, 2021
• Oceanian Record – 55.72, Emma McKeon (AUS), 2021

GOLD – Alexandria Perkins – 57.21
SILVER – Elizabeth Dekkers – 58.21
BRONZE – Lily Price – 58.70

Following up on her impressive victory last night in the women’s 50m fly, 25-year-old USC Spartan Alexandria Perkins delivered the win in the 100m sprint.

Perkins touched in 57.21 to get to the wall exactly one second ahead of fellow World Championships medalist Elizabeth Dekkers, who snagged silver in 58.21.

Lily Price rounded out the podium this evening in 58.70.

Perkins has been as fast as 56.19 in her career, a time she posted in the semi-finals of the event last year in Singapore. There, she ultimately earned the bronze in a slightly slower mark of 56.33. Her time this evening checks in as the 7th-best on her personal list. She was already 57.36 earlier this season and tonight’s season-best now ranks here 7th in the world.

MEN’S 100 BREAST – FINAL

• Australian Record – 58.58, Brenton Rickard, 2009
• Oceanian Record – 58.58, Brenton Rickard (AUS), 2009

GOLD – Gideon Burnes – 1:00.66
SILVER – Bailey Lello – 1:00.67
BRONZE – Zach Stubblety-Cook – 1:00.86

Nothing too crazy happened in the men’s 100m breaststroke, as no competitor managed to clear the minute barrier.

20-year-old Gideon Burnes was the top performer, hitting 1:00.66 to just out-touch Bailey Lello, last night’s 200m breast victor, who snagged silver in 1:00.67.

200m breast Olympic champion and former World Record holder Zac Stubblety-Cook was relegated to 3rd in 1:00.86.

Of note, Sam Williamson was also in the race, but fell to 4th in a time of 1:00.97. Williamson is still on his comeback tour since having missed last championships season due to a knee injury.

WOMEN’S 100 BACK – FINAL

• Australian Record – 57.16, Kaylee McKeown, 2025
• Oceanian Record – 57.16, Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2025

GOLD – Kaylee McKeown – 58.06
SILVER – Mollie O’Callaghan – 58.98
BRONZE – Hannah Fredericks – 1:00.19

Olympic multi-medalist Kaylee McKeown was too quick to catch in this women’s 100m backstroke, putting up a solid in-season swim of 58.06.

Mollie O’Callaghan, fellow Olympic champion and last night’s 100m free winner, touched almost a second behind in 58.98 while Hannah Fredericks teetered above the minute mark in 1:00.19. MOC’s time is the 8th-best performance of her prolific career.

24-year-old McKeown’s effort represents a season-best, easily overtaking the 59.21 logged last month at the NSW State Open Championships. Tonight she split 28.46/29.60 to get the job done and now rank #2 in the world thus far. Only her American nemesis Regan Smith has been faster.

MEN’S 100 BACK – FINAL

• Australian Record – 52.11, Mitch Larkin, 2015
• Oceanian Record – 52.11, Mitch Larkin (AUS), 2015

GOLD – Mark Nikolaev, 54.69
SILVER – Zachary Dell (NZL), 56.40
BRONZE – Enoch Robb, 55.02

Only one male competitor cleared the 55-second threshold in the 100m back, as Mark Nikolaev doubled up on his 50m back win from last night with the gold in 54.69.

Zachary Dell, visiting from New Zealand, captured silver in 56.40 and Enoch Robb nabbed bronze in 55.02.

The men will have to step things up big time during June’s Trials, as the world’s best right now are in the 52-second and 53-second range.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE – FINAL

• Australian Record – 23.78, Cate Campbell, 2018
• Oceanian Record – 23.78, Cate Campbell (AUS) 2018

GOLD – Shayna Jack, 24.60
SILVER – Olivia Wunsch, 24.84
BRONZE – Mollie O’Callaghan, 24.89

27-year-old Olympic medalist Shayna Jack led the women’s splash n’ dash, ripping a swift 24.60 to top the podium.

Olivia Wunsch, the 19-year-old from Carlile, slid into the silver medal position in 24.84 and MOC, fresh off her 100m back silver, clocked 24.89 for another piece of hardware here.

While Jack’s lifetime best remains as the 23.99 registered at the 2024 Olympic Trials, Wunsch has been speedy as the 24.45 she put up at that same competition. It was also there that MOC posted her PB of 24.49 to continue the nation’s rich history of sprint freestyle.

Jack now ranks 9th in the world; however, the best Aussie at the moment is Meg Harris the Olympic multi-medalist who turned in a time of 24.48 at the Queensland Championships last December to represent the 7th-swiftest on the season worldwide.

MEN’S 200 IM – FINAL

• Australian Record – 1:55.72, Mitch Larkin, 2019
• Oceanian Record -1:55.72, Mitch Larkin (AUS), 2019

GOLD – Lewis Clareburt (NZL), 1:58.42
SILVER – William Petric, 1:59.22
BRONZE – Se-Bom Lee, 2:00.82

Fresh off his newly minted national record en route to gold in the men’s 200m freestyle, the first event of tonight’s finals session, Clareburt delivered a super solid outing of 1:58.42 to capture the 200m IM gold.

He was one of two sub-2:00 performers, with William Petric joining him under the barrier in 1:59.22.

Versatile two-time Olympian Se-Bom Lee bagged the bronze in 2:00.82.

Clareburt is New Zealand’s national record holder in this 2IM, owning a PB of 1:57.06 from when he placed 5th last year in Singapore. His time tonight was not terribly off that mark, giving us an idea of where his fitness is at this time of the year.

As a refresher, Clareburt now trains at Nunawading in Australia. He entered tonight with a season-best of 1:58.31 from February’s Vic Open. Petric, on the other hand, owns a season-best and lifetime best of 1:57.18 from the Queensland Championships and ranks as the 6th-swiftest man on the plant at the moment.

WOMEN’S 200 BREAST – FINAL

• Australian Record – 2:20.54, Leisel Jones, 2006
• Oceanian Record – 2:20.54, Leisel Jones (AUS), 2006

GOLD – Tara Kinder, 2:24.19
SILVER – Sienna Toohey, 2:26.43
BRONZE – Ella Ramsay, 2:26.81

22-year-old Tara Kinder of Melbourne Vicentre came within striking distance of her lifetime best en route to capturing the women’s 200m breast gold.

Kinder got to the wall in 2:24.19 while her PB checks in at the 2:23.84 nabbed just last month.

Kinder was tonight’s decisive victor, as the next swimmer to touch was 17-year-old Sienna Toohey who scored silver over 2 seconds back in 2:26.43. That’s a new PB for the teen, who entered this Aussie Open owning a career-best mark of 2:27.25 from last month.

Ella Ramsay earned the bronze here in 2:26.81.

Splits for Toohey’s new PB included 34.72/37.79/37.71/36.21.

MEN’S 800 FREE – FINAL

• Australian Record – 7:37.76, Sam Short, 2023
• Oceanian Record -7:37.76, Sam Short (AUS), 2023

GOLD – Sam Short, 7:41.04
SILVER – Elijah Winnington, 7:51.74
BRONZE – Tex Cross, 7:57.06

Short was within range of his season-best tonight, hitting 7:41.04 as the winner of the men’s 800m free by 10 seconds.

Entering this competition, the Olympian had been as swift as 7:40.98, a mark from last month’s Pro Swim Series in Westmont which rendered him #1 in the world.

Winnington cleared silver in 7:51.74 and Tex Cross notched 7:57.06 for the bronze medal.