2023 AUSTRALIAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS
- Tuesday, June 13th – Sunday, June 18th
- Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Center
- LCM (50m)
- World Championships Selection Criteria
- Meet Central
- Final Start List
The final start list for the 2023 Australian World Championships Trials has been published so we now know which events key athletes are slated to swim once the action begins on Tuesday, June 13th.
As a refresher, we know that Cate Campbell has bowed out of the meet, as has Jenna Strauch, Minna Atherton, Mitch Larkin and Zac Incerti, among a few others.
Additionally, although multi-Olympic medalist Bronte Campbell is racing at these Trials, she has said she will be forgoing competing at this summer’s World Championships should she qualify.
Jack Cartwright was originally missing from the draft start list but has since been included.
And there’s the unexpected entrant of 36-year-old Olympic medalist Andrew Lauterstein.
Below I’ve listed individual events for the high-profile stars who are set to race at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Center. While, on the whole, there weren’t any eye-popping surprises, there are a few significant pieces of information we can glean.
Emma McKeon is Not Entered in 200 Free
Australia’s winningest Olympian of all time Emma McKeon has indeed entered her bread-and-butter sprint butterfly and freestyle events but has opted out of the 200m free.
She hasn’t raced the event individually since the 2021 Australian Olympic Trials where she clocked a time of 1:54.74 behind Ariarne Titmus who earned the top spot in 1:53.09. McKeon would up relinquishing her individual 200m free slot for Tokyo but helped her nation earn bronze in the 4x200m free relay with a 1:55.31 split.
With McKeon opting out of the 200m free entirely for these Trials, she is also giving up her spot on that same relay for this summer in Fukuoka. That leaves an additional slot up for grabs with no shortage of firepower waiting to pounce.
Kaylee McKeown Set to Race 200 Free
With the aforementioned absence of McKeon in the 200m free, Kaylee McKeown‘s presence in the individual event at these Trials is even more pronounced.
In addition to racing the 200m IM and all three distances of the backstroke discipline, World Record holder McKeown is vying for a spot on the 4x200m free relay.
21-year-old McKeown produced a lifetime best of 1:56.88 while competing at the non-selection Australian National Championships this past April. Prior to that outing, McKeown owned a career-quickest result of 1:57.76 from 2021.
McKeown will have her work cut out for her in this 200m free, however, with the likes of Titmus, Mollie O’Callaghan, Meg Harris, Lani Pallister, Madi Wilson, Shayna Jack and more all gunning for the coveted spots on the squad.
Kyle Chalmers Taking on 100 Fly
24-year-old Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers continues to make his mark on the 100m fly in addition to the 100m and 200m free events.
This 1fly is nothing new for the Marion man, who owns a lifetime best of 51.37 from the 2020 New South Wales State Open Championships. That outing represents just one of two sub-52-second swims from Chalmers, who also posted a mark of 51.67 at last year’s World Championships Trials.
In Budapest, Chalmers settled for a 22nd place finish with a time there of 52.70 while it was teammate Matt Temple who made the final with a 5th place result of 51.15.
Chalmers raced this 1fly at the aforementioned Australian National Championships where he notched a time of 52.09.
Elijah Winnington Climbing the Entire Freestyle Flight of Stairs
Elijah Winnington may be the reigning world champion in the 400m free but the St. Peters Western star is expanding his horizons at these Trials.
The Dean Boxall-trained 23-year-old is entered in every distance of the freestyle, from the 50m to the 1500m. If his entries hold, Winnington will be racing at least once on each day of the competition, setting up a busy schedule for the Olympian.
Winnington’s domestic competition is heating up in even his primary events, however, as Sam Short wreaked havoc on the 400m and 800m free races at Aussie Nationals. Short currently ranks 1st in the world in the former (3:42.46) and 3rd in the world in the latter (7:42.96) to give Winnington a run for his money next week.
Key Women’s Entries
Bronte Campbell – 50m/100m free
Elizabeth Dekkers – 100m/200m fly
Jenna Forrester – 200m/400m IM, 200m free, 200m back
Maddy Gough – 200m/400m/800m/1500m free
Meg Harris – 100m fly, 5om/100m/200m free
Shayna Jack – 50m/100m/200m free
Emma McKeon – 50m/100m fly, 50m/100m free
Kaylee McKeown – 200m IM, 50m/100m/200m back, 200m free
Leah Neale – 50m/100m/200m/400m free
Mollie O’Callaghan – 50m/100m back, 50m/100m/200m free
Lani Pallister – 100m/200m/400m/800m/1500m free
Olympia Pope – 50m/100m/200m breast
Ella Ramsay – 200m/400m IM, 100m/200m breast, 200m free
Ariarne Titmus – 100m/200m/400m/800m free
Brianna Throssell – 100m/200m fly, 100m/200m free
Madi Wilson – 100m back, 50m/100m/200m free
Key Men’s Entries
Ben Armbruster – 50m/100m fly, 50m free, 50m back
Jack Cartwright – 50m/100m/200m free
Kyle Chalmers – 100m/200m free, 100m fly
Isaac Cooper – 50m free, 50m/100m back
Josh Edwards-Smith – 50m/100m/200m back
Bowen Gough – 50m/100m/200m fly
Mack Horton – 200m/400m/800m free
Andrew Lauterstein – 50m free
Se-Bom Lee – 200m fly, 200m/400m IM
Cameron McEvoy – 50m/100m free, 50m fly
Tommy Neill – 200m/400m/800m free, 200m/400m IM
Sam Short – 200m/400m/800m/1500m free
Cody Simpson – 50m/100m fly, 100m free
Brendon Smith – 200m/400m free, 200m fly, 200m/400m IM
Flynn Southam – 50m/100m/200m free
Zac Stubblety-Cook – 100m/200m breast
Sam Williamson – 50m/100m breast
Elijah Winnington – 50m/100m/200m/400m/800m/1500m free
With our current breaststroke woes, I’m hoping a teenager like Matilda Smith or Ella Ramsay could have a breakthrough performance.
Yes women’s 100/200 free keeps getting cut throat beyond world class. However I’m even more exciting about steady incline of Men’s free stocks.
100 free – Southam, Taylor, Cartwright hopefully will bring in next gen leading into Paris
200 free a Southam, Taylor, Niell, Winnington hopefully all 4 in 1:45 PB form
With King Kyle to lead the way!
Can’t wait!
Shame about Emma in the 200 Free. Even a fairly pedestrian time by her standards would probably be a solid leg on the relay. I guess if she’s focussing on the sprints then maybe she doesn’t want to train for the 200 just for the relay. But her 200 fly earlier in the year was actually really solid suggesting she has the stamina for a great 200 free.
I think Kaylee will make the 200 Free relay. It would take quite a big swim to make the finals team but she’s set a massive PB recently and with a taper could break 1:56. Will be very interested to see what she throws down in the backstrokes as well. Smith is… Read more »
I don’t see Pallister making the 100 relay at all. I’m being blunt but I just don’t see it. Titmus could very well be 5th or 6th if she drops a PB. I see MOC/Jack/McKeon/Harris as the clear top 4 as of right now, with Wilson 5th and 6th wide open for the taking – Titmus would be my best guess but Throssell under her first year with Dean could see some freestyle improvements, OR someone like Jansen or Wunsch could seize the opportunity.
I don’t see it either. I guess I was just wondering why she’d entered given how much swimming volume she has that week. Yeah good predictions for the qualifiers I think.
Another drawback of Chalmers getting the second 1fly spot is Temple will need to swim the medley relay prelims.
All of Winnington’s main events are on days 1-3 so maybe he’s just filling the final three days so he has something to race.
Day 1 – 400 FR
Day 2 – 200 FR
Day 3 – 800 FR
Day 4 – 100 FR
Day 5 – 1500 FR
Day 6 – 50 FR
I want to see Winnington target the 800 individually instead of the 200.
The 100 free is Titmus’ final event so it doesn’t cost her anything to race it and even Pallister has no competition in the 1500 on the final day… Read more »
Pallister – 100free ?? She’ll swim the heats as a “hit-out” but with a 55.70 P; she’s not going to be anywhere near the final and even a 1sec PB isn’t going to get her into the picture. 200 = another matter entirely. Doubt she grabs an individual spot but a place on the peak 4X200 quartet is not out of the question.
Given 4X100 shares the same sessions as 4X100; I’m not seeing much sense in utilising Titmus on that relay UNLESS she somehow drops a sub53 at Trials and marks herself as a definite for the peak quartet OR illness etc means they need to call on lower seeds. Otherwise, why compromise her 400free by having her swim… Read more »
Watch for Champion in the 100fly
Distinct possibility that he may finish 2nd. QT (51.28) = not out of the question but far from certain. Will get the plane ticket if he does, indeed, finish 2nd as the FINA A mark should be no issue. However, not seeing him progressing any further than semis at best.
Top 6 will be tough for McKeown. I have Titmus, MOC, Jack, Pallister, Wilson, and then the last spot I think will be a battle between Throssell and McKeown. I lean Throssell because Dean Boxall athletes tend to make leaps in the 200 free in their first year with the program (see Melverton last year as one example, Winnington in ‘21 as another). Regardless, I think the relay Final in Fukouka will end up consisting of MOC, Jack, Titmus, and Pallister. I just have a good feeling about Pallister year as she’s swam the best she ever has in-season.
Agree with your top four and I don’t think McKeown even necessarily needs to get top six to get a heat swim.
I would bet that she swim since she signed up for their main categories apart from this one, if she had signed up for the breaststroke I would have thought that they would remove themselves from this, but only adding the 200 free I think that if they would,
Also, I don’t think she will lose anything because he is free that day and if she is able to look good and improve his brand, she can be part of the relay (1.56:20)
What’s the likelihood McKeown swims the 200 free? (I can’t remember if her M.O. is entering a bunch of events and scratching or anything like that.)
Most likely she will look to put down a “marker” in the heats as an “espression of interest” for the 4X200 but not swim the remaining rounds.
In all honesty, unless she swims a sub 1.56, she’s not a major candidate for the finals quartet; but should be around/better than her PB, then she is a viable contingency resource.
which is why I don’t understand Emma not doing the same thing and ‘putting down a marker’. Though I guess it’s just a WC & not an Olympics.
I think she definitely swims the heat but may not swim the final. We all know Aus loves to do a “full swap” for the 200 free relay (even though it ended up being a disaster in Tokyo) so even if she isn’t top 6 they may stick her on the relay heat since she’ll be there anyway and the heat fits perfectly into her schedule. I suspect they’ll want to rest all four finalists since the 200 free individual is the day before and the 100 free semi and 50 back finals are in the same session, meaning none of the finalists are likely to be very fresh.
Kaylee tends to enter a large amount of random events in… Read more »
Haven’t always gone the full swap; more often its two/maybe three, generally with those finishing 1-2 at Trials usually getting the morning off. Tokyo was a case of gross misadventure brought about by hubris on the part of Boxall, and signed off on by Taylor and the other coaches.
Think the degree of changes from heat to final for this relay will hinge on the respective programs of those with individual events, less so the “relay only” but clearly form at the meet will play its part.
AUS does, nowadays, try to minimise their numbers of relay only but thankfully many of those (esp on womens side) can be co-opted for either freestyle relay.
Looking at the “likely… Read more »
Unfortunately I don’t see Neale qualifying for Worlds this year. It’s gotten too deep and she just hasn’t looked great this year. Melverton I’m not so sure either unless she can notch the 400 IM QT and then possibly be considered for prelims – again, she hasn’t looked promising this year too.
Unfortunately I think you’re right. Melverton and Neale were both great last year, especially on their 200 relay splits, but they’ve both looked well off this year. Maybe they’ll have huge taper drops but it wouldn’t surprise me to see both miss the team.
Melverton seemed like she’s getting back on track at nationals but it might be a bit late.
I’m pretty sure the only times the full swap has been done in the women’s freestyle relays in the last 20 years were Australia in the 4*200 at the Olympics – 2008 (gold), 2012 (silver) and 2021 (bronze). The US hasn’t done it and no other nation has the depth to even think about it (in medley relays the US has done it). Even in 2008 it was a gamble – Australia qualified 6th with barely a second to spare over 9th and 10th in the heats, but it worked in the final. Obviously it didn’t work in 2021.
Q: (even though it ended up being a disaster in Tokyo)…..
OK Australia didnt win, but all 4 splits were below 1:55.85, they got the bronze and they broke the WR. That is not a disaster.
They did break the WR. But the leg they left on the heat swim was faster than 3/4 finals splits, and it was a flat start. If MOC had repeated her heat time and replaced Neale then Australia wins gold. Ironically, Neale was the only swimmer on the relay that swam anywhere near her best time, the other 3 were way off (ok Madi wasn’t way off but she wasn’t great either).
It wasn’t JUST the coaching that was the issue, but I would say 3/4 swimming much slower than expected and leaving a great leg off the final, resulting in a bronze that easily should have been a gold is a disaster.
All that’s true- still doesn’t make the Australian performance a disaster. The war in Ukraine is a disaster.
I was using the word disaster in relative terms. If we’re going to say “the holocaust was a disaster” as the reference point then nothing that’s ever happened in the history of sport would be a disaster.
Right, ok, I knew she always popped off some really good swims in IMs but never really swam them at big meets – wasn’t sure if she entered ’em all and then pared down.
So her being in the 2 free is prolly a sign she’ll swim it, nice. Ty!
Does Kaylee have to finish top 6 at trials to be considered for the 800 relay?
I Guess, but she could do It
1. Ariarne titmus
2. O callaghan
3. Jack
4. Wilson
5/6 Throssel, Mckeown, pallister
No
Probably not. She’ll be there anyway, the heat fits her schedule well, and the final is actually pretty poorly scheduled for the likely finalists so they’ll want to rest them as much as possible (Titmus/MOC/Jack individual 200 the day before, MOC/Jack 100 free semi same session, MOC 50 back final same session).
Wouldn’t surprise me if she came 7th/8th and they still use her on the heat anyway.
If they are in the team and have a decent time in that event they can be considered.
Did I miss that Titmus isn’t swimming at this meet? Her name isn’t listed under “Women’s Key Entries.”
She’s in the Women’s Lock Entries
OK I see the article writer has just added her entries. Cool.