With the official postponement of the 2022 FINA World Championships to now take place in July of next year, we’re seeing the first round of what’s sure to be several changes in the plans of athletes and federations as a whole.
It’s been revealed today that multi-Olympic medalist and world record holder Cate Campbell of Australia, for instance, will not be aiming for this year’s Commonwealth Games.
“Cate Campbell won’t be swimming [in Birmingham] but primarily we will have a very strong team, that is our plan,” Aussie head coach Rohan Taylor told The ABC of Sport.
29-year-old Campbell has enjoyed a much-awaited break from both hardcore training and competition since taking bronze in the 100m freestyle last summer at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Although in August of 2021 C1 said she was still considering making a run for Paris 2024, which would be her 5th Olympic Games, the freestyle ace is taking the future one day at a time.
Said Taylor of Campbell’s career path, “Obviously I don’t want anyone to finish swimming if they have got the motivation and desire — it’s always that encouragement to really spend time before they [retire].
“Cate and I have had a number of chats … so I am very aware of her strategies.”
Before the official announcement that the World Championships were being delayed, Taylor spearheaded some major changes in the Australian selection process for this year’s big meets. The changes included an April Trials meet for the World Championships with additional Commonwealth Games qualification opportunities in Fukuoka and Mare Nostrum.
You can read more about the specific changes here.
“We remove worlds now and we follow the same process, said Taylor. “It’s disappointing that worlds are not there but at the same time, we are just progressing ahead with that strategy that we had already put in place.”
As for Campbell, she is an 8-time Commonwealth Games medalist, most recently reaping the 50m free and 50m fly individual double on the Gold Coast in 2018.
C1’s absence will be felt in the green and gold’s relays, although the nation has a stable of super quick women who can step in and fill her void in the freestyle and medley relays.
One newer name added into the mix is Shayna Jack, the once-banned relay teammate whose doping suspension ended post-Tokyo. Jack has already competed and put up some notable times to put her in relay contention if not individual event contention for the Commonwealth Games.
Jack’s return is also apt timing in light of world record holder Meg Harris’ broken elbow from a scooter incident. We don’t know Harris’ rehabilitation timeframe but seeing how the injury took place just last month makes an April Trials return seem extremely doubtful.
In her Olympic debut in Tokyo, Harris swam the second leg on the Australian women’s 4×100m free relay. She split 53.09 as part of a gold medal and World Record-setting performance for the relay.
Harris also earned bronze as a prelims swimmer on the Aussie women’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
I’m not concerned about the relays really. Canada is the closest challenger in all 3 but seems to be sufficiently far not to be an immediate threat. In the last 30 years, Australian women have lost 2 Comm Games relays: One in 2002 and one in 1994.
I think this is the perfect time for some of the young guns to get some experience. Assuming Cate, Bronte and Harris are all missing, O’Callaghan could end up in all 3 relay finals along with McKeon. Wilson and Jack should easily round out the 100 free relay for a win, with the closest challenge being Canada who was 3 seconds behind at OGs. The 200 shouldn’t be a contest at all… Read more »
Will she do ISL?
Very doubtful. Regular season starts 7 weeks before Comm Games which she is obviously skipping for a reason. Maybe she could participate just for playoffs/finals if she’s missing competing by the end of October
Whether or not she does ISL will most likely hinge on whether she’s back in serious training by Mar/Apr or not. If she WERE serious about taking a run at Paris, then swimming ISL in the later part of this year would probably be a good move but …. these are, of course, her calls to make.
Harris is back in the pool according to her Instagram, but her arm has some type of cast on it still.
I guess Bronte is probably gonna be out as well. Lots of room for the younger swimmers to make their mark at Comm Games. Harris doesn’t need to be ready for April trials because she can also qualify in June.
Australia should still be able to put together a strong 4×100 FR from McKeon, Wilson, O’Callaghan, Jack and maybe Harris if she’s okay.
A relay pulling from McKeon, Wilson, O’Callaghan, Jack, and Harris is def #1 in the world.
They won’t beat Team Exsussex.
Given the changed selection timing plus the timing of her injury, Harris has a longer timeframe than Sjostrom had although we may be talking more/less severe breaks.
Should she be fit, an AUS first string line-up of McKeon, O’Callaghan, Wilson & Harris should still have an edge on CAN, albeit I suspect not the 3 seconds we saw in Tokyo.
Jack is certainly capable of a sub53 relay split but how/if she can handle the pressure/constant questioning remains open to conjecture ….. many (but not all) in her situation have not done so.
The GBR W4X100 showed considerable promise in Tokyo but the dispersal of that team into ENG/SCO should render this an AUS/CAN match unless one or both… Read more »
If Taylor Ruck returns to form Canada can be dangerous.