Five Takeaways From Day 2 At The 2026 Australian Swimming Trials

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:
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

Men’s 200 Free Studded With Sparkling Performances

Sam Short took the headlines in the 200 free, lowering his PB in prelims to 1:45.52 before hacking yet more time off it in the final as he touched 1st in 1:45.16. That is his second win of the meet, and ranks him sixth in the world so far this season. Two PBs from two events so far, three PBs from four swims in total, and some easy-looking speed here make his 800 free one of the marquee events this week.

Behind him, Australia’s 200 free depth may never have looked so good. Kai Taylor backed up his 1:44-point splits from last summer with a half-second drop for 2nd, clocking 1:45.30, while Harrison Turner dropped 1.30 seconds over the course of the day with his 1:45.71 for 3rd.

Ed Sommerville was off his season best of 1:45.34 as he took 4th in 1:45.72, while Charlie Hawke broke 1:46 for the first time with a 1:45.99 for 5th. Will Petric was 1:46.76, but was 1:46.14 earlier this year, and Cameron Bladen (1:46.95, a PB by nearly a second) and Thomas Neill (1:46.79) were also under 1:47.

Just on the other side were 19-year-old Marcus Da Silva, setting a new best of 1:47.07, and Tennessee’s NCAA breakout Koby Bujak-Upton, who dropped 1.65 seconds to clock 1:47.09.

Max Giuliani DNS’d the final after missing the top eight in the morning, and Flynn Southam didn’t swim the heats. Both were key on the 4×200 free relay last year. Neither look like they’ll be a critical miss this summer.

Commonwealth gold should be an expectation. Great Britain and NI’s top swimmers in the event are spread over its four constituent nations. Four 1:45-point splits is tough to beat anyway. The international medal streak, unbroken since 2019, does not appear in jeopardy.

A special mention for Harrison Turner. We highlighted him as one to watch going forward after last summer’s World Championships, where he won bronze in the 200 fly, and that appears to have been a prescient claim. His 200 free was a big PB (albeit he did not swim the final of the event last year), his 100 fly later in the session was a small PB, and his own Australian Record in the 200 fly looks like it could now be in danger tomorrow.

Women’s 100 Breast Has Found Its Star

Sienna Toohey seems to have been around for an age now, so it is easy to forget that she is just 17 years old. A world semi-finalist in the 100 breast last summer at 16, she looks like the future for Australian breaststroke, but heaping expectations on her shoulders would be unfair.

Those that she is carrying do not seem to be holding her down. She set a new Australian age group record in the 100 breast – one formerly held by the great Leisel Jones no less – as she stormed to the win in 1:05.97, hacking half a second from her lifetime best.

She became the first Australian woman since Chelsea Hodges in 2021 to break 1:06, and moved up to #3 all-time on the Australian rankings. Last time an Australian woman swam faster than Toohey’s time today, she was 19 months old.

Her opening 50 split of 30.58 was less than two tenths of a second off her PB in that event, and she now gives Australia what they have been lacking since Jones’ retirement. Silverware this summer could cement her rise, and she should bring home some hardware from at least one of her two meets.

Australia’s medley relay is still not one quite the same level as the U.S., but they probably are a consensus second worldwide now. With an ill Kaylee McKeown breaking 58 seconds again despite being ill, Alex Perkins looking strong, and Mollie O’Callaghan and Meg Harris elite freestyle options, they should be a force to reckoned with summer with Toohey on board.

Kyle Chalmers Butterfly Renaissance Is Seriously Impressive

It was just under a decade ago that a fresh-faced Kyle Chalmers, just 18 years old and not even the top 100 freestyler from his nation going into the Rio Olympics, shocked the world with an impeccably-managed swim to claim Olympic gold.

Since then he has collected just about every accolade possible, with a LCM world record the only one to evade him thus far. But those have all come in freestyle, the stroke he made his name in. He dabbled in fly, qualifying for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the 50 and 100, but it wasn’t a serious focus.

Now though? He has set lifetime bests in both events this season, including the 100 fly today, posting swims of 22.77/51.04. The former makes him the #2 Australian ever, and the latter sets him up to be a potential medal threat this summer and is half a second faster than his PB coming into this season. That 51.04 would have won Commonwealth gold four years ago, and is the kind of time which sneaks into world finals.

He skipped the final of the 100 today, perhaps indicating that he will not race the event this summer, but he now has multiple elite events to choose from. Setting lifetime bests in the 50 fly and 100 fly this season, after the numerous shoulder and heart issues he has had, is testament to someone extraordinary.

A note on Matt Temple. He always seems to turn up for Trials, and this year is no exception. Swims of 50.60 and 50.50 are the real deal – he has a chance to win his first major international title at the Commonwealth Games this summer.

Anderson Replicating 2024 Form in Sydney

Since breaking 59 seconds at the 2024 Trials (58.43) and then clocking 58.98 for 5th at the Paris Olympic Games later that summer, Anderson hadn’t broken 59.5 in the 100 back. Her fastest time of the 2024-25 season was 59.81, clocked at the Malmsten Swim Open last April.

A back injury last year hindered her, and she did not swim at this meet in 2025 therefore forgoing any chance to swim at worlds. There were shoots of recovery at the Japan Swim Open in November, where she clocked 27.71 in the 50 back and 59.92 in the 100 back, but her PBs were still out of reach.

Anderson has been electric this week. She lowered her best in the 50 to 27.33, moving to #3 on the Australian all-time list, and followed it up with swims of 59.32 and 58.60 in the 100 back today. The latter was a huge swim – her first sub-59 for nearly two years, and 4th in the world this season – and she will have plenty of opportunities this summer.

The Great Men’s 100 Back Debate

Well, in the end it didn’t turn into much of a debate. Isaac Cooper scratched the 100 back final after qualifying fastest out of the heats in 54.37, and it has now been a few years since he seriously challenged his 2021 PB of 53.43.

In his absence, and perhaps regardless of his absence, Henry Allan justified the hype. He nearly matched his 53.45 PB from the Australian Age Group Championships earlier this year, clocking 53.52 to establish himself as the lead medley relay swimmer for Australia this summer. With a strong 27.31 back half, on par with swimmers in the 52-mid range, he still has room to drop as well.

Will Cooper then be a heats swimmer for the medley relay moving forwards? Will he completely turn away from the event, one he has not been particularly keen on recently, now that he is no longer the go-to finals leadoff for that relay? 

He has been a bit of an enigma at the international level, having a few very good meets (2024 LCM Worlds, 2022 SCM Worlds), and some below-par (2024 Olympics, 2023 LCM Worlds). Perhaps the competition with Allan will spur him on. Cooper showed a lot of promise as a youngster, and is still only 22. There is time for this to be a debate still, but currently only one side is standing at the lectern.