Australian Grant Hackett has earned his 6th World Championship team appointment, with the Swimming Australia National Championships and World Championship Trials concluding on Friday in Sydney.
He will be the oldest member of the team as well, by 6 years, that heads north to Kazan, Russian in just over three months for the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, where pool swimming begins on August 2nd.
The Dolphins will have a total of 38 athletes, including 20 men and 18 women. This will be a veteran team, with just three swimmers representing Australia’s Senior National Team internationally for the first time: Hayley Baker, Kurt Herzog, and 16-year old prodigy Kyle Chalmers, who earned at least a swim on Australia’s 400 free relay. Three others will be making their long course debuts: David Morgan, leah Neale, and Daniel Smith.
Hackett, while the most experienced member of the team, won’t be the only veteran: Bronte Barratt, a member of the women’s squad, qualified for her 6th-consecutive long course World Championships squad, and earned her 11th year on the Australian team: just one shy of Hackett.
See the full roster below.
Facts
Team Size – 38 (Male – 20; Female – 18)
Rookies – Hayley Baker, Kyle Chalmers, Kurt Herzog
Long Course Rookies – David Morgan, Leah Neale, Daniel Smith
Oldest Team Members – Grant Hackett (34); Melanie Wright (28)
Youngest Team Members – Kyle Chalmers (16); Brianna Throssell (19)
Most years on an Australian team – Grant Hackett (12); Bronte Barratt (11)
World Championships appearances – Bronte Barratt (6 consecutive); Grant Hackett (6)
| NAME | AGE | CLUB | STATE |
| Matthew Abood | 28 | Sydney University | NSW |
| Jessica Ashwood | 21 | Chandler | QLD |
| Hayley Baker | 19 | Melbourne Vicentre | VIC |
| Bronte Barratt | 26 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Joshua Beaver | 22 | Tigersharks | VIC |
| Bronte Campbell | 20 | Commercial | QLD |
| Cate Campbell | 22 | Commercial | QLD |
| Kyle Chalmers | 16 | Marion | SA |
| Ashley Delaney | 28 | Nunawading | VIC |
| Tommaso D’Orsogna | 24 | Commercial | QLD |
| Brittany Elmslie | 20 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Thomas Fraser-Holmes | 23 | Miami | QLD |
| Madeline Groves | 19 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Grant Hackett | 34 | Miami | QLD |
| Jayden Hadler | 21 | Commercial | QLD |
| Kurt Herzog | 23 | SOPAC | NSW |
| Mack Horton | 18 | Melbourne Vicentre | VIC |
| Grant Irvine | 24 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Mitchell Larkin | 21 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| James Magnussen | 23 | Ravenswood | NSW |
| Cameron McEvoy | 20 | Palm Beach Currumbin | QLD |
| David McKeon | 22 | Chandler | QLD |
| Emma McKeon | 20 | Chandler | QLD |
| Taylor McKeown | 20 | Indooroopilly | QLD |
| Keryn McMaster | 21 | Waterworx | QLD |
| David Morgan | 21 | TSS Aquatics | QLD |
| Leah Neale | 19 | Indooroopilly | QLD |
| Jake Packard | 20 | Indooroopilly | QLD |
| Kylie Palmer | 25 | Indooroopilly | QLD |
| Emily Seebohm | 22 | Brothers | QLD |
| Daniel Smith | 23 | Miami | QLD |
| Christian Sprenger | 29 | Commercial | QLD |
| Brianna Throssell | 19 | Perth City | WA |
| Lorna Tonks | 26 | Brothers | QLD |
| Benjamin Treffers | 23 | Burley Griffin | NSW |
| Tessa Wallace | 21 | Pelican Waters Caloundra | QLD |
| Madison Wilson | 20 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Melanie Wright | 28 | Southport Olympic | QLD |
don’t listen to them grant… your a young spring chicken still in his prime.
Of course the likes of Sprenger and Tonks will get to swim the individual events… How else could they know if they’re on form for the relay if they don’t do well in the individual events… I don’t think they will get selected for Kazan only to do a time trial
Congratulations to those who made the team. It is as you say a veteran team and only 38 of a possible 52 were selected. The strategy that underpins team selection is to select only those swimmers who meet the finals time from 2013 World’s and who in theory will contend for medals. The goal of Australian swimming is to be number 1. I am struggling to see how not providing valuable experience and opportunities at the highest international level to as many swimmers as possible – especially those who win or closely contend for national titles – will help develop the depth needed for Australian swimming to ascend to number 1. If it’s a question of money then spend less… Read more »
In my mind it’s more about proving success with statistical analysis than anything else. With this approach they will certainly show a favorable percentage of semi and final swims, and probably also medals won, per Australian tax dollar spent. As I understand it, Australian Swimming is well-funded due to their tradition of international success; however, the Australian people were disappointed by their swimming team’s performance in London (probably especially BECAUSE it was in London), and an investigation was launched into spending that brought to light a good deal of waste. Now, Swimming Australia is trying to prove itself again. From a budgetary standpoint, each of the athletes making the trip to Kazan is a line of expenditure.
Also, you have… Read more »
Does Sprenger get to swim the 100m at the Champs?
I know he has been selected as “we need two swimmers per form stroke in the relays”, but does that allow him to swim the individual events aswell?
The same question applies to Jayden Hadler & Tomasso D’Osorgna in the 100m Butterfly.
Anyway some great results from the week. Great to see the depth continue to grow, with several swimmers taking that next step up.
My picks of the week were Tessa Wallace in the 200m Breaststroke, Madeline Groves 200m Butterfly, Mack Horton 400m Freestyle, Bronte Campbell 50m Freestyle and the emergence of Madi Wilson in the backstroke events.
28 out of 38 coming from Queensland based clubs as well!
Aussie Coach – while SA didn’t officially release event information yet that we’ve seen, it’s safe to presume that they’re not going to lock the relay invites to just relay swims, if there’s logical individual events open that don’t interfere with the team’s relay duties.
Why not?
Both Sprenger and Packard have swum FINA A standard times.
Plus, it would help them decide who is able to provide the consistent, dependable performance in the medley relay final!