2025 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING TRIALS
- Monday, June 9th – Saturday, June 14th
- SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre, Oaklands Park, South Australia
- Prelims at 11am local (9:30pm ET night before)/Finals at 7:30pm local (6:00am ET) nights 1&2; 7pm local (5:30am ET) nights 3-6
- LCM (50m)
- Swimming Australia World Championships Selection Criteria
- Meet Central
- Livestream (VPN needed outside of Australia)
- Start List
- Heat Sheets
- Results
- Recaps
The final race of the final session of Australian Trials did not disappoint, as Lani Pallister signed off an excellent week with a huge best time in the 1500 freestyle. She knocked nearly 10 seconds off her previous time of 15:48.96, which won her bronze at the 2022 World Championships, and is now only a quarter of a second behind Lotte Friis for the second fastest performer all-time.
She jumps from #17 to #3 in the all-time rankings, and this swim ranks just outside of the top 25 ever, coming in at #26. Lotte Friis‘s 15:38.88 from 2013 is the only performance not by Katie Ledecky to be in the top 25.
She shattered the previous National Record of 15:46.13 that Maddy Gough put on the books at Olympic Trials in 2021, and also dipped under New Zealander Lauren Boyle‘s Commonwealth record of 15:40.14. That marks her second National Record after the week after she broke Ariarne Titmus‘s mark in the 800 freestyle, where she also now ranks #3 all-time.
All-Time Performers, Women’s 1500 Free
- Katie Ledecky, USA (2018) — 15:20.48
- Lotte Friis, DEN (2013)— 15:38.88
- Lani Pallister, AUS (2025) — 15:39.14
- Lauren Boyle, NZL (2015) — 15:40.14
- Anastasia Kirpichnikova, FRA, (2024) — 15:40.35
Pallister is now a five-time Australian Record Holder, adding this event to the long course 800 free and the short course 400/800/1500. She has a clean sweep of Commonwealth records in the 1500, after setting the short course mark of 15:21.43 en route to winning gold at the 2022 short course World Championships in Melbourne.
In today’s final Pallister absolutely blitzed the second half compared to her 2022 swim, coming back over eight seconds faster in the second 750m (7:51.87 to 8:00.24). She kept every 50m split other than the 1250m-1300m under 32 seconds here.
Split Comparison By 100m
| 2025 Australian Trials | Distance | 2022 World Championships |
| 59.54 | 100 | 59.46 |
| 2:01.98 (1:02.44) | 200 | 2:02.11 (1:02.65) |
| 3:04.69 (1:02.71) | 300 | 3:05.19 (1:03.08) |
| 4:07.40 (1:02.71) | 400 | 4:08.27 (1:03.08) |
| 5:10.26 (1:02.86) | 500 | 5:11.24 (1:02.97) |
| 6:13.10 (1:02.84) | 600 | 6:14.20 (1:02.96) |
| 7:16.03 (1:02.93) | 700 | 7:17.23 (1:03.03) |
| 8:18.92 (1:02.89) | 800 | 8:20.46 (1:03.23) |
| 9:21.72 (1:02.80) | 900 | 9:24.14 (1:03.68) |
| 10:24.66 (1:02.94) | 1000 | 10:27.94 (1:03.80) |
| 11:27.74 (1:03.08) | 1100 | 11:31.93 (1:03.99) |
| 12:31.04 (1:03.30) | 1200 | 12:36.26 (1:04.33) |
| 13:34.68 (1:03.64) | 1300 | 13:40.88 (1:04.62) |
| 14:38.04 (1:03.36) | 1400 | 14:45.60 (1:04.72) |
| 15:39.14 (1:01.10) | 1500 | 15:48.96 (1:03.36) |
Pallister now slots in at #2 in the world this year, behind only Katie Ledecky‘s 15:24.51 from the end of April.
2024-2025 LCM Women 1500 Free
LEDECKY
15:24.51
| 2 | Lani PALLISTER | AUS | 15:39.14 | 06/14 |
| 3 | Li Bingjie | CHN | 15:43.94 | 05/19 |
| 4 | Isabelle GOSE | GER | 15:52.34 | 05/02 |
| 5 | Moesha Johnson | AUS | 15:58.53 | 04/12 |
Pallister recently made the move from Griffith University—where Michael Bohl departed at the end of last year and her mom remains an assistant coach—to join St. Peters Western under Dean Boxall, and the move certainly appears to be paying dividends. This was her fourth best time of the week, having set new marks in the 200 free (1:54.89), 400 free (3:59.72) and 800 free (8:10.84).
With Ariarne Titmus not competing this year, Pallister will carry the torch for the Australian women in the mid-distance and distance freestyle events in Singapore, and looks a threat for the podium in the 400, 800 and 1500 freestyles.
Swimmer of the meet for sure!
So, Ledecky needs two swims faster than Friis and both to be faster than Pallister in Singapore to have the whole Top 25 by herself. I hope I got that right.
She does. Summer and Lani ruined her top 25 graphic in the 800. Will Lani ruin it in the 1500?
It won’t happen this year. The best strategy for Katie Ledecky is to post a 15:48-15:50 in the heats (Day 2) of the W 1500 FR to conserve as much energy for the final (Day 3) of the W 1500 FR let alone the final of the W 4 x 200 FR-R (Day 5) and the heats/final of the W 800 FR (Days 6 & 7).
I didn’t realize how many women are/were bunched up around 15:38-15:40 on that All-Time list. Really puts into perspective how good Ledecky is at this event.
Can’t believe I’m saying this, but there’s a world where Ledecky doesn’t win a single gold medal in Singapore. To be clear, I don’t think that’s likely, but I wouldn’t be stunned if it happened.
All the shifts in perception of Ledecky in the comment section have been so wild between February and now. From a washed has-been, who only won in Paris because she got lucky, to an absolute goat, who is even better then Phelps, in May, and back again just in a month.
comment gallery bipolar, among other things
She’s dead, she’s alive, she’s the best, she’s dead…the commentariat is so fickle. I think she’s still got some fire left in her!
Keep things simple. At 400+ the swimmers who can defeat Ledecky are Titmus and McIntosh. Pallister isn’t on that level. As Ledecky gets older she’ll be more vulnerable to other swimmers in given races. But we aren’t there yet.
Ledecky could have been had at Tokyo 2021. She wasn’t at peak form and this 1500 final was same session after the 200 final. I thought Sullivan should have taken more of an all or nothing approach toward a legendary upset. But given the remainder of Sulivan’s career I probably overestimated her upside in that race.
Way off the mark. Katie Ledecky overcooked herself in the heats of the W 1500 FR at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.
If Katie Ledecky posts a time of 15:48-15:50 in the heats of the W 1500 FR, she has plenty left in the tank for the final of the W 1500 FR. In addition, since Katie Ledecky has dropped the W 200 FR, she avoids the W 1500 FR (final)/W 200 FR (semis) double during the evening session on Day 3 of the World Aquatics Championships. Furthermore, by dropping W 200 FR, Katie Ledecky gets an extra days rest prior to the final of the W 4 x 200 FR-R at the World Aquatics Championships.
Ledecky will be safe in the 1500 this year but who knows in the next few years
Is she totally with Boxall or doing a hybrid with her mum? I think she was coached by both her mum and Bohl previously
As far as I’m aware her mum’s still at Griffith Uni which isn’t even in the same city.
That might actually be a race a worlds. Katie was a bit off in the 1500 at US Nationals. If she gets back to where she was at FTL and drops a sub 1530 she probably wins easily but who knows what Pallistwr can do swimming in the next lane.
I saw that swim and I think she’s definitely cruising when she went 15.36 at trials last week cause it’s the last day of trials and she doesn’t need to go faster to qualify in this event and just won it by more than twenty second.
Her interview after the race made me think differently. She looked upset and said that the race really hurt. Also, when has she ever not gone 100%? I’m hoping it was about where she was in her training and she drops a sub 1520 at worlds, but it could be closer than that expected.
I mean they interview her right after the 1500 and if that were me if probably upset too and I think she probably rested but doesn’t really taper cause she can afford to go a little bit slow and just qualify for Singapore.
Barring illness or injury, Katie Ledecky will be ready this summer.
She always gives her 100% no matter what and I really love it from her, but it’s kinda weird how in the last 50 of that race she didn’t kick at all
That race looked totally different than any of the recent ones. And that was obvious by Rowdy’s reserved commentary throughout. He wasn’t touting a fast time.
Fort Lauderdale didn’t mean it was 2016 all over again. I guess I have an advantage in that regard as a lifelong sports bettor. There is a power ratings mentality, not shift to the extremes obsession. Power ratings move gradually. The public darts to one end or the other.
After Fort Lauderdale, was it realistic to go faster still at Trials? She just needed to qualify, and sometimes swimming really does hurt for a variety of reasons. I don’t think that was a sign of terminal doom that she was in some pain.
I sincerely doubt she was tapered. During the Nesty era, Katie Ledecky has posted the following times in the final of the W 1500 FR:
2022 – 15:30.15
2023 – 15:26.27
2024 – 15:30.02
We love her
That was an awesome swim.