Sam Short Goes Short in the 200 Free; O’Callaghan and Southam Both No-Show Races on Tuesday

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
  • Final: Day 1

A pair of high profile no-shows from Mollie O’Callaghan and Flynn Southam plus a new lifetime best from Sam Short shook up the prelims on day 2 of the 2026 Australian Swimming Trials.

No Shows

Olympian Mollie O’Callaghan, best known as a 100/200 freestyler but who is also Australia’s #2 sprint backstroker, was a no-show in prelims of the 100 back. In her absence, Iona Anderson took the top seed in 59.32 and the two-time defending Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown cruised to a #2 seed in 59.56.

In a year that is built for trying different events with relatively-low stakes, O’Callaghan in the 100 back seems like a logical candidate. She swam 58.98 in the event at the Australian Open in April, 58.85 at last year’s Australian Swimming Trials, and a lifetime best of 57.88 at the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials.

That makes her the 2nd-fastest Australian of all-time and 6th-fastest performer globally of all-time.

Also no-showing an event was Flynn Southam in the men’s 200 free. The 21-year-old heir apparent to the Australian short freestyle throne swam the 100 and 200 free at the World Championships last year. He placed 10th in the 200 free in 1:45.80, which is his lifetime best.

That would have been the first swim of the meet for both O’Callaghan and Southam.

Short Goes Shorter

No Southam, no problem for Australia. Sam Short, who has had a bit of a cursed streak of injuries and illnesses at big meets, is hitting full steam here.

After a best time and world leader in the 400 free on Monday evening, he went even shorter and broke out a personal best of 1:45.52 in the 200 free on Tuesday in prelims. That made him the #1 seed ahead of Edward Sommerville (1:45.88) and Kai Taylor (1:46.03) as part of a very young 800 free relay core for Australia. Sommerville is the defending champion after a 1:44.93 at last year’s meet.

Short’s previous best time of 1:45.71 was done at the 2025 Australian Swimming Trials.

He wound up ceding the individual spot to Southam at Worlds.

Short has a wide range of races to focus on, with the 400, 800, and 1500 frees being his best medal bets historically, so this 200 free might remain a relay contribution.

Missing A Finals

A number of fairly high profile names missed out on A Finals on Tuesday morning. That includes age group star Amelie Smith in the women’s 100 breaststroke (1:09.69), Olivia Wunsch in the women’s 50 fly (26.91), and Maximillian Giuliani in the 200 free (1:47.48) are all out of those A-Finals on Tuesday evening.

A number of big-name internationals also cruised in the heats of the men’s 200 free, ineligible for the A-Final. Hwang Sunwoo from South Korea swam 1:47.60, Matt Sates from South Africa swam 1:48.03, and Lewis Clareburt from New Zealand swam 1:48.54.