Shaun Champion’s PB 51.54 100 Fly Makes Aussie Sprint Fly Group Even More Crowded

2022 PHILLIPS 66 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Australia’s crowded field of 100-meter butterfly talents just keeps getting deeper. 

In a men’s 100-meter butterfly final overshadowed by Shaine Casas winning with a personal-best 50.40, Shaun Champion also posted an impressive best time with a 51.54 to take second place at the 2022 U.S. National Championships. The 22-year-old Aussie bounced back from a disappointing 52.67 at this year’s Australian Trials, shaving .39 seconds off his previous best from the 2021 Australian Trials to sneak under the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying time of 51.67. 

Champion was one of two New South Wales Institute of Sports swimmers who earned a selection to Australia’s A Team headed to Nationals after this year’s Australian Trials. At last year’s Australian Trials, he was just .26 seconds away from making the Olympic squad. 

Champion’s new personal best now means that three Australians have met a challenging 100 fly Olympic cut so far this year — and a fourth isn’t far behind. Notably, Champion is the youngest of the group, and the second-fastest in 2022. 

Leading the pack is Matthew Temple, who’s fresh off of a 51.15 at last month’s World Championships, where you had to be sub-51 to reach the podium. The 23-year-old was seven-tenths of a second slower than his national-record 50.45 from the 2021 Australian Trials.

Kyle Chalmers also equaled the Olympic standard with a 51.67 from this year’s Australian Trials, but he was a second slower (52.70) at last month’s World Championships and missed the semifinals. Right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the 24-year-old freestyle specialist became the third-fastest (now fourth-fastest behind Temple) Australian of all-time in the 100 fly with a 51.37 in March of 2020. 

In the next two years, it’s conceivable that pop star Cody Simpson could join that trio currently under the Olympic qualifying mark. The 25-year-old smashed his previous best by more than a second with a 51.79 at this year’s Australian Trials, just .12 seconds off the standard. Simpson had only trained for a couple years following a decade-long absence from competitive swimming to pursue his music career.  

Australia’s Top 100 Fly Performers, 2022

  1. Matthew Temple, 51.15, June
  2. Shaun Champion, 51.45, July 
  3. Kyle Chalmers, 51.67, May
  4. Cody Simpson, 51.73, May

With what could be a quartet of qualified Aussies competing for two Olympic spots in the 100 fly, a couple tough cuts will likely have to be made for Paris 2024.

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Oceanian
1 year ago

I wish Chalmers would just concentrate on freestyle, Hopefully this result may help the decisions he and his coach make for the next two seasons.

Verram
Reply to  Oceanian
1 year ago

To be fair he was rather promising two years ago after swimming that 51.37 time then he started ignoring the fly event until this year – coincidentally when Cody Simpson came on to the scene .. I am actually looking forward to the depth coming up and what it means for raising the standard of sprint fly in Australia hopefully as we are getting left behind .. even Matt Temple can’t rest on his laurels now to Paris

Troyy
Reply to  Oceanian
1 year ago

That’d leave him with just the 100 free because he doesn’t want to do any 200s before his 100 free anymore. If it makes him happy to do something different then it’s great and the 100 fly is conveniently placed after the 100 free in the program.

Sub13
Reply to  Oceanian
1 year ago

He’s doing it because he wants to. He said it reignited his passion for swimming. Without it he really just has the 100 free and that’s it.

Gregory
Reply to  Sub13
1 year ago

What’s wrong with just having the 100 free

Shelley
Reply to  Gregory
1 year ago

Exactly!

About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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