SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers what excites them the most about the upcoming Australian Swimming Trials:
Question: What storyline are you most intrigued by heading into the Australian Trials?
RESULTS
- McEvoy 50 free WR encore, 100 free experiment? – 49.6%
- What will Pallister do after big drops in 2025? – 17.6%
- Will McKeown respond to Smith/Stadden in women’s BK? – 10.0%
- Can O’Callaghan challenge 200 free WR? – 9.8%
- O’Callaghan, Harris & Jack set for 100 free showdown – 4.9%
- Who steps up in 100/200 free to form men’s free relays this summer? – 3.8%
- Are 17-year-olds Henry Allan & Sienna Toohey ready for a breakout? – 3.1%
- ZSC, Williamson coming off injures in men’s BR – 0.9%
- Other – 0.4%
There’s plenty to look forward to at the Australian Swimming Trials, which get underway in just over one week from the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, and we took it to the SwimSwam poll to see what fans were most excited for heading into the Commonwealth and Pan Pac selection meet.
The leading option by a wide margin was Cameron McEvoy, who will put on an encore performance for the home crowd after breaking the 17-year-old super-suited world record in the 50 freestyle earlier this year. However, a big part of the intrigue surrounding McEvoy entering the meet had to do with the possibility of him racing the 100 free, having floated the idea of returning to the 4×100 free relay for LA 2028, but we learned on Thursday that he hasn’t entered the event.
McEvoy will swim the 50 free and 50 fly in Sydney, and though the 100 free won’t be on his program this year, there will still be plenty of eyes on him, and perhaps the enhanced 50 free time of 20.81 produced by Kristian Gkolomeev last weekend will be a target for him at the meet.
Ranking 2nd in the poll was what Lani Pallister will do at the Trials, having made massive improvements last year after moving to train under Dean Boxall.
Pallister was on fire at the 2025 Trials, sweeping the women’s 400 free (3:59.72), 800 free (8:10.84) and 1500 free (15:39.14) and adding a runner-up finish in the 200 free (1:54.89). She set personal best times in all four races and established new Australian Records in the 800 and 1500.
Just over one month later at the World Championships in Singapore, Pallister had a stunning performance in the final of the women’s 800 free, playing a prominent role in the anticipated Katie Ledecky vs. Summer McIntosh showdown and stealing the silver from McIntosh with a time of 8:05.98, the sixth-fastest swim in history to knock nearly five seconds off her Aussie Record.
Pallister also won bronze in the 1500 free (15:41.18), placed 4th with a new best time in the 400 free (3:58.87), and won gold on the Aussie women’s 4×200 free relay after leading the team off in a new 200 free PB of 1:54.77.
She continued her strong year with a dominant performance over the three-stop World Cup series in the fall, highlighted by shattering Ledecky’s SCM world record in the 800 free in 7:54.00, and now, after a full year training under Boxall, fans are excited to see what she can do at the Trials.
The two biggest stars on the women’s side, Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan, also earned plenty of votes in the poll, with McKeown looking to respond to what Americans Isabelle Stadden and Regan Smith have produced so far this season in the backstroke events, and O’Callaghan potentially taking a run at the 200 free (or 100 free?) world record.
Smith and Stadden rank 1-2 in the world this season in the women’s 100 and 200 back (Smith 1st in the 100 and Stadden 1st in the 200), and they’re the only two swimmers who have broken 58 and 2:05, respectively. McKeown ranks 3rd in both, having been 58.06 and 2:05.08 earlier this year, and Trials presents an opportunity for her to make a statement.
For O’Callaghan, she has a chance to reclaim the 200 free world record that countrymate Ariarne Titmus took at the 2024 Olympic Trials in a time of 1:52.23. O’Callaghan went 1:53.48 en route to winning the world title last year, but she’s essentially matched that already this season, going 1:53.52 at the China Open in March and then 1:53.69 at the Australian Open in April.
Additionally, the women’s 100 free all of a sudden has an extra layer of intrigue behind it after Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen (51.86) and American Anna Moesch (51.94) produced the second and third-fastest swims of all-time this week.
With O’Callaghan, Meg Harris and Shayna Jack all in the field owning best times of 52.52 or better—O’Callaghan’s best time sitting at 52.08—the question arises: Have the floodgates opened, and will we see another 51 in Sydney?
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: After two 51s over a three-day span this past week, who will get their hands on Sjostrom’s 100 free world record?
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The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.
cam’s going sub 20.85
ha all the swimming jargon – referring to swimmers as ZSC and MOC. do you know who swimmer MSH is
15.24 for Lani
Pallister should drop 1500. No one cares about it and it takes too much of an effort
now apply that logic to mcevoy skipping pan pacs, since you’ve taken every opportunity to criticise his decision. the australian public does not care about pan pacs (even today, channel 9’s trials ad mentions comm games but not pan pacs, and they aren’t even the network that’s broadcasting comm games) and it adds an extra 3 weeks away from his young family
Pan Pacs will be big news after Com Games. Let me think. Wish I could refuse work travel because I have kids. The problem with swimmers is they are a bit precious. Imagine one of the soceroos refusing to travel!
to clarify the point about channel 9, they have broadcasting rights for trials and pan pacs, but their ad for trials, which is in circulation today, specifically said that trials are selection for comm games, and did not mention pan pacs at all. they chose to promote an event broadcast by a rival network (7), rather than something they actually have rights for. then you have swimming australia, who established a hall of fame just 4 years ago. their criteria includes gold medals from comm games but not pan pacs.
then in march, gina rinehart pledged prize money for australian swimmers who win medals and break WRs at comm games, but did not extend that to pan pacs in any capacity.… Read more »
I meant she should bypass 1500 at PPs. Save herself for 400 800 and relay. It’s a boring event to watch anyway. It’s basically a one women event. Australian swimmer’s should never complain. They are well looked after. Which TV station in the US is televising the PPs?
The way they’re looked after does not extend to attending pan pacs, for reasons I have already laid out in great detail. But your point also falls flat since you compared skipping pan pacs to soccer. Broadcasting pan pacs does not automatically make it viable to attend. It’s already not in aus prime time (nor should it be) and the broadcaster is deliberately not promoting it, so although it will air on tv, only people who actively follow the sport will watch the event.
The olympics have a stream with no paywall or geoblock, yet no one has used that as a defense for coventry’s recent comments; pan pacs can match neither the level of competition nor the public profile… Read more »
Team sports aren’t really comparable.
a stupid comment!
I’m sorta low key hoping Mark Nikolaev gets back into the 53s in the 100m backstroke & makes his first Australian team alongside Henry Allen, shutting out Isaac Cooper in the process…. then at least we have two swimmers vying for the relay spot (hopefully leading to improved performance).
Cooper said he was never swimming a 100 back ever again a few years ago haha. I doubt he’ll make it
I don’t know what to expect but pbs for everyone please
Ok here’s the big calls for trials:
1. Meg wins 50 and 100 free, PB in the 100. MOC goes 52 low for second. Jansen goes a PB for third.
2. MOC 1:53 low in 200 free. Lani goes a PB in the 200. Improves her trials times in 4/8/15 but no PBs.
3. Jamie Jack goes PB in the 50 and 100 free and comes second in both.
4. KBU makes the team in both free relays, no individual spot yet.
5. McKeown and Allan win all 3 backstrokes.
6. Forrester goes PBs in the 200 back, 2/4IM, qualifying for all 3. Ramsay gets pushed out of the top 3 in the 2IM as a result.
1. I think Wunsch gets third in a 52.7
2. MOC has no reason to taper much for trials, so if she does go 153 low, there’s a good chance she goes a PB at comms or panpacs. I think Lani goes a PB in the 200 and 400.
3. I expect Flynn to at least go a 47, maybe 47 mid. What time do you have Jamie going?
1. Those three girls development has been so up and down. Casey was the best at 15, Wunsch was the best at 17, but Jansen has been the best this year. I would love Wunsch to go a best time but Jansen just seems to have momentum.
2. Yeah MOC won’t be properly tapered but she’ll have a bit of rest, and she’s been consistently 1:53 mid this season.
3. I have them both going a 47 high
Mollie sub 52
😈