2023 AUSTRALIAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS
- Tuesday, June 13th – Sunday, June 18th
- Prelims at 10 a.m. local (8 p.m. previous day EDT)/Finals at 7 p.m. local (5 a.m. EDT)
- Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Center
- LCM (50m)
- World Championships Selection Criteria
- Meet Central
- Final Start List
- Day 1 Prelims Live Recap / Day 1 Finals Live Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Live Recap / Day 2 Finals Live Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Live Recap / Day 3 Finals Live Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Live Recap
- Live Results
- Livestream (9now)
Two months after appearing to retire from competitive swimming, Abbey Connor has resurfaced at the 2023 Australian World Championship Trials this week without missing a beat.
The 18-year-old qualified second for the women’s 200 butterfly final on Friday night with a time of 2:08.46, just a tenth of a second off her personal-best 2:08.36 from last year’s Commonwealth Games. Connor reached the wall only about half a second behind 19-year-old Elizabeth Dekkers in prelims on Friday morning, more than two seconds ahead of two-time Olympian Brianna Throssell (2:10.50).
WOMEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – HEATS
- World Record: 2:01.81, Liu Zige (2009)
- Commonwealth Record: 2:03.41, Jessicah Schipper (2009)
- Australian Record: 2:03.41, Jessicah Schipper (2009)
- All Comers Record: 2:05.41, Madeline Groves (2015)
- Swimming Australia QT: 2:07.89
- World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut: 2:09.21
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Elizabeth Dekkers – 2:07.94
- Abbey Connor – 2:08.46
- Brianna Throssell – 2:10.50
- Bella Grant – 2:10.77
- Laura Taylor – 2:12.35
- Brittany Castelluzzo – 2:12.73
- Kayla Hardy – 2:13.99
- Rafaela Kopellou – 2:14.25
Connor will need to drop another .57 seconds during tonight’s final in order to hit Swimming Australia’s qualifying time of 2:07.89.
Earlier in the week, she placed sixth in the 100 fly with a personal-best 58.69, shaving over a second off her previous-best 59.81 from last April.
This past April, Connor signaled her retirement from the sport when she posted on Instagram in a now-deleted post thanking her friends, family, doctors, and coach for their support while adding “see you later swimming” at the end.
“All I can say is thank you to every single person who has been with me in this wild, wild ride,” wrote Connor, who trains with coach Alex Clarke at the Revesby Workers Swim Club. “To the people behind the scenes, my family, my coach, physios/doctors and friends, your unconditional support was incredible and inspiring. You all deserve the world and so much more. See you later swimming.”
Last year, Connor shaved nearly a second and a half off her best 200-meter butterfly time at Australian Trials, earning a runner-up finish in 2:08.58 behind Dekkers (2:07.62). In August, Connor made her Commonwealth Games debut, clocking a personal-best 2:08.36 and missing out on the bronze medal by just .04 seconds behind the 27-year-old Throssell. Dekkers topped the podium in 2:07.26.
Connor burst onto the national scene in March of 2021 when the then-15-year-old went 2:12.60 in the 200 fly at the NSW State Age Championships, lowering an age record set by Michelle Ford way back in 1978. A year later, she was chosen to represent Australia at the World Junior Open Water Championships in the Seychelles.
It would be some story if she were to hit the QT later.
It was a bit odd before (her ‘retirement’), now it’s extremely weird. Can any Australians divulge the story here, because it just doesn’t add up?
idk tbh.
i think this theory might be unrealistic, but maybe what happened was that she had a sudden urge to retire and did so not really thinking about, then later changed her mind?
She clearly wasn’t out of the pool for long/at all to be going a PB by a full second in a 100, so you may well be right. We all do rash things we instantly regret at that age. Whatever the story is, I’m glad she stayed in the sport
same, she just qualified for worlds!
Looks like a change in coaching/lifestyle – has been wearing UniSC cap so perhaps has moved to Palfrey at the Sunny Coast hub.