With Paris just around the corner how is this world record holder still flying under the radar
She has an Olympic gold medal and world record to her name, but under-the-radar swim star Meg Harris knows she needs another gear if she’s to book her place in the Australian team for Paris.
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She’s the Olympic gold medallist and world record-holder still managing to fly under the radar 100 days out from the Paris Olympics.
Think women’s sprint swimming and names like Olympic champion Emma McKeon, former world record-holder Cate Campbell and two-time world champ Mollie O’Callaghan spring to mind.
But it was Meg Harris who kept then-teammate O’Callaghan out of the final relay team in Tokyo with her blistering Olympics heat swim and Harris who along with McKeon, O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack stood on top of the podium at the world championships in Fukuoka last year having set yet another relay world record.
Plenty of others would want their place in the spotlight.
But Harris recognises the advantage she has being able to prepare with little outside noise in the most competitive event in Australian swimming.
All the pressure heading into this week’s national championships on the Gold Coast and next month’s Olympic trials rests on the shoulders of McKeon, O’Callaghan, the returning Campbell sisters and the resurgent Shayna Jack.
Harris knows she’s going to have to be at her best to seal an individual swim at the Games.
Already the eighth fastest woman in Australian swimming history over the 100m with her 52.92sec effort to make the Tokyo Games team - a time that would have put her in the individual final at those games - Harris will have to find another gear before Paris.
“To get an individual swim, it’s going to have to be pretty fast,” Harris said.
“All the girls are just making improvements as you see them racing throughout the year.
“You never know how anything’s going to go until the day, anything can happen.
“But I definitely think it’s going to have to take a lot of PBs from a lot of people to be on the team.”
Plenty of swimmers will be keeping their powder dry this week with next month’s trials in Brisbane the only event that counts for Games selection.
As a sprinter though - she’s also the sixth fastest Australian woman in history over the 50m - Harris will be a lot closer to her best times than some of the distance athletes.
And she’s one to watch.
“I’m always aiming for PBs and getting better but it’ll be interesting to see still in full training what I can get out of myself,” she said.
“I raced not too long ago and I was pretty happy with how I went - it was one of my in-season bests, so I’m excited to see how this one’s going to go still in training.”
Certainly national coach Rohan Taylor is excited at what the women are likely to be able to produce in the 100m final on Wednesday’s opening night of finals.
“Obviously the one that stands out is the women’s 100m free, we’ve got some veterans who are on their way back through and they’re doing well in Cate and Bronte (Campbell) - and I think that’s really exciting,” he said.
“Then we’ve got the younger ones (like) Meg (Harris), who are all vying for that spot.
“Because there are so many of those athletes together, that’s an interesting race to watch.”
The injection of South Korea’s world champion Kim Woo-min gives the men’s 400m freestyle an all-star race feel, with the past three world title winners - Kim and Australians Sam Short and Elijah Winnington - going head-to-head.
“When I found out Woo-min from Korea was racing, I actually was super stoked,” Winnington said.
“It’ll be good. This meet is about learning and finding experiences and all three of us are in the same boat but that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to have a good race.
“I just want to try and execute my race process that I want to do a trials and ultimately can then do in Paris, because that’s what the end goal is.”
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