Cate Campbell withdraws from Aussie trials for next month’s world swimming championships
Bidding to become the first Australian swimmer to compete at five Olympics, one of Australian swimming’s all-time greats have pulled out of trials for June’s world swimming championships.
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Cate Campbell is a shock last-minute withdrawal from the Australian trials for next month’s world swimming championships.
Bidding to become the first Australian swimmer to compete at five Olympics, the 31-year-old is putting all her efforts into making the team for Paris next year so it is taking no risks.
She had already decided to skip this year’s world titles in Japan but planned to swim at the trials in Melbourne from June 13-18, to get race fit and test herself against Australia‘s young guns.
However, the four-time Olympic gold medallist has pulled out after picking up a cold while recently racing in Europe, telling her Instagram followers: “I‘ve been struggling to shake a nasty winter cold for over a week now, while still trying to train and do everything else in life.
“Today I finally conceded defeat and spent the day on the couch. A reminder that sometimes you need to slow down in order to speed up.”
Campbell’s sister Bronte has entered the 50m and 100m freestyle sprints in Melbourne but isn’t planning to go to the worlds because she’s also focused just on Paris.
Even without the Campbell sisters, Australia will still be heavily favoured to win the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay because there is so much depth in the ranks.
Olympic champion Emma McKeon has entered the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly. She did not sign up for the 200m freestyle but could still be considered for the 4x200m relay, which also has a great chance of winning gold.
Reigning world champion Mollie O’Callaghan has entered five individual events: 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 200m backstroke.
Shayna Jack, Meg Harris and Madi Wilson are also entered in the 50, 100m and 200m freestyle events.
Double Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus entered all four freestyle events from 100m to 1500m while triple Tokyo gold medallist Kaylee McKeown is in five races – 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley.
Freestyle sprint king Kyle Chalmers has again entered the 100m butterfly, joining his training partner Matt Temple and pop star Cody Simpson, adding it to the 100m and 200m freestyle.
Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook is the overwhelming favourite in breaststroke while veteran Cam McEvoy is the one to beat in 50m freestyle sprints and world champion Elijah Winnington heads a strong field in the 400m freestyle.
Only the top two from the trials will qualify for the world titles in Fukuoka, from July 23-30 – almost exactly a year out from the Paris Olympics.
Originally published as Cate Campbell withdraws from Aussie trials for next month’s world swimming championships
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