2021 Australian Swimming Trials: Latest results as our stars battle for Tokyo Olympics spot
Olympic hero Mack Horton is in serious danger of missing the Australian team for Tokyo after bombing out in his favourite event in a sensational upset.
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Olympic hero Mack Horton is in serious danger of missing the Australian team for Tokyo after bombing out in his favourite event in a sensational upset at the national swimming trials on Saturday.
The same man who beat China’s Sun Yang to win the 400m freestyle Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016 narrowly missed out on making the Australian team when he finished third in a red-hot final that could yet produce the Tokyo champion.
Horton’s time of 3:43.92 was well inside the Olympic qualifying standard and the third fastest in the world this year but he needed to finish in the top two to be assured of selection and the competition was just too swift.
Follow all the action at the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials here as our Tokyo hopefuls battle it out in Adelaide.
Queensland’s Elijah Winnington, who has long been considered one of the rising stars of Australian middle-distance swimming, won the race in 3:42.65 — the fastest time in the world in 2021.
Jack McLoughlin finished second in 3:43.27 as the top five all went under the qualifying time in one of the most astonishing races ever seen in Australian waters.
“Five in the top eight in the world in Australia, you can’t ask for much more than that in home competition,” Winnington said.
“It means everything to me. I dreamt of this moment as a kid. To see that I touched the wall first and I made the qualifying time, it was pretty special.”
Just 21, Winnington is now the early favourite to win gold in Tokyo — less than two years after he missed out on the team for the 2019 world championships — where Horton finished second behind Sun then staged his famous protest against drugs in sport.
“I had a little moment with Mack after the race and I pretty much told him he’s my hero,” Winnington said.
“I remember being here five years ago at the Rio trials, watching Mack go 3.41, a second faster than what I went there, so he’s an incredible swimmer and always will be an incredible swimmer so it means a lot that Mack would speak that highly of me.
“When I get on the world stage, whether Sun Yang races, it’s going to be a competition and if you make the team in the 400m in Australia you are very much in contention for an Olympic medal let alone Olympic gold.
“I have made the team and now my team is to shift on that and see what I can do for Australia.”
Horton was graceful in defeat after he gave it everything. Fifth after 100m, fourth after 200m, he was in the lead at 300m but couldn’t hold on.
“That’s swimming,” he said. “I was comfortable the whole way and I thought I had it to be honest. I was probably on the wrong side of the pool, breathing the wrong way.
“I literally gave it everything and as long as you give it your all, that’s all that matters.
“I’m very happy for the boys. Jack works his butt off and has been working his butt off for years and Elijah is obviously super talented and coming through and hopefully they can keep carrying the 400m legacy for Australia.”
Horton still has two more chances to make the team — in 200m and 800m freestyle — but is no sure thing.
The 200m looms as his best chance as it doubles as selection for the 4x200m relay so up to six swimmers could be picked and coaches have the discretionary powers to choose anyone that makes the final.
Horton is a proven big-race performer — and swam the anchor leg when Australia won the gold at the 2019 world championships — but has struggled since then so needs to improve quickly.
“It’s really hard to stay at the top of your game for four years, even harder to stay at the top for five years so that extra year made all the difference for someone in Mack’s position,” London Olympic silver medallist James Magnussen said.
“Fingers crossed that he can make the team for the 4x200m freestyle relay because he offers a lot to the team dynamic and from a culture perspective.
“He‘s an Olympic gold medallist and you want those people in the team. He gives confidence to the other swimmers in the team to have someone like that around.
“He was at his peak previously and has had an extra year to drop off that peak. I‘m sure he won’t use that as excuses but from an outsider looking in, he’s had a really unsettled and difficult preparation.”
MCKEON SEALS TOKYO SPOT WITH STELLAR SWIM
Emma McKeon made the perfect start in her bid to become Australia’s greatest Olympian by sealing her place at next month’s Tokyo Games – almost breaking the world record.
Wollongong-born McKeon left her rivals dead in the water to win the 100m butterfly final in a sizzling 55.93 seconds, smashing her own Australian record, and going well under the Australian Olympic qualifying time of 57.10.
Western Australia’s Brianna Throssell, who also made the team for Rio five years ago, finished second in 57.11 – missing automatic qualification by 0.01.
“It feels pretty good,” McKeon said. “It’s just nice to qualify in the first event on the first night and settle into the rest of the week.
“It’s significantly faster than what I’ve been going for the past four years. I definitely felt like I was due for a good one. I have a lot of faith in my coach and when he tells me I’m due for a good one, I have a lot more belief in myself.
“That gives you confidence, this is our last racing practice before Tokyo.
“I do feel really good, really strong, I know I’ve put a lot of work in. Having that extra year really helped as well, I feel a lot stronger, just more confident in my ability compared to last year.”
Australia’s most reliable medal winner, McKeon scooped up four medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and six each at both the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 world championships, but Tokyo could be even more hectic.
She could swim as many as eight events in Tokyo – four individual races and four relays – and has a genuine shot at a medal in all of them, which would elevate her into rarefied air.
The record for the most medals won by an Australian at a single Olympics is five – jointly held by Shane Gould, Ian Thorpe and Alicia Coutts – and the Australian record for total Olympic medals in a career is nine, which Thorpe and Leisel Jones share.
McKeon was on course to break Sarah Sjostrom’s world record of 55.48 for the first 90m before just fading at the wall but her time elevated her to fourth fastest in history.
Throssell is the favourite to win the 200m butterfly later this week and could yet swim the 100m event because she went under the official Olympic qualifying time, but not the Australian standard which is marginally harder.
SMITH BREAKS AUSSIE RECORD
Victoria’s Brendon Smith is off to Tokyo after breaking the Australian record to win the men’s 400m individual medley.
Just 20, Smith cruised to victory in 4:10.04 — bettering Thomas Fraser-Holmes’ national record of 4:10.14, set way back in 2013. Smith was more than five seconds under the qualifying time for next month’s Tokyo Olympics.
“I’ve been putting in a good block of training so I guess I knew it was on the cards,” Smith said.
Sydney’s Lee Se-Bom — celebrating his 20th birthday — will join Smith in Japan after touching the wall in 4:14.16.
BREASTROKERS COME UP SHORT
Australia could be without a representative in the men’s 100m breaststroke in Tokyo after none of the finalists made the qualifying time.
Zac Stubblety-Cook won the race in 59.69, but that was outside the Australian qualifying mark of 59.21. However, he is still likely to make the team for Tokyo because Australia will need a breaststroke swimmer for the medley relay and both Stubblety-Cook and Matt Wilson, who finished fourth, are expected to qualify for 200m breaststroke later this week.
Meantime, Australia will definitely be without anyone in the women’s 400m individual medley after no one managed the qualifying time.
Teenager Jenna Forrester — just 17 — won the race in 4:39.93, more than a second outside the Olympic qualifying time of 4:38.53. Meg Bailey finished second in 4:40.18.
Queensland teenager Kaylee McKeown is actually ranked No.1 in the world in the event but skipped it because her program is so full and she is focusing on the 200m individual medley and both backstroke races.
OLYMPIC TRIAL RESULTS — DAY 1
Women’s 100m butterfly
Olympic Qualifying time: 57.10
1st Emma McKeon 55.93 — qualified automatically
2nd Brianna Throssell 57.11 — to be decided
Men’s 400m individual medley
Olympic Qualifying time: 4:15.24
1st Brendon Smith 4:10.04 — qualified automatically
2nd Se-Bom Lee 4:14.16 — qualified automatically
Men’s 100m breaststroke
Olympic Qualifying time: 59.21
1st Zac Stubbletty-Cook 59.69 — to be decided
2nd Daniel Cave 59.99 — did not qualify
Women’s 400m individual medley
Olympic Qualifying time: 4:38.53
1st Jenna Forrester 4:39.93 — did not qualify
2nd Meg Bailey 4:40.18 — did not qualify
Men’s 400m freestyle
Olympic Qualifying time: 3:46.34
1st Elijah Winnington 3:42.65 — qualified automatically
2nd Jack McLoughlin 3;43.27 — qualified automatically
PARALYMPIC TRIALS
Women’s 400m freestyle multi-class
Ellie Cole (S9) 400m freestyle — qualified automatically
Lakeisha Patterson (S9) 400m freestyle — qualified automatically
Men’s 400m freestyle multi-class
Alex Tuckfield (S9) 400m freestyle — qualified automatically
Brendan Hall (S9) 400m freestyle — qualified automatically
Harrison Vig (S9) 400m freestyle — qualified automatically
Tom Gallagher (S10) 400m freestyle — qualified automatically
Liam Schluter (S14) 400m freestyle — qualified automatically
Men’s 200m freestyle multi-class
Ricky Betar (S14) 200m freestyle — qualified automatically
Ben Popham (S8) 200m freestyle — qualified automatically
Larkin drops pet event in chase for Tokyo gold
Australian swimming star Mitch Larkin has made the agonising decision to ditch his signature event in the hope that it will give him a better chance of winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics next month.
Instead of swimming the 200m backstroke – in which he won gold at the 2015 world championships and silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics – Larkin has dumped the race from his program for Tokyo.
Instead, the 27-year-old Queenslander plans to swim the 200m individual medley, because he thinks that’s his best chance of winning gold.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Larkin said.
“I’ve sort of been hitting my head against the wall for a number of months trying to make that decision but it comes back to a couple of things.
“I’ve never swum medley at an Olympics, which gives me a lot of excitement, but it’s also the event that I made my first junior teams on, 200m medley and 400m medley, so it’s coming back to those roots.
“And I looked at probably the depth in terms of who’s going to potentially win the 200m backstroke versus what time is going to medal in the 200m medley.
“I think that was the deciding factor but I also swim a lot more freer in my mind when I swim medley.”
It was a tough call for Larkin to make because he is regarded as a strong medal chance in both events but had to choose one over the other because they are scheduled back-to-back on the Olympic program, and it’s physically too demanding to attempt both.
He is ranked No.2 in the world in 200m backstroke, but more than a second behind Russia’s Evgeny Rylov, who is the overwhelming favourite.
While Larkin’s best time for 200m individual medley is well outside Ryan Lochte’s world record (1:54.00) and the times Michael Phelps posted to win the event at each of the past four Olympics, he is right in the mix for the gold in Tokyo.
He is ranked third in the world and the gap to No.1 Duncan Scott, is closer than in the 200m backstroke.
“I want to swim the 100m backstroke with a couple of relays and then the 200m medley as well,” Larkin said.
“Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are probably the two best in the world, they’re the only 1:54 swimmers.
“I’ve been doing the numbers and what it takes to swim that area and for me it’s just about executing a really good breaststroke, coming off a really strong backstroke, which is my strength.
“I’ve got plenty of fitness in the tank so it’s not a matter about how fast I can come home. It’s just about executing the perfect race and trying to split as well as possible.”
DAY 2 - SUNDAY
Women’s 100m backstroke
Olympic Qualifying time: 59.10
One of the hottest fields at the trials. Kaylee McKeown came within a whisker of breaking the world record last month and is ranked No. 1 in the world. Minna Atherton won silver at the 2019 world championships and holds the shortcourse world record while the evergreen Emily Seebohm is back to near her best.
Women’s 100m breaststroke
Olympic Qualifying time: 1:06.97
Queensland teenager Chelsea Hodges is the slight favourite after dipping under the qualifying time. Jessica Hansen has also made the time while Abbey Harkin is another strong contender.
Men’s 100m backstroke
Olympic Qualifying time: 53.40
Australian record holder Mitch Larkin is a red-hot favourite to win, despite being disqualified for a rare technical infringement at the Australian championships in April. William Yang and Bard Woodward are the biggest dangers.
Women’s 400m freestyle
Olympic Qualifying time: 4:07.10
Reigning world champion Ariarne Titmus is the one to beat despite injuring her shoulder during lockdown but it’s the race for second place that could be the most interesting with Madeleine Gough, Leah Neale, Kiah Melverton, Lani Pallister and Tamsin Cook all with claims.
Men’s 200m freestyle
Olympic Qualifying time: 1:45.76
Possibly the most open race of the trials with plenty of big names in contention including Olympic champions Kyle Chalmers (100m) and Mack Horton (400m). Elijah Winnington, Alexander Graham and Clyde Lewis are also right in the mix with the top four and possibly the top six in contention for spots on the 4x200m freestyle relay which Australia won at the last world championships.
Paralympic trials
Women’s 100m butterfly multi-class
Men’s 100m butterfly multi-class
Men’s 50m freestyle multi-class
Women’s 50m freestyle multi-class
Men’s 50m backstroke multi-class
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Originally published as 2021 Australian Swimming Trials: Latest results as our stars battle for Tokyo Olympics spot
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