How teenage star Mollie O’Callaghan went from the hunter to the hunted
The days of Mollie O’Callaghan flying under world swimming’s radar are no more, the Aussie teenager will be the one they are all chasing at next week’s world championships in Japan.
Olympics
Don't miss out on the headlines from Olympics. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Mollie O’Callaghan knows her days of flying under the radar are over.
It worries her, but so do a lot of other things in swimming. But no-one needs to be alarmed.
A victim of her own swimming success, the Australian teenager has forfeited any claims she briefly had to being one of the sport’s up and coming stars.
Because she’s already arrived, not that you would know it from her understated manner.
The Queenslander has just turned 19, but has already accumulated a life’s worth of gold medals (13) from the four major international events she’s contested in the last two years: two from the Tokyo Olympics, three from last year’s world championships, five from the 2022 Commonwealth Games and three from the shortcourse world titles.
If you include her silver and bronzes, her international tally over the last two years is a staggering 23 medals.
If she never wins another race, she’ll still be remembered as one of the greats, but she’s not thinking about finishing any time soon because she’s only just getting started.
And all the indicators are that her best is yet to come.
The defending world champion, she’s ranked No. 1 in the world in 100m freestyle this season and second in 200m freestyle heading into next week’s world championships in Japan.
They are two of the most competitive races in world swimming so even if doesn’t win them, O’Callaghan has a good backup hand – she’s also a guaranteed selection in the Australian formidable women’s 4x100m and 4x200m relays.
No-one ever counts medals before any races have taken place, least of all O’Callaghan.
While everyone views her as an ice-cool assassin, that’s not how she sees herself, because she’s a bundle of nerves.
Every swimmer experiences the odd moment of self-doubt but the butterflies in O’Callaghan’s stomach never stop flapping so she’s had to find coping mechanisms to combat her anxiety.
“I think I‘ve gotten a lot better over time,” she said.
“Every meet is different, every day is different, even every race.
“Obviously, I‘ve had a lot of help with the team, the psychologists and everyone learning new ways on how to cope with the nerves.
But nerves are good at the end of the day. They help me race, they help me hop up.
“I‘ll still be shaking on the block, fiddling with my goggles but at the end of the day, I’ve just got to look at it as a positive and find new ways to help myself calm down and get ready.”
O’Callaghan’s pre-race jitters haven’t impacted her racing.
She may come across as shy and humble, but she’s more than just one of the fastest swimmers in the world, she’s also among the most fiercely determined.
At last month’s Australian trials, she beat the reigning Olympic champions Emma McKeon (100m) and Ariarne Titmus (200m) by a fingernail in both races.
The margins were tiny but no fluke because the great ones always have that X-factor which enables them to get their hands on the wall first.
“It‘s a lot of determination. I really want to win, as everyone does, everyone wants to beat each other,” O’Callaghan said.
“I really have that drive to be number one no matter what. I don‘t really know what gets me to go to that wall but I just want to get there. It’s really weird.”
While O’Callaghan’s nerves will be put to the test again at this month’s world championships in Fukuoka, her main goal is next year’s Paris Olympics.
Although she won two gold medals in Tokyo, she didn’t swim any individual events or finals, competing only in the relay heats.
Now an automatic starter, she swam her first individual events at last year’s world championships in Budapest – winning gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m – but treats the world titles as stepping stones to Paris.
“This time, I‘ll kind of have a bit more knowledge on my side,” she said.
“Last time, I went in absolutely nervous. I was a big wreck going into it, just because it was my first international meet doing individuals.
“It‘s just a big learning experience for next year. And I think going in with a bit more confidence this time will help a lot.”
A hard taskmaster, O’Callaghan acknowledges that her anxieties are all in her head, driven by her own ambitions, which is partly why she’s so open about her battles.
In her mind, it creates the idea she’s still an underdog, even though she’s now one of the favourites.
Technically, she’s already the best in the business even though she frets about not having the same front end speed as some of the other competitions, especially over 100m.
And while her times are among the best in the world, she keeps setting herself ambitious goals to ensure complacency never creeps.
“I feel like it‘s just a whole lot of pressure to do what I did last year and redo it,” she said.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to swim PBs (personal best times).
“I knew in training that I train phenomenally but sometimes I doubt myself, obviously.
“Heading into this year, there was a lot of doubt because I kept on comparing myself to last year. So, I still kind of have that mentality that I‘ve got to be better than what I was last year.”
More Coverage
Originally published as How teenage star Mollie O’Callaghan went from the hunter to the hunted
‘We’re going to dominate’: Aus hockey next gen’s warning
Australian hockey’s next gen has sent a warning to its rivals around the world, with one star declaring even after a FIH Pro League loss that “we’re going to dominate, there’s no doubt about that”.
Wild call to host Olympics in croc country
A booming regional city wants to host Olympic rowing events on a notorious river known to host giant crocodiles.