Australian Swimming Trials Day 3: Titmus defeats O’Callaghan in epic and breaks world record to do it
Ariarne Titmus has broken the world record for the 200 metres freestyle. But so did Mollie O’Callaghan. And to round out the third night of the Australian Swimming Trials, Cameron McEvoy made a little bit of history.
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The third night of finals for the Olympic and Paralympic swim team to head to Paris next month was headlined by the highly anticipated women’s 200 metre freestyle final where Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan go head-to-head. It was won by Titmus in world record time.
Soon after, Timothy Hodge had a world record of his own in the 200m men’s multi-class individual medley.
That was then followed by a piece of history created by 50 metre freestyler Cam McEvoy. Scroll for recap of all the action.
Day three of the Swimming Trials below and see all the results in our live table.
No stopping Titmus with another world record
- Julian Linden and Todd Balym
It is time to get excited Australia, because there’s just no stopping Ariarne Titmus.
Not even Mollie O’Callaghan can keep up with the Australian swimming sensation who now looks set to take the Paris Olympics by storm and seal her palace among the all-time greats.
On Wednesday, Titmus gave another heartstopping reminder of why every Australian should be setting their alarm clocks early to watch her in France as she smashed the world record for 200 metres freestyle.
A little less than 11 months after O’Callaghan snatched the 200m record from Federica Pellegrini to win the world 2023 world title, Titmus turned the tables on her team mate by going even quicker at the Australian trials.
Her time - one minute 52.23 seconds - wiped 0.62 off O’Callaghan’s previous mark, and added the 200m world record to her 400m world record.
“Honestly, the world record is a bonus,” Titmus said.
“I feel like my training over the past couple of years honestly since Tokyo has reflected a 1:52 swimmer every day in training.
“To finally put it together and put together a swim I know I am capable of, it is exciting to do it in my hometown in front of a hometown crowd. It gives me really good confidence for the Olympics.”
Australia has provided plenty of great swimmers over the years but what sets Titmus apart is her fighting spirit.
She may not be the most technically gifted swimmer in the world but there’s no-one tougher. When races come down to a dogfight, she rarely loses.
“I just think that I’m in pretty good form. My 400m was great. I took good confidence from that,” she said.
“I’ve taken confidence from my training the past six weeks. I’ve done some things in the pool that I haven’t done before so you have to use that, you have to really to be swimming like this not let any negative thoughts filter through and get into your mind.
“I’ve really just tried to stay as focussed asI could andI think that helped me
O’Callaghan also went under her world record, stopping the clock at 1:52.48, so will join Titmus in the individual 200m race with Australia now on track to win both gold and silver.
“We push each other to do the best of our limits,” O’Callaghan said.
“Like what Arnie just said. And the other girls in this relay. It shows how hard we train.”
Lani Pallister came third and Brianna Throssell fourth, guaranteeing themselves places in the Australian 4x200m freestyle relay that is heavily favoured to win the gold after finishing with bronze in Tokyo.
With the Australian selectors almost certain to pick the first six finishers so they can have spare swimmers for the heats, Shayna Jack and Jamie Perkins can also expect to be named in the squad after dead-heating for fifth.
Five of the first six finishers all come from the St Peters Western Club in Brisbane, where Dean Boxall is the head coach.
The competition between the women is so intense that they train in different groups before coming together at major meets.
“To be honest, we really don’t see each other in training. We are both separate. She trains for the sprint events, I train for middle distance freestyle. It is honestly quite separate,” said Titmus, who will head to Paris aiming to become the first woman to win back-to-back 200m titles.
If she can repeat the 200m-400m double she completed in Tokyo she will surpass the achievements of every Australian swimmer who has come before her, including Dawn Fraser, Ian Thorpe and Shane Gould who finished their careers with three individual gold medals.
“I’ve always kind of had that belief in myself but it’s one thing having that belief and it’s another thing actually doing it and putting races together that are world class and competitive,” Titmus said.
“So it does give me good confidence but the world of swimming never stops and there are always going to be people swimming fast and so you can never just expect that the gold medals are going to come your way.”
The Professor qualifies for a fourth Olympic Games
- Julian Linden
The Professor has topped the class again.
Cameron McEvoy has become the first Australian male swimmer to qualify for four Olympics after blowing his rivals away in the 50m freestyle at the Australian trials on Wednesday.
Racing faster than ever at the age of 30, McEvoy surged to a comfortable victory in 21.35 seconds, well under Swimming Australia’s controversial qualifying standards.
Ben Armbruster also qualified for the Paris Olympics after finishing second in 21.84, just ahead of Isaac Cooper.
No Australian man has ever won an Olympic medal in the one-lap sprint but McEvoy is on track to change all that if he can maintain his form over the last 12 months.
“That’s 10 sub-21.5 swims in the last year and 21.5 has medalled at every Olympics,” McEvoy said.
“So if I can keep that consistency, keep a level head and navigate the environment that is the Olympics then anything is possible.”
The 2023 world champion, McEvoy joins Cate Campbell and Emily Seebohm as the only Aussie swimmers - but the first male - to go to four Olympics after he debuted at London in 2012.
“It’s special because you could almost fill a book with legendary Aussie male names in the sport,” he said.
“So to have the privilege of having that title under my belt. Having that type of longevity, I think ultimately it just makes me proud, because it shines a light on the persistence and perseverance that I’ve had over my career, but particularly over the last seven years.
“I’m really proud to wear that and I’ll try and do my best to honour over in Paris.
McEvoy has three bronze medals, all in relays, from his past trips to the Olympics and almost quit swimming after Tokyo but decided to give it one last crack after experimenting with a new training method which basically involved reducing the time he was spending in the pool and focusing more on quality.
“About 18 months ago, my goal was to just come back, give this new training approach a goand see what happens,” he said.
“And if I can maybe go under 22 seconds again, I’d be over the moon with that. So what I’ve done so far has obliterated any expectations I had.
“And I guess with that, I’m most excited to try to get this done and just compile what I’ve learnt and just push it out there in public.
“I know there’s a tremendous amount of swimmers who have been in my position who would want to learn from that.”
Live coverage of the Australian Olympic Swimming Trials.
09:30PM: And another night swum and won at the Olympic trials.
09:22PM: “They are the toughest qualifying times (of any nation) in the world.” - Giaan Rooney via Channel Nine.
09:14PM: The strict qualifying criteria strike again with Bowen Gough winning the gruelling 200 metres butterfly shy of the time required.
08:56PM Cameron McEvoy is off to a fourth Olympic Games with the 50 metres freestyle world record under threat at one point. The first Australian male swimmer to qualify for four Olympics.
08:39PM:
Winnington to get over his hatred of the Olympic Games
Elijah Winnington has one goal in Paris - to get over his hatred of the Olympic Games.
It’s not often you hear an Olympian use a word as strong as “hate” when talking about the Games, but that is what is driving Winnington as he heads to Paris in the best shape of his life.
He was in this exact same position three years ago - floating on water.
He’d stormed through the trials, carried the weight of a nation as a reigning world champion and then completed the greatest five week training block his coach Dean Boxall had ever seen.
Then in Tokyo, it all fell apart.
The champ finished seventh and it crushed his world.
Looking back, he knows what went wrong and he’s vowed not to repeat the same mistake in Paris.
“Dean always likes to say that period between trials and Tokyo was the best he has ever seen me train. And look how Tokyo turned out,” he said.
“When I look back going to my first Olympics my mindset was just so intense.
“When I got to Tokyo all I was was just really intense because that is all I had trained for the last five weeks. It may have been fast, but it was tense.
“So this time it’s just about enjoying it all.
“My parents they’ve always said being a double Olympian is a really special achievement but for me the thing I want to take away from this Olympics is not looking back on my experience and hating it.
“I’d rather go to the Olympics and have fond memories and a long way down the line I’d like to be able to tell my kids I went to the Olympics and how fun they were instead of it was the worst experience of my life and I wish I never went.”
At least physically Winnington will head to Paris in prime condition. He secured another start in the 800m freestyle with a dominant win over rival Sam Short on Wednesday night to win in 7:44.90, pulling well clear in the final 50m.
It takes Winnington’s record to 4-0 in head-to-head races with Short this year, although the 24-year-old knows Short is not himself here coming off a bout of gastro.
But mentally, Winnington knows he now has an edge.
“I hadn’t beaten Sam since he had really made a come up until this year. So it is great confidence I mean regardless of where he is at (health wise),” he said.
“But we are even playing fields again when we get to Paris.
“Right now, I think I speak for Sam and myself, we are the ones still hunting.
“(German) Lukas Martins nearly broke the world record in the 400 free (earlier this year) and both Sam and I are world champions in that event, we love that event. That is something to chase.”
08:34PM: A strong last 100 metres for Elijah Winnington see him secure his second win of the week. Sam Short misses qualification time but is already on the team courtesy of the 400 metres freestyle.
08:33PM Another duel in the pool with Elijah Winnington and Sam Short going toe-to-toe in the 800 metres freestyle as they did on night one in the 400 metres freestyle.
08:05PM: Another world record broken this time by Timothy Hodge in the 200m men’s multi-class individual medley finals. It is raining world records in Brisbane.
08:01PM:
Just no stopping Titmus with another world record
- Julian Linden
There is just no stopping Ariarne Titmus.
Not even Mollie O’Callaghan can keep up with the Australian swimming sensation who looks set to take the Paris Olympics by storm.
On Wednesday, Titmus gave another heartstopping reminder of why every Australian should be setting their alarm clocks early to watch her in France as she smashed the world record for 200 metres freestyle.
07:49PM “One of the great moments in life, (but we’re) probably more proud of the woman she is outside the pool,” Titmus’ father post-race (via Channel Nine)
07:42PM: The epitome of a duel in the pool and Ariarne Titmus breaks the world record to win the 200 metres freestyle.
07:38PM: About to get under way. Ariarne Titmus fastest qualifier.
07:28PM: Just moments away from the headline act of this evening’s finals. The women’s 200 metre freestyle final.
THE CARROT ON OFFER IN WOMEN’S 200m FREESTYLE
– Julian Linden
Of all the races at the Australian trials this week, none offers a bigger carrot than the 200m freestyle final for women on Wednesday.
With the reigning Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus and the world record-holder Mollie O’Callaghan in the field, it’s guaranteed to be a red-hot contest that could come down to the last desperate touches on the wall.
The juicy bonus is that the race doubles as the qualifier for the 4x200m freestyle relay, in which the Aussies are strong favourites to win gold in Paris.
The top six finishers are likely to get picked for the Olympics but the competition for places is so tight that there’s no guarantees for anyone, even the big guns such as Titmus, who has already qualified in the 400m.
“I’m on the team already but I still want to swim fast this week,” Titmus said.
“This week is about building confidence, kind of knowing where I sit in terms of my prep and where I have to tweak to try and get better at a time between now and Paris.
“The pressure’s off a little bit but the 200m is really hotly contested. People want to be part of that relay team and people come out of nowhere to do that.
“People think that it’s probably just going to be Mollie and I out the front but I think the entire field is going to be competitive because it’s a very high chance that’s a gold medal possibility with that relay team.”
O’Callaghan will be the odds-on favourite after breaking the world record last year. Her St Peters Western club teammate Titmus is expected to fill the other individual spot.
Lani Pallister, who joined Titmus in qualifying for the 400m, is also strongly tipped to make it along with Shayna Jack, who missed the last Olympics in Tokyo because she was serving a suspension.
Brianna Throssell is also in the mix after being part of the Aussie team that broke the relay world record in Fukuoka, while Kaylee McKeown is the wildcard.
Already a triple gold medallist from Tokyo, McKeown is looking to compete in three individual events in Paris – the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 200m medley – as well as up to three relays.
SIMPSON NEEDS SWIM OF HIS LIFE TO ACHIEVE PARIS DREAM
– Todd Balym and Julian Linden
Cody Simpson will need to produce the fastest swim of his life to make the Australian Olympic team.
His coach Michael Bohl conceded it would be a challenge to deliver an improbable Paris dream with his “last throw of the dice”.
All eyes will be on Simpson in the 100m freestyle heats, and hopefully final, on Thursday when the former pop star-turned-swimmer chases one of six relay spots in the powerful Australian 4x100m freestyle relay team.
He is ranked 11th fastest on seeding times in the freestyle and equal fifth in the 100m butterfly on Saturday, so has two opportunities to qualify for the Paris team.
Bohl said Simpson had done everything possible to realise his Olympic dream and the entire squad was proud of how the 27-year-old had pushed himself in his quest to become an Olympian two years after his stunning selection on the Australian Commonwealth Games team.
However, turning a dream into a reality is going to be incredibly difficult.
Simpson must be among the eight fastest swimmers in the heats, then the top six in the final to secure a relay spot, while the butterfly on Saturday has positions available in the Paris team for just two men.
“It’s a challenge but he is as ready as he is ever going to be,” Bohl said.
“The reality is you have to go off rankings and he is (equal fifth) in the 100 fly and he is about 11th in the 100 free.
“For him to make this team it’s got to be a huge swim. It is possible but it’s expected that it’s going to be a challenge for him to do.
“I’m not saying he is going to make it. I’m not saying he is not going to make it. He has as good a chance as anyone else.
“He just has to survive the round, he has to get himself out of the heats.
“There are 50 people in the 100 free and he has to be top eight after the heats to give himself a chance to be in that final to see what can happen.
“Cody has to be ready to go when those heats are on in the 100 free. He is expected not to make it (into the final) off the seedings.
“But he has to swim PBs to get himself A, through to the final and B, on to the team.
“This is his last sort of throw of the dice and we are hoping he can get up and just get the best out of himself.”
Bohl said regardless of Simpson’s results at the Olympic trials, his incredible comeback from several years out of the pool to even make one Australian team was testament to his professionalism and an inspirational story.
“I think what he did making that Commonwealth Games team is what he set out to achieve,” Bohl said.
“He wanted to make an Australian team, not that he doesn’t want to make this one, he desperately wants to make this if he can, but making an Australian team was a win for him.
“Being out of the sport for a long number of years and coming back and getting in is just testament to his will power, discipline and determination, which have just been great.
“We are all very, very proud of him in the group and wish him the best and see what happens for the rest of this meet.”
MCEVOY ONE LAP AWAY FROM AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC HISTORY
– Julian Linden
Cameron McEvoy is just one flying lap away from becoming the first Australian man to swim at four Olympics after blowing his rivals away in the heats of the 50m freestyle at the Australian trials on Wednesday.
Racing faster than ever at the age of 30, McEvoy blasted through his morning heat in 21.43 seconds – well under Swimming Australia’s controversial qualifying standard of 21.88.
The 2023 world champion, McEvoy has dipped under the mark 13 times in the last two years – with a best of 21.06 – to establish himself as the gold medal favourite for the Paris Olympics – as long as he can do it again in Wednesday’s final.
If he qualifies, he will join Cate Campbell and Emily Seebohm as the only Aussie swimmers to go to four Olympics.
Ben Armbruster set the second fastest time in the heats, 21.91, which was outside the qualifying time. Isaac Cooper was third and Kyle Chalmers fifth.
Matthew Temple set the fastest time in the men’s 200m butterfly heats.
He touched the wall in 1:56.45 with Bowen Gough second in 1:57.60.
To qualify for Paris, swimmers need to go 1:54.97.
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Originally published as Australian Swimming Trials Day 3: Titmus defeats O’Callaghan in epic and breaks world record to do it
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