Kaylee McKeown scares own WR again, bittersweet twist in Cody Simpson’s Olympics bid
There has been a bittersweet twist in Cody Simpson’s bid to make the Paris Olympics at the Aussie swim trials, but was it too little, too late?
Swimming
Don't miss out on the headlines from Swimming. Followed categories will be added to My News.
For the second time in three nights, Kaylee McKeown gave her own world record a shake at the Australian swimming trials and signalled she is primed to defend her backstroke golds in Paris.
It was a huge night in the Brisbane pool and you can read on below to see the off-camera drama that unfolded for Cody Simpson.
McKeown finished the 200m backstroke in 2:03.30 — she was ahead of world record pace for nearly the entire race but touched the wall just 0.16 shy of her global mark.
Seventeen-year-old Jaclyn Barclay was second in 2:07.88 to qualify for her first Olympics after claiming silver in the event at the world championships in Doha earlier this year.
Emily Seebohm was fifth in 2:10.80, falling just short in her remarkable bid to become the first Australian swimmer to go to five Olympics, just eight months after giving birth to her first child.
McKeown was just 0.08 off her own world record in the 100m backstroke, but is in the box seat to defend her backstroke double in Paris.
Her fierce American rival Regan Smith will get the chance to respond at the USA’s trials next week.
“It doesn’t bother me at all to be honest,” McKeown told reporters about missing her world record and personal best by a whisker.
“I’m just happy to still be swimming around that time. There’s not many people in the world that are doing it at the moment. There’s one I can think of and she’s about to get up and race.
“I’m nervous to see what see what she (Smith) does but I’m excited for the battle in Paris.”
Asked how she can improve, if at all, McKeown said: “That’s something I’ve got to work on with my coach, and that’s something I don’t want to share with the rest of the world.
“I’m sure there’s people out there having secrets but I just want to enjoy these Olympics. Last time I was probably a bit too young to enjoy it so this time I’m looking to go there and enjoy myself.”
McKeown, 22, lowered her own 200m medley national record on the opening night of the trials and she heads to Paris as a gold medal contender in all three of her events.
Already with three Olympic golds to her name from Tokyo, McKeown could return from Paris as arguably Australia’s greatest individual athlete if she picks up a trio of gold.
Dawn Fraser, Murray Rose, Ian Thorpe and Shane Gould all won three individual gold medals in their Olympic careers.
Emma McKeon has Australia’s most overall Olympic medals with 11. She and Thorpe lead all comers with five gold medals overall.
Cody Simpson wins final, but is it too little, too late?
In a late twist, Cody Simpson has tied with Matt Temple to win the 100m freestyle B final in 48.67, which would have been enough to finish equal sixth in the A final ahead of Zac Incerti.
It was a personal best for Simpson and had he swum faster in the heats to make the final, it would have given the selectors food for thought about selecting the popstar for the 4x100m relay.
Simpson’s time of 49.04 was 10th fastest in Thursday’s heats.
Traditionally the top six swimmers are picked for the freestyle relays, but the fifth and sixth spots can be up to the discretion of selectors.
The swim, which happened when most of the crowd had left the Brisbane Aquatic Centre late on Thursday night, is a promising sign for Simpson’s 100m butterfly on Saturday.
Australia’s Olympic swimming team will be announced on Saturday night after the final day of competition.
It means Simpson’s mistakes in the heats on Thursday morning will haunt him, knowing he had it in him to be on the plane to Paris.
He was just 0.15 seconds short of a spot in the final.
News Corp’s Todd Balym wrote on Twitter it was a “massive shock” to see Simpson post such a hot time at the end of the night.
Incerti may have already secured a spot in the team after finishing fifth in the men’s 200m freestyle, putting him in position to be a heat swimmer in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
According to Balym and News Corp’s Julian Linden pressure will be on selectors to “bend their rules” to select Simpson.
Simpson will now turn his focus to his main event the 100m butterfly, which is scheduled for the last day of competition on Saturday.
It’s a fairly agonising wait for Simpson, who is seeded sixth fastest in the 100m butterfly.
The top two swimmers will qualify for Paris. National record holder Matt Temple is expected to win and Simpson will battle it out with Shaun Champion, Ben Armbruster and Chalmers for the second spot.
Armbruster has already qualified for the 50m freestyle, finishing second behind Cameron McEvoy.
Even if the second swimmer doesn’t go under the tough qualifying time of 51.17sec, they are likely to be selected as a backup for the medley relay. Simpson’s personal best is 51.67.
Chalmers off to third Olympics, reveals injury scare
Kyle Chalmers is going to his third Olympics, winning the 100m freestyle in 47.75 to qualify for Paris.
The 25-year-old famously won gold as a teenager at Rio and was pipped by American superstar Caeleb Dressel in Tokyo.
Chalmers has won the 100m freestyle at every international meet, but he revealed he nearly didn’t get up on the blocks at trials.
He told reporters post-race he required four cortisone injections in his back less than two weeks before trials after a day of rest seized up his back.
“I’ve been doing some landscape labouring up on the Sunny Coast and I decided I wouldn’t go go work on the Friday and I’d rest for trials,” Chalmers said.
“I spent a day laying on the couch, which my body’s clearly not used to. I got pretty stiff and then Saturday morning I tried to do a dive and then it all spasmed and locked up.
“Saw physios and doctors and the best thing I could do was to get four cortisones in my lower back and try to get moving again.
“Really hard thing to go through so close to trials, it makes you change your stroke completely.
“I’ve had ankle and shoulder problems in my career, when you have one of them you can kind of use your other three limbs to get around it, whereas the back is in control of every aspect of your day to day life and obviously in the pool — the start, the turn, swimming — it impacts it massively.
“I’m just grateful to be here racing today and to be back on the mend. I know I can get it right in six weeks time. But having only 10 days is probably not a huge amount of time.
“I’ve been seeing the physio four times a day since I’ve been here, just trying to loosen and activate everything so I’m able to swim.
“I think I’ve put on a pretty brave face to get through it. It’s definitely been challenging just getting in and out of bed and starting the day. It’s something that just sticks in the back of your mind.
“I’ve had back problems and really dealt with them in 2018 to 2019. I’ve got bulged discs in my back and a bit of a degenerative spine. I have now had 10 cortisones in my back throughout my career.
“Mentally and emotionally I’m in a very, very good spot so I’m able to rise above the adversity and the challenges that have been thrown at me. All I had to do tonight was swim two laps of the swimming pool, it’s really not that hard in the big scheme of things.
“Mentally it hasn’t been that bad, it’s more the physical pain of it.”
William Yang was second in 48.08, and should get to swim the 100m freestyle in Paris despite being 0.02 outside of Swimming Australia’s qualifying time.
Titmus ‘disappointed’ with 800m
Ariarne Titmus was less than a second off her personal best in the 800m freestyle, but was disappointed.
She touched in 8:14.06 ahead of Lani Pallister in 8:18.46, both well under the qualifying time.
“If I’m completely honest, I’m pretty disappointed in the swim,” Titmus told Nine.
“But we have the chance to do better in Paris.”
Titmus won silver in the 800m at Tokyo but may need to get closer to the 8m10sec mark to challenge Katie Ledecky, who is chasing her fourth consecutive gold in the event.
“In the form I’m in, I truly thought I had a chance of swimming a great 800m and doing a PB,” she told reporters.
“It’s an event that’s really hard to pace well and get right. You’ve got to be very fast to swim an 800m well.
“I’m disappointed with the time. I know I’m better than that, but at least I get the chance to do it again at the Olympics.
“The 800m is a race I’m trying to enjoy the more. I definitely enjoy racing the 400m and 200m and enjoyment is a big part of it as well.
“I definitely don’t enjoy it as much as the other two, but when there’s medals on the line at an Olympics, that should be enough to get me through.”
Butterfly duo secure Olympic berth
Lizzie Dekkers (2:06.01) and Abbey Connor (2:06.82) have flown under the 200m butterfly qualifying time to book their spot at their first Olympics.
Dekkers, 20, was under the FINA qualifying at the at the Tokyo trials but wasn’t picked because she didn’t meet Swimming Australia’s faster standard of the top eight in the world.
She’s since won Commonwealth gold, silver at last year’s world championships and her time is the third fastest in the world this year.
Originally published as Kaylee McKeown scares own WR again, bittersweet twist in Cody Simpson’s Olympics bid
Steph Rice: Australian tactic ‘must stop’
Swimming legend Stephanie Rice has declared Australia is making an Olympic mistake all over again, and it’s only making Team USA stronger.
Read more
Swimming Australia poaches coaching guru from rivals
The Poms will be filthy after Swimming Australia pulled off a massive coup by poaching the driving force behind British super star breaststroker Adam Peaty, less than a month from the start of the Olympic Games.
Read more