Swimming FINA World Championships 2022: Results and all the action from day 1
No one can stop Australia’s golden girls in the pool. And Emma McKeon led the way once again at the World Champs. Recap all the action from day one.
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No matter the lineup — or the size of the pool — no-one can stop Australia’s golden girls in swimming.
Along with death and taxes, the Australian women’s 4x100m freestyle team are locked-in certainties that always deliver.
They did it again on Tuesday at the world short course championships in Melbourne, thanks to a mind-blowing anchor leg from Tokyo Olympic queen Emma McKeon — smashing the world record to claim the last gold medal that has eluded the Australian team.
The Aussies have already won the sprint relay event at the Olympics, long-course world championships and Commonwealth Games but had never won the short-course world title until now.
The set is complete after McKeon teamed up with young gun Mollie O’Callaghan, Meg Harris and Madi Wilson to win the gold in a combined time three minutes 25.43 seconds - hacking 1.1 seconds off the previous world record set by the Netherlands in 2014.
The Aussies earned a $37,000 bonus for breaking yet another world record but it wasn’t easy and it took a sub-50 closing split from McKeon to seal the gold ahead of an American team that led for the first 350m of the race.
McKeon dived in almost a body length behind America’s last swimmer Erika Brown, but hit the lead when she turned for the last lap, then surged away to get her hands on the wall first.
The Americans also broke the old world record but the gold was gone because McKeon was in a league of her own. Her 49.96 closing time was the fastest ever by a female sprinter. No one else in the race went under 51.
“We had a good team put together and had to believe we’d get our hand on it first. To come away with a world record is pretty good,” said McKeon, who stands unchallenged as the greatest relay swimmer ever and Australia‘s most prolific medal winner.
“I put my best races together in a relay I think. I love the team effort and putting my best swim together for them.
“It’s pretty cool. To be the first person doing 49 in a relay is pretty cool.
“I wasn’t really thinking about it. It was just about touching first as a relay. We kind of knew the world record was in reach.
“This is our first short course as a country, so it’s pretty cool to put this team together.
“For the kids in the stands, for them to be watching us is awesome.”
O’Callaghan - the boom teenager who won the long course world title earlier this year - rekindled memories of Kaylee McKeown’s salty reaction after winning gold in Tokyo with her own F-bomb.
“At the end of the day it’s a team, and we all did pretty f…ing good,” she said.
Not to be outdone, in the pool at least, Kyle Chalmers unleashed an explosive final leg to secure silver for Australia in the men’s relay.
Chalmers - the world record holder for 100m freestyle short course - reeled off a closing leg of 44.98 to move the Aussies up to second place after Flynn Southam, Matt Temple and Tommy Neill combined to get the lineup into third spot.
“The boys set me up really well,” said Chalmers.
“It’s always my favourite event of the competition, and a nice way to start my campaign. So I enjoyed it.”
Italy won the gold, breaking the world record in the process, but it was the Aussies who finished the first day of competition on top of the medals table with two golds, a silver and bronze.
As well as the two relays, Lani Pallister won gold in the 400m freestyle while McKeown bagged a bronze in the 200m individual medley and qualified for Wednesday’s 100m backstroke final along with O’Callaghan.
Daughter of champion shines as Aussies claim first gold in the pool
Like Mother, like daughter, Australia struck gold in the very first final at the world short course swimming championships in Melbourne after Lani Pallister won the women’s 400m freestyle.
The daughter of former Commonwealth Games champion Janelle Elford, Pallister overpowered her rivals in the eight lap race to claim her first world title after she almost quit swimming when she missed the team for the Tokyo Olympics and got seriously ill.
“I pretty much gave the sport away at the end of last year. I hadn‘t trained for close to three months and didn’t really want anything to do with it anymore,” Pallister said.
“I think it was more that I lost my love for the sport. I missed four senior teams in a row by one spot, which when you‘re that close constantly, it just kind of breaks your heart one by one.
“So to be in the position that I am at the moment, going to my first world long course and the Comm Games, I did Duel in the Pool, and now I‘m competing here at short course world champs with a gold medal, it’s just insane.”
Long regarded as one of Australia’s most promising young distance swimmers, Pallister’s world fell apart last year when her health took an unexpected turn for the worse but she has emerged as one of the most inspiring members of the Dolphins team.
Still in her teens and super fit, she had been widely expected to make the Australian team for Tokyo but underperformed at the trials and missed out – though no-one knew why at the time, including her, with her only explanation, a curt message on her social media account that “shit happens”
She found out later that she’d had glandular fever, then post viral fatigue, which partly explained her below-par performances at the trials.
She was then diagnosed with a heart problem that needed surgery.
So she went under the knife and had it repaired, along with her nose, where a blockage was causing her to have difficulties breathing.
Then after all that, the worst yet; she convinced herself she needed to lose weight and be skinny to swim fast, which developed into a serious eating disorder that ate away her mind and body.
Pallister was left to watch the Tokyo Olympics on television but it re-lit a fuse in her.
She went back to training and made the team for this year’s world championships and Commonwealth Games, celebrating with a heartfelt hug from her mum and coach.
She won two medals at the world titles, but was diagnosed with Covid, then recovered and won a bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
With Ariarne Titmus not competing and Chinese world record holder Le Bingji a last minute scratching, Pallister was suddenly thrust into the role of favourite and handled the pressure like a seasoned professional as Elford watched her from the stand.
Sitting patiently through the first 375m, the excitement got the better of her and jumped to her feet to cheer her daughter over the last lap.
“She‘s so cute. I sent her a text this morning because I didn’t get to see her after my heat swim and I was like ’I’ll see you tonight,” Pallister said.
“She was like, ‘we’re here for you. We’re here to watch you swim and we love you no matter what.’
“So knowing that she was an athlete and would have had the same sort of nerves and that sort of thing racing, it‘s just something that’s really soothing about having them in the stands, knowing that they were going to be proud of you no matter what.”
MYSTERY SURROUNDS MISSING CHINESE SWIMMING STAR
Mystery surrounds the late scratching of Chinese champion Li Bingjie on day one of the short-course worlds, with the women’s 400m freestyle favourite failing to show for the event in early drama on Tuesday.
Bingjie, 20, snared Ariarne Titmus’s short-course 400m freestyle record during China’s national championships in October, stopping the clock at 3:51.30.
She reportedly succumbed to illness after arriving in Melbourne with a high fever, and whether she returns for her other events later in the week remains unclear.
Bingjie is scheduled for the 800m freestyle Wednesday, the 1500m Friday and the 200m Sunday.
Chinese team management on Tuesday afternoon was yet to confirm details behind her absence but have a reputation for being reticent.
“That is a surprise. That is a shock. We are expecting to see Li Bingjie. We have been talking about her and what performance she will be able to have here,” Ian Thorpe told Channel 9.
“What a shock not to see the world record holder swim in this event.”
Thorpe added her absence would have thrown her competitors’ swim strategies into chaos because they would no longer know what pace to target.
Aussie Lani Pallister posted a strong 3:59.50 in her heat to book a spot in the final on Tuesday night.
She’ll be tasked with chasing down 18-year-old Kiwi Erika Fairweather, who was the pick of the heats with 3:58.27. Queenslander Leah Neale also snuck through, claiming the last lane in the final with 4:02.30.
Earlier, a shock result in the women’s 100m backstroke saw Australian mega star Kaylee McKeown banished to fourth in the heats.
The result means she reached the semis as the 12th fastest.
It was the first surprise result on day one of the Swimming FINA World Championships.
Mollie O’Callaghan is also into the last 16 as the third fastest.
“It isn’t the best we have seen from her but we have to remember this is not her only event,” Ian Thorpe said.
“She may be thinking about how she is planning this programme but also where she is in her training.
“She loves to race and she looks like there is more there.”
Giaan Rooney agreed with her commentary colleague.
“Looked a little sticky in the heat swim,” she said on Channel 9.
“The first one is all about blowing out the cobwebs. As we spoke about, she has 200 IM come to later on this morning. She would have tried to withhold the legs as much as possible in the backstroke looking for a little swim later. She might have got a shock though. I don’t know if she was expecting to be the 12th qualifier.”
AUSSIES BRING IN GUNS FOR RELAY FINALS
Aussie boom sprinter Mollie O’Callaghan will be injected into the 4x100m freestyle relay team as it chases gold – and possibly more records – in Tuesday night’s final.
O’Callaghan comes in for Leah Neale, joining Meg Harris, Madi Wilson and Emma McKeon, who powered the Aussies to an Oceania record in their heat.
Meanwhile, Kyle Chalmers has been drafted into the men’s team, which posted the fourth-fastest time of the heats earlier on Tuesday.
Chalmers replaces Shaun Champion to join Flynn Southam, Matthew Temple and Thomas Neill.
COOPER EXCITED TO GET BACK INTO RACING AFTER BAN
Teenage backstroker Isaac Cooper has stopped short of delving into details relating to his ban for misusing prescription medication, calling it “devastating” as he made a strong racing return at the short-course worlds on Tuesday.
Cooper was banished from the Australian team ahead of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in July, with Swimming Australia sending the 18-year-old home from a training camp in France amid what it described as “wellbeing challenges”.
The Bundaberg product said in a since-deleted Instagram post that he did not take any banned substances, with his exclusion from the team ultimately relating to his mental health.
He finished second in his 100m backstroke heat Tuesday morning as the FINA short course championships commenced at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre.
He advanced through to the semis with the sixth-fastest overall time, telling reporters following his heat that he wouldn’t discuss the specifics of his ban “right now” but that it was “devastating”.
“Of course I was disappointed,” Cooper said. “I’m a swimmer, I’m there to compete and I couldn’t compete.
“It was devastating having to watch them when I knew a week (earlier) I was standing beside them. I’m back here now standing beside them.
“It’s good to be racing. I was pretty nervous leading up to it all day. I was glad I was able to race well. It was a shame having to watch my teammates on the TV (during the Commonwealth Games).”
Cooper said he had addressed and overcome the mental health issues that contributed to his Birmingham ban with the help of “psychiatrists and psychologists” provided to him by Swimming Australia.
“They have been really helpful,” Cooper said.
“I saw some of them leading into the competition. They’ve all said that leading into this comp, everything is fine. There are no issues at all. I’m just in the zone I’ve always wanted to be.”
Also aiding Cooper’s redemption was a trip with mates to Bali, which he credited for his “reset”.
“My closest friends reached out to me and supported me, my closest friends and I went away for a holiday. That was fantastic to reset,” he said.
“They bring out the best in me and I bring out the best in them.”
Cooper competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where he claimed a bronze medal as part of the 4x100m mixed medley relay team.
He was announced as the Bundaberg Regional Council’s ‘young citizen of the year’ on January 26.
WOMEN’S 4x100m FREESTYLE
Australia’s strong relay lineup made a huge statement in the heats, cracking an oceania record to prove themselves as firm favourites for the final.
Meg Harris, Madi Wilson, Leah Neale and Emma McKeon compiled 3:28.58, finishing well ahead of their Dutch competitors who were second in 3:30.42.
McKeon was unaware the team had cracked the record immediately following the swim.
“Did we get that? We had a good set of girls here. It’s probably hard to choose our relay because there’s such a high calibre of athletes in the 100 free,” she told Channel 9.
“Hopefully we can get out there and do a good job tonight.”
CHINESE CHAMP SICK
Chinese champion Li Bingjie did not take to the pool on Tuesday due to illness, with the world record-holder’s arrival in Melbourne soured by a high fever.
She snared Ariarne Titmus’s short-course 400m freestyle record in October, stopping the clock at 3:51.30.
Bingjie did not race the 400m heats but is reportedly hopeful of returning for other events.
She is scheduled for the 800m freestyle Wednesday, the 1500m Friday and the 200m Sunday.
MEN’S 50m BUTTERFLY
Short course butterfly gun Matthew Temple has comfortably secured a lane in the semis with the sixth-swiftest heat time, finishing with a personal best 22.3. The 23-year-old is fresh off winning gold at the Australian short course championships in Sydney in August, where he posted 22.7.
WOMEN’S 200m MEDLEY
Kaylee McKeown has set up a medley showdown with American long-course world champion Alex Walsh in what will be an eagerly awaited final on Tuesday night.
McKeown took things lightly in the 100m backstroke heats earlier Tuesday before finishing behind Walsh with the second-fastest 200m medley heat time.
It sets up a rematch of the long-course final held in Budapest earlier this year, where McKeown had to settle for silver while Walsh claimed gold.
WOMEN’S 50m BUTTERFLY
Aussie Alex Perkins snuck into the semis in 16th position with 25.65, telling Channel 9 she was happy with her efforts after pushing her 25.52 PB.
“I was really happy with that as a morning swim in the first little hitout,” she said.
“I think I executed quite well, but there are still things I can improve on.
“Great crowd, (it’s) exciting friends and family can watch.
MEN’S 50m BUTTERFLY
Short course butterfly gun Matthew Temple has comfortably secured a lane in the semis with the sixth-swiftest heat time, finishing with a personal best 22.3. The 23-year-old is fresh off winning gold at the Australian short course championships in Sydney in August, where he posted 22.7.
MEN’S 100m BACKSTROKE
Teenage backstroke gun Isaac Cooper has returned from his ban with a strong swim in the heats, advancing to the semis with the sixth-fastest time.
The 18-year-old was sent home from a lead-in Commonwealth Games training camp in July for “misuse of medication”.
WOMEN’S 100m BACKSTROKE HEATS
Freestyle sprint specialist Mollie O’Callaghan has flexed her prowess as a backstroke prospect, storming into the 100m semifinals with 56.35 as the third-fastest heat swimmer.
Meanwhile, backstroke Tokyo gold medallist Kaylee McKeown scraped through, qualifying by half-a-second with 57.11.
WOMEN’S 400m FREESTYLE HEATS
Lani Pallister has kicked off the Aussies’ short-course campaign in style, posting 3:59.50 in her 400m freestyle heat to book a spot in Tuesday night’s final.
She’ll be tasked with chasing down 18-year-old Kiwi Erika Fairweather, who was the pick of the heats with 3:58.27. Queenslander Leah Neale also snuck through, claiming the last lane in the final with 4:02.30.
WHY HAVE BIG NAMES BAILED?
The absence of some of the country’s fastest swimmers has forced Australia’s team bosses to lower their medal expectations for this week’s short-course (25m) world championships in Melbourne.
The Dolphins have been consistently among the best teams in the world at most of the major international events in recent years but are trying to keep a lid on things ahead of the first world championships in Australian waters in 15 years.
Rohan Taylor, the mastermind head coach behind Australia’s stunning success at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, has always played his cards close to his chest when talking about the team’s chances, but he’s probably right to bite his lip this time.
While there’s always going to be plenty of firepower in a Dolphins squad which features Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown and Kyle Chalmers, it’s still nowhere near as strong as it could be after some of Australia’s biggest names pulled out.
Olympic gold medallists Ariarne Titmus and Zac Stubletty-Cook and world champion Elijah Winnington have all opted to skip the six-day event at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, while freestyle sprint sensation Mollie O’Callaghan is entered only in backstroke.
Even though it’s been so long since a swimming world championship was held in local waters, it is no real surprise that the Australians are going in understrength because the Dolphins have always prioritised long-course (50m) swimming.
The skill set for short-course swimming is different because the half-sized pool means there are more turns and time spent underwater, so it has made it tough for Taylor to predict how many medals the home team might come away with.
“It is definitely more difficult because one, there’s a little bit of an unknown. It’s not as easy to track as in long-course,” Taylor said.
“The formula I’m using is really just looking at how many people we have in that top five, top eight rank to me. And then usually if they perform well, the conversion into medals is good, so that’s what I’ll be looking at.”
The incredible depth of talent in the 36-member squad means Australia should still pick up a stack of medals in the relays, while there are still plenty of individuals who can get on the podium.
But the challenges facing the Aussies are compounded by the fact the internationals have also come out in force, bringing some of the biggest stars in the sport from established champions like Adam Peaty, Lily King and Chad le Clos to rising stars led by Romanian teenage sprint sensation David Popovici.
ESTABLISHED AUSSIE STARS TO WATCH
Emma McKeon
Kaylee McKeown
Kyle Chalmers
Mack Horton
Madi Wilson
Meg Harris
THE UP-AND-COMING AUSSIES TO WATCH
Flynn Southam
Tommy Neill
Lizzy Dekkers
Sam Williamson
THE INTERNATIONAL STARS TO WATCH
David Popovici (Romania)
Adam Peaty (Britain)
Tom Dean (Britain)
Lily King (USA)
Chad le Clos (South Africa)
Maggie MacNeil (Canada)
Kylie Masse (Canada)
2022 WORLD SHORT-COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Venue: Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre
Dates: Dec 13-18. Heats start daily at 11am AEDT, finals start at 7.30pm
Total prizemoney: $3.2 million.
World record bonuses: $37,000
This is the 16th edition of the short-course world titles, first held in 1993.
Australian swimmers have won 79 gold medals, second only to the US.
This is the first time the short-course world titles have been staged in Australia, although the FINA long-course world championships have been held here three times previously, in 1991, 1998 and 2007.
DAY 1 SESSION TIMES AND ORDER
DAY SESSION FROM 11AM AEDT
400m Freestyle W
100m Backstroke W
100m Backstroke M
50m Butterfly W
50m Butterfly M
200m Individual Medley W
200m Individual Medley M
4x100m Freestyle Relay W
4x100m Freestyle Relay M
1500m Freestyle M (Timed final)
NIGHT SESSION
FROM 7:30PM AEDT
400m Freestyle W*
50m Butterfly W
50m Butterfly M
200m Individual Medley W*
200m Individual Medley M*
100m Backstroke W
100m Backstroke M
1500m Freestyle M (Timed final)*
4x100m Freestyle Relay W*
4x100m Freestyle Relay M*
* indicates finals
FOMO powering Aussie megastar
– Emma Greenwood
Ariarne Titmus doesn’t need extra motivation to know that she wants to stand on top of the Olympic podium again in Paris.
If she did though, she’s got it in spades.
Titmus will admit to a smidgen of FOMO.
Sitting back and watching distance queen Katie Ledecky slug it out with swimming’s rising star, Canadian Summer McIntosh in events in North America over the past month would have almost any other rival worried.
Titmus beat both at the Olympics in Tokyo last year and edged McIntosh at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year but the pair has staged epic battles at the Toronto World Cup meet and US Open in recent weeks as well as the world championships in the northern summer.
The Olympic champ has missed all those events and will skip the world shortcourse titles in Melbourne this week as she continues a blinkered approach to the Paris Games in 2024.
“It’s been really good (watching Ledecky and McIntosh). I mean, there’s been a little bit of FOMO,” Titmus said.
“But I have my own plan and I and I know what I need to do at the moment to be ready for worlds and then Paris (Olympics) and for me, it’s not about being fast at this time of the year.
“As you get older, you really have to prioritise the meets that are important and there’s no point in me swimming fast this time of the year when I want to be swimming fast in six months’ time.
“It’s exciting to see the times that a lot of people are putting out at this time of year and they’re very fast but I want to make sure that I’m swimming fast when it matters.”
Titmus was one of Australia’s top performers in a glittering performance from the swim team in Tokyo, winning individual gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle, coming home over the top of Ledecky in an epic 400m race.
And while Ledecky and McIntosh remain in her vision, her biggest competition could actually come from within her own St Peters Western squad.
Teammate Mollie O’Callaghan pushed her all the way in the 200m at the Commonwealth Games, touching the wall just 0.12sec behind the Olympic champ, to snare silver after winning six medals at the world championships in Budapest just weeks earlier.
O’Callaghan will be in action in Melbourne this week, showing coach Dean Boxall’s willingness not to enforce a “one size fits all” regimen on his athletes.
“When I was younger, I just wanted to take every opportunity I could to race overseas and get as much experience as I could and keep learning about my events and how to swim them and I think that put me in great stead,” Titmus said.
“But I feel like I’m getting older now and I’ve got a lot more experience under my belt and I know how to race at the at the highest level, so for me now, it’s about picking and choosing the most important moments to perform.”
Titmus has taken the opportunity to expand her view beyond the pool since Tokyo, taking on opportunities such as being a Melbourne Cup ambassador and dipping her toe into the world of commentating, as she will do the Nine Network at this week’s world shortcourse titles when she completes her duties in the pool at the Queensland state titles where she is entered in several events this week.
But the memories of Tokyo linger – and it’s something she wants to experience again.
“I’ve got enough motivation within myself to get back to that level,” she said.
“It’s been a very, very busy year for me but next year is going to be very different – my mindset completely switches to Paris.
“I can look at other people’s swimming and that adds motivation, but I think I’ve got enough motivation within myself and wanting that self satisfaction and self-gratification to see what I can do to try and be better.”
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