Alex Perkins emerges as Emma McKeon’s butterfly successor after cruising to World Championships
Australia may have found its next Madame Butterfly - with a rising star emerging from the gigantic shadow of Emma McKeon with a stunning display at the national trials in Adelaide.
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Australia might have found its next queen of the 100m women’s butterfly after the departure of Olympic champion Emma McKeon, with rising star Alex Perkins cruising through the Australian Swimming Trials final to book a spot in this year’s World Championships.
The 24-year-old out of Queensland smashed her previous personal best for the event, which she set during the heats in Adelaide earlier on Monday, finishing first with a 56.42 time - the third fastest ever by an Australian after McKeon and Jessicah Schipper.
Perkins was thrilled with the result and believed she could fill the hole left by six-time Olympic gold medallist McKeon.
“I’m really happy with the PB in the morning and PB at night, I think it’s been a long time coming, I’ve been working really hard for those times so it’s nice when it all comes together when it matters,” she said.
“I think my form is down to a lot of things - coming off of the (Paris) Olympics and having self belief, and just figuring out how to just race my own race a bit more and not worry about other people.
“She (Emma McKeon) has been at the forefront of this event for so long and she’s just so talented and an amazing role model to look to.
“It sucks that she’s not here to race anymore but hopefully we can win the 100 fly for Australia at the next Olympics.”
A surprise member of the Australian swim team at the Paris Olympics, Perkins said she had built significant momentum from the experience.
She believed she could carry that momentum through to the World Championships in Singapore.
“For me I was really lucky to make the Olympics. I scraped through and it was a great experience but I didn’t experience the big lull some athletes do.
“I had some time off but I was just really determined to continue working and carry that momentum through.”
Fellow Queenslander Lily Price also qualified for Singapore with a 57.78 second place finish.
SHORT BOUNCES BACK IN STYLE AFTER TOUGH PARIS LESSONS
Australian swimmer Sam Short has shown he has improved through tough lessons learned from a mentally and physically challenging Paris Olympics, swimming a spectacular 3:41.03 in the Australian Swimming Trials 400m freestyle.
The 21-year-old finished over two seconds ahead of fellow Olympian Elijah Winnington, who won silver in Paris while Short missed out.
Short said he had come back motivated after an Olympics riddled with illness and injury and had benefited from working through a mental health battle after Paris.
“It gives me tonnes of confidence,” he said.
“I’ve just been super motivated since getting back to it and I’ve done a lot of high level international racing so this was really familiar to me.
“Paris took me a while to process and I did a lot of work with sports psychology and just tried to make my mind stronger.
“The next chapter, World Championships, is all I’m thinking about now and just trying to enjoy racing and going fast.”
MCKEOWN WINS AFTER DISQUALIFICATION DRAMA
Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown has won the 50m backstroke final after successfully protesting a disqualification for an early start in her heat.
McKeown, the current world record holder, swam a 27.33sec race to just edge out fellow star Mollie O’Callaghan, who clocked 27.39sec, and win through to the World Championships in Singapore.
The 23-year-old had to protest a disqualification from her heat earlier on Monday after officials ruled she initiated a start before the signal.
Almost two hours after the race her protest was upheld after officials ruled in her favour that she was distracted by a movement immediately prior to the signal.
“It’s not the first time I’ve been disqualified. I guess it’s not something you want to practice but it’s good to toughen yourself up mentally and hopefully it prepares me for anything down the track,” McKeown said after her final win.
“It’s simple, I got disqualified and I got reinstated…I was distracted by something and that’s all I feel comfortable saying.
“Things sometimes crumble that way, I knew as soon as I started what I’d done but thankfully we have the technology and saw the distraction and got reinstated.
“I’m a competitor and I love competing - I’m not going to turn down an opportunity to get up and race.”
Despite winning the final, McKeown was not satisfied with her race or the level of work she had put in leading into the national trials.
She revealed she had struggled to find motivation after the Olympics.
“Tonight just wasn’t my night and I didn’t swim the way I wanted to.
“Coming off of the Olympics I was in a dark place mentally - I think when you’re coming off of such a high and you go back to such a low you struggle to find ideas of what to do next.
“I’m really happy now (after time off) outside of the pool and with time that will give me a good environment to train really hard.
“I don’t think people know how much pressure you put on yourself, you’re just so fixated on wanting to swim well for yourself and your country, your team.”
INJURY DRAMAS
Paris Olympic silver medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook has credited new coach Mel Marshall for keeping him in the pool as the breaststroke star continues to battle a serious neck injury.
After winning 200m breaststroke silver in Paris, the 26-year-old former world record holder revealed he had suffered a neck fracture in the lead up to the Olympics and he has continued to recover from a number of setbacks since.
Now training under coach Marshall, who tutored renowned British breaststroke gold medallist Adam Peaty, Stubblety-Cook said her impact had already been significant in and out of the pool.
“She’s been really good at managing the injury I’ve had ... I wouldn’t be here without her,” he said.
“We were hoping it was kind of settled but it probably hasn’t settled as much as we originally wanted.
“She’s been really good with that and we’ve been focusing a lot on ‘communicating before crisis’, that’s been the theme of this year so far.”
Stubblety-Cook is not the only Australian breaststroker having a tough run with injury, world 50m champion Sam Williamson has withdrawn from the national selection trials after undergoing knee surgery last month for a ruptured patella tendon.
Williamson’s best time in 2024 would have won him the gold medal at the Paris Olympics in the 100m, but the Victorian failed to make the final in a disappointing meet and his quest for an immediate bounce back in 2025 has been ruined by an injury with a very long road to recovery.
“There are moments in life when everything you’ve built will feel like it’s slipping through your fingers,” he wrote on Instagram last month.
“You will get knocked down - hard. But when that happens, there’s only one thing to do. You stand up, dust yourself off and find your next step.
“A ruptured patella tendon wasn’t part of the game plan. Neither was spending months in a brace, walking like C-3PO. But adversity doesn’t ask for permission - it shows up unannounced, and it tests everything you’ve got.”
SUMMER’S SCORCHER
Canadian 18-year-old superstar Summer McIntosh has backed up from smashing Ariarne Titmus’s 400m freestyle world record on Saturday by almost breaking the 800m world mark held by the legendary Katie Ledecky on Sunday at her national trials.
McIntosh was under world record pace until the final 100m, touching the wall in 8:05.07 to be less than one second off Ledecky’s mark (8:04.12) and the third fastest swim in history.
“Going in I really wanted to see how close I could get to that world record,” said McIntosh.
“But overall I think I am pretty happy with my race. I have to look over my splits, I think it was in a bit of no man’s land a little bit so I think moving forward I’m excited to see how I can be pushed when I’ve got some close quarter racing.
“This is my starting point now and just keep pushing forward. I’m still happy because it is a PB but I am always trying to be better and better.”
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