Isaac Cooper left shattered when 50m backstroke gold was recinded due to false start error
Australia’s Isaac Cooper has had his victory in the 50m backstroke final rescinded after a bizarre false start error, with the teenager utterly devastated with the final outcome.
Australian teenager Isaac Cooper was robbed of a gold medal after a monumental stuff up by officials at the world short course swimming championships in Melbourne on Friday.
One of the most exciting, young talents in Australian swimming, Cooper should have been on top of the world, celebrating as the newly crowned world champion in 50m backstroke.
Instead he finished with a silver medal — then burst into tears when he stood on the podium with his consolation prize.
“I’ve never seen that happen before. It’s a shame I had to be in that situation,” Cooper said.
“The gold medal isn’t mine because of how it played out.”
Cooper did his job perfectly — breaking his own junior world record when he won the final in a super slick time of 22.49 seconds — only to be denied by bumbling officials.
To his dismay, Cooper was told the result did not count because of a technical error.
Although no-one broke early, the false start siren was set off after the field left the blocks the first time, but only two of the eight finalists heard it so stopped racing.
The other six swimmers all continued to swim as fast as they could — with Cooper getting his hands on the wall first — but it was all for nothing.
World Aquatics officials called an urgent meeting of all the countries represented in the final, who agreed to reschedule the race an hour later, as organisers issued a sheepish apology that read: “World Aquatics apologises for the error.”
The full travesty of the blunder became even worse an hour later when Cooper was narrowly beaten by Murphy in the rescheduled race, with the American winning in 22.64sec — 0.15 slower than the Australian’s original time. In the re-run, Cooper touched in 22.73sec.
“Normally in this situation there’s a rope to stop the swimmer … but that wasn’t there,” a confused Cooper said
“In the end it came down to who had the fastest two 50s. “My first 50 was the fastest 50.
“I definitely didn’t want to do another one. I came here to swim the fastest 50m that I can.
“I was able to do that in the first race, I was not able to in the second race.”
Murphy reached over the lane rope to console the Australian, telling reporters he should have won the gold.
“I feel for Isaac,” Murphy said. “In my mind, he won that race. It’s definitely a mix of emotions.”
Cooper has been one of the revelations of the championship, winning a bronze in the 100m and a gold in the relay, in his return to the national team since being sent home from Europe this year for “wellbeing issues” and medication use.
When Lani Pallister won her fourth gold medal in as many days by lapping the entire field to win the women’s 1500m freestyle in a canter she said her heart went out to Cooper.
“He‘s such a great kid and I have so much respect for him in and out of the pool. I think he’s just a beautiful human and I can’t wait for him and his career moving forward,” Pallister said.
“I think he‘ll have an incredible year next year, he’ll go back home and have a little break over Christmas and reflect and yeah he’s on the up, he’s such a young boy, and I think his future is very bright.”
Australia did win two other silvers in relays on Friday with Kyle Chalmers featuring in both events.
Chalmers teamed up with Emma McKeon for the first time since this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in the mixed 4x50m freestyle.
Chalmers, who swam the opening leg, was quick to congratulate McKeon after she stormed home on the anchor leg to lift the Aussies into second place behind France, who broke the world record to win the gold.
Chalmers returned to the water later to pocket another silver in the men’s 4x200m freestyle. The Aussies actually broke the world record but had to settle for second being the United States.
Mollie O’Callaghan won a bronze medal for Australia in the women’s 50m backstroke, behind Canada’s Maggie MacNeil, who also broke the world record.
AUSSIES PIPPED BY WORLD RECORD — AGAIN
Friday night’s action has been bookended by two world records, with the Aussies coming second to both.
The night kicked off with a French world record in the 4x50m mixed freestyle relay, and it was the Americans’ turn in the men’s 4x200 to conclude the night with a new mark of 6:44.12.
Edged by two-and-a-half seconds, Kyle Chalmers, Thomas Neill, Flynn Southam and Mack Horton snapped up the silver.
PALLISTER MAKES HISTORY
Lani Pallister has become the first woman to win three individual freestyle golds at a short-course world championship, smashing the field in a stunning 1500m triumph.
“Having that sort of accolade is really cool,” she said post-swim.
“Coming away from this meet, I’m really proud of myself and the place that I’ve come from to get to where I am racing now.
“I can’t wait to improve upon that going forward.”
FALSE START DRAMA ROBS COOPER
The men’s 50m backstroke final has been rocked by a false start, with six of the eight competitors racing out the distance after appearing not to hear the alert.
Australian Isaac Cooper was quickest of six who swum out the race, finishing the false start in 22.49.
No-one has been disqualified, with the false start believed to have been due to a time system malfunction.
Swimming’s world governing body has admitted it stuffed up when the men’s 50m backstroke final was stopped.
FINA – now known as World Aquatics – owned up to the mistake in a statement, saying:
“A technical error by an official occurred at the start of the Men’s 50m Backstroke Final. After speaking with all the competing athletes and team officials from the competing countries, it was unanimously agreed that the competition would be re-swum at 21:10 (AEDT) tonight, 16 December 2022. World Aquatics apologises for the error.”
CHALMERS LOCKS IN ANOTHER FINAL
Cayman Islands hopeful Jordan Crooks has again emerged as a potential Kyle Chalmers challenger, backing up a leading heats swim with the fastest time in the semis to set up tomorrow night’s 50m freestyle final.
Crooks stopped the clock at 20.31, a touch ahead of Chalmers’ 20.91 who was fourth-fastest overall but no doubt has another gear to go to on Saturday.
The British Benjamin Proud and Hungarian Szebasztian Szabo registered the second- and third-quickest times respectively.
MCKEON, HARRIS INTO 50m FREESTYLE FINAL
Emma McKeon led her 50m freestyle semi-final with Meg Harris 0.46 seconds off her pace in third as both Australian stars secured lanes in Saturday night’s decider.
McKeon won the 100m final earlier in the week, while Harris has her sights set on her first individual gold medal of the tournament.
Harris won a silver at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games for the event, albeit the long-course variant. McKeon won that particular race, with Shayna Jack in third as the Aussies swept the podium.
McKeon and Harris will be challenged by the Polish Katarzyna Wasick, who was the quickest swimmer of the semis overall with a speedy 23.37 – 0.14 ahead of McKeon.
Wasick won bronze for the event at the short-course worlds in Abu Dhabi in 2021, as well as silver over long-course in Budapest.
CANADIAN CHAMP BEATS OWN WORLD RECORD
Canadian Margaret Macneil has broken her own world record, taking out the 50m backstroke gold in 25.25 seconds.Aussie 18-year-old Mollie O’Callaghan wasn’t far behind, continuing her strong tournament with a third-placed 25.61
AUSSIE STAR QUARTET BESTED BY FRENCH RECORD BREAKERS
It took a world record but Australia’s star quartet has been beaten to mixed 4x50m freestyle gold by a shock showing from the French.
France stopped the clock at 1:27.33 to crack the record, pipping the second-placed Aussies in a thrilling start to Friday night’s finals action.
Kyle Chalmers kicked the Aussies off with Emma McKeon tasked with chasing down France on the final leg, but ultimately fell a seventh of a second short.
AUSSIES SECURE SHOT AT MORE RELAY GOLD
The men’s 4x200m freestyle squad has secured a spot in the final with a fourth-fastest heat swim, setting up their teammates for another golden opportunity with what will be a stronger quartet later on Friday night.
The heat team of Clyde Lewis, Flynn Southam, Stuart Swinburn and Brendon Smith qualified in 6:54.83, with the US setting the benchmark at 6:53.63.
Kyle Chalmers has a 50m freestyle semi to contend with but will likely be drafted in for the final in a bid to repeat Thursday night’s relay magic.
KING KYLE BACK AT IT, FRENCHMAN WINDS BACK CLOCK
Kyle Chalmers has blown the cobwebs off after last night’s heroics with a comfortable 50m freestyle heat swim, cruising into the semis with a 21.09 effort.
All eyes were on King Kyle after his 100m win and stunning 4x50m relay finishing leg last night but a veteran Frenchman also reminded of his prowess, with 32-year-old Florent Manaudou hitting the wall at 20.94.
Manaudou hasn’t claimed a world championship win since 2015, when he won three events over long-course including the 50m freestyle.
He was a gold medallist over the distance at the 2012 London Olympics and won the short course event at the 2014 Doha worlds.
Cayman Islands contender Jordan Crooks was the pick of the heats overall, continuing his strong short-course debut with a 20.36 swim. He finished equal-sixth in last night’s 100m final.
MCKEON, HARRIS PRIMED FOR FREESTYLE FINALS
Emma McKeon and Meg Harris have both broken the 24-second mark in their 50m freestyle heats to advance to Friday night’s semis.
McKeon has dominated the event in recent times over long-course, setting an Olympic record in Tokyo and also striking gold for it in Birmingham. The 28-year-old will be eyeing a third freestyle gold for the tournament later tonight, having won the individual 100m after powering the 4x100m relay team home.
Harris also has recent form for the event over the 50m course with a silver in Birmingham and a bronze at the Budapest worlds.
The 20-year-old Harris said getting ample sleep was key to her strong heat swim.
“I needed so much sleep (after last night),” she told Channel 9. “Feels good to wake up rested this morning. I’m excited for tonight.
“I am pretty pumped. I got back under 24 seconds this week so I’m pretty happy with that.”
AUSSIES POWER INTO MIXED RELAY MEDAL CONTENTION
Australia has learnt from its resting star power for mixed relay heats, injecting a strong quartet into the 4x50m freestyle to sail into the final.
Selection choices on Wednesday backfired in a mixed medley relay heat but it was a different story for freestyle Friday morning, with Emma McKeon, Madi Wilson, Flynn Southam and Matthew Temple powering the Aussies into gold medal contention with ease.
The group swam 1:29.82, finishing second overall behind France to secure a lane in Friday night’s final.
JENNA JUMPS INTO FINAL
Jenna Strauch has clinched a lane in the 200m breaststroke final but will have some ground to make up on American Kate Douglass.
Strauch stopped the clock at 2:19.75 as the sixth-fastest swimmer of the heats – a touch more than three seconds off the pace set by Douglass.
The breaststroker out of Bendigo claimed silver medals for the event at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the long-course worlds in Budapest.
COOPER NOT SICK OF SUCCESS JUST YET
Isaac Cooper won’t ever get sick of this.
The Queensland teenager went viral on social media on Wednesday when he chucked up after winning a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke final at the short course world championships.
So on Thursday – when he broke the junior world record to top the qualifiers from the 50m backstroke semi-finals – the helpers on the pool deck had the plastic bags ready.
They didn‘t’ need them though. After racing down the pool and back in 22.52 seconds, Cooper had got the job done so quickly he didn’t need to empty his guts even tough he felt crook before his semi-final.
“I only throw up after 100s, so 50s are pretty much all right,” he explained.
“I feel pretty good. In the warm up pool I just felt horrendous. I was talking to my coach and saying I just don‘t have any energy right now. So I’m so glad that I was able to whip that out, get a bit of recovery under my belt, hopefully drop a bit more time.”
As the fastest qualifier, Cooper goes into Friday night’s final as the unlikely favourite ahead for the gold, ahead of American superstar Ryan Murphy
“I reckon. I’ll give it a fair good crack that’s for sure,” Cooper said.
“I‘m still on the way up. I wouldn’t say I’m done at all. This is just the first step. I’ve come a long way in a little while, I’ve got a lot more to go.”
One of Australia’s brightest talents, Cooper was sent home from Europe this year after “wellbeing challenges” and misuse of prescription medication but has flourished since being selected again for the national team.
He has been welcomed back with open arms and swimming personal best times whenever he gets in the water.
“I’ve had a lot of messages. It‘s an honour to be able to stand up there, have Cooper on the front of my chest,” he said.
“And obviously everything that I‘ve been through, my family have gone through with me as well . Through the lows and now coming through me with the highs, riding that wave with me. I’m really proud that I can make them proud.
“Some of the people on the team have become some of my closest friends. And they know exactly what sort of troubles we have to go through as swimmers, the pressure of competing, the struggles of failure and how good it is to succeed. so they can relate to that.”
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