Lani Pallister gives up 400m spot, avoids Titmus vs. Ledecky at Paris Olympic amid six changes to swim team
A rising swim star has forfeited her chance to join Ariarne Titmus in the ‘race of the century’. It is one of six switches to the Australian swimming team line-up. SEE ALL CHANGES.
Rising Australian swim star Lani Pallister has forfeited her chance to join her team mate Ariarne Titmus in the ‘race of the century’ at the Paris Olympics to save herself for her two long-distance showdowns with American legend Katie Ledecky.
Selected for her first Olympics, Pallister had secured places in the 400m, 800m, 1500m and 4x200m freestyle relay events at last month’s Australian trials, but has withdrawn from the 400m, giving up her spot to Aussie teenager Jamie Perkins, the reigning junior world champion.
The switch is one of six that the Australian team has made since the trials.
Teenager Iona Anderson will replace Mollie O’Callaghan in the 100m backstroke while Ella Ramsey is not contesting the 100m breaststroke, leaving Jenna Strauch as the lone Australian entrant.
In the men’s races, Tommy Neill has been picked to swim the 200m individual medley even though he didn’t contest the event at the trials.
Matt Temple will also add the 200m butterfly and Sam Short the 1500m freestyle.
There have also been some significant changes internationally with Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh joining Ledecky in withdrawing from the women’s 200m freestyle, where she would have lined up against Titmus and O’Callaghan.
Sweden’s world record holder Sarah Sjostrom has signed up for the 100m freestyle after initially saying she would only swim the 50m.
American Katie Douglass is skipping the 100m, while Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil has included the 100m freestyle in her program.
Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui - the 400m gold medallist at Tokyo - is missing the Games altogether, boosting the medal chances of Short and Elijah Winnington.
Pallister’s withdrawal from the 400m has been rumoured for weeks but is still something of a surprise because of the hype around the 400m.
The reigning short-course world champion over the distance, Pallister is ranked sixth in the world this year in long course and considered a long shot for a medal because the first three: Titmus, Ledecky and McIntosh are so far ahead of their rest.
Their clash in the 400m, scheduled for the early hours of July 27 (Australian time) is a guaranteed blockbuster that has already been billed as the one of the most eagerly-awaited races in Olympic swimming history.
Pallister gave a little hint that she might pull out of the 400m when she told reporters at the Australian trials that it was a race she’d rather watch from the stands than compete in but that’s not her real reason for skipping it.
The 22-year-old, whose mother Janelle Elford swam for Australia at the 1988 Olympics, appears to have a better chance of winning an individual medal in the 800m and 1500m, where she will come up against Ledecky.
Her best opportunity for a medal is undoubtedly with the 4x200m relay, which the Australian team is tipped to win gold in.
With Titmus and O’Callaghan certain to be named for the final, it’s expected Pallister will team up with Shayna Jack, Brianna Throssell and Perkins for the heats, with the fastest two to back up in the final.
Although heat swimmers also receive medals, Pallister has made no secret that she wants to swim in the final after being overlooked for last year’s world championships after coach Dean Boxall controversially selected four swimmers from the same St Peters Western club where he works.
By pulling out of the 400m, Pallister will be a little fresher for the 4x200m heats, although she will have swum the 1500m by then.
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