2022 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, May 18 – Sunday, May 22, 2022
- SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre, Oaklands Park, South Australia
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- Entry List
- Live Results
- Live Stream (Amazon Prime)
- World Championships Qualifying Criteria
The 2022 Australian Swimming Championships, which serve as a qualification meet for the 2022 FINA World Championships and the 2022 Commonwealth Games kicked off on Wednesday, May 18 at 9:00 AM local time, or 7:30 PM eastern standard time on Tuesday, May 17. To open the meet, the preliminary heats of the men’s 400 free, women’s 100 breast, men’s 100 fly, women’s 100 free, men’s 200 back, men’s 50 free, and the slow heats of the women’s 800 free were contested.
MEN’S 400 FREE- HEATS
- World Record: Paul Biedermann- 3:40.07 (2009)
- World Junior Record: Mack Horton– 3:44.60 (2014)
- Australian Record: Ian Thorpe- 3:40.08 (2002)
- Commonwealth Record: Ian Thorpe- 3:40.08 (2002)
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 3:48.15
Top 8 Finishers:
- Elijah Winnington– 3:46.83
- Samuel Short– 3:47.13
- Mack Horton– 3:48.92
- Brendon Smith– 3:50.15
- Joshua Staples- 3:50.85
- Charlie Hawke- 3:51.08
- Kieren Pollard- 3:51.31
- Alec Mander- 3:52.35
Straight out of the first heat, Elijah Winnington blasted a time of 3:46.83 to take the top seed headed into finals. He took out the race very fast with a 54.31 opening 100, and then slowed down to split 57.30/57.12/58.10 throughout the rest of his race. His time is the seventh-fastest in the world this year, sandwiched between the times of Florida Gator teammates Kieran Smith and Trey Freeman from U.S. trials. In addition, it is also an improvement from his season-best of 3:47.05 from this March. Winnington won this race at last year’s Olympic trials with a world-leading time of 3:42.65, which still stands as his personal best.
18-year-old Samuel Short qualified in second with a time of 3:47.13, just bit off his personal best of 3:46.33. He actually went out faster than Winnington, going 53.78 on his first 100. 2016 Olympic champion Mack Horton, who just missed qualifying for the Olympics in this event last summer, takes the third spot with a 3:48.92. Brendon Smith came behind in him fourth, swimming a new best time of 3:50.15. Smith did not swim this event at trials last year since it was on the same day as the 400 IM, the event which he wound up getting the bronze medal in Tokyo.
A notable absence from these heats is Thomas Neill, who came in as the third seed behind Horton and Winnington. Neill, an a Tokyo Olympian in the 4×200 free relay, finished fourth in this event at trials with a time of 3:44.51. However, he later swam the 50 free in this prelims session.
WOMEN’s 100 BREAST- HEATS
- World Record: Lily King- 1:04.13 (2017)
- World Junior Record: Rūta Meilutytė- 1:04.35 (2013)
- Australian Record: Leisel Jones- 1:05.09 (2006)
- Commonwealth Record: Tatjana Schoenmaker- 1:04.82 (2021)
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 1:07.43
Top 8 Finishers:
- Jennah Strauch- 1:06.49
- Abbey Harkin– 1:07.50
- Mikayla Smith– 1:07.81
- Taylor McKeown– 1:08.41
- Chelsea Hodges– 1:08.68
- Ella Ramsay- 1:08.74
- Matilda Smith- 1:09.08
- Ashleigh Obrekebar- 1:09.70
Jennah Strauch clocked the fastest time in the heat with a 1:06.49, being the only woman under the qualifying time in prelims. She was just 0.12 off her best time of 1:06.37. Her time also currently stands as the twelfth-fastest time in the world. Last year, Strauch was an Olympian in the 200 breast but just missed qualifying in the 100 breast when she finished third in the event last year. Chelsea Hodges, the woman who qualified in front of Strauch in the 100 breast at Olympic trials, was a few seconds off her best time of 1:05.99 to qualify in fifth with a time of 1:08.68. However, her swim was still fast enough to get a lane in finals.
Abbey Harkin, Mikayla Smith, and Taylor McKeown took the second, third, and fourth overall spots in the heats headed into finals. McKeown saw a huge drop of nearly a second from her entry time of 1:09.40 to swim a season best of 1:08.41, while Smith also dropped from an entry time of 1:08.35 to clock a 1:07.81.
MEN’S 100 FLY- HEATS
- World Record: Caeleb Dressel- 49.45 (2021)
- World Junior Record: Kristof Milak- 50.62 (2017)
- Australian Record: Matthew Temple– 50.45 (2021)
- Commonwealth Record: Joseph Schooling- 50.39 (2016)
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 51.96
Top 8 Finishers:
- Matthew Temple– 51.64
- Cody Simpson– 51.79
- Kyle Chalmers– 52.10
- Ben Armbruster- 52.47
- Bowen Gough- 52.52
- David Morgan- 52.94
- Jesse Coleman- 53.03
- Brendan Hyland- 53.13
As expected, Matthew Temple took the top seed in the men’s 100 fly with a time of 51.64, a bit faster than his 51.83 from the New South Wales Championships this March. However, what was not expected was Cody Simpson taking the second seed. The former singing star, who only started training seriously in 2020, swam a huge personal best time of 51.79. Last year, he finished 8th at trials with a 52.94 and did not make the Olympic team. In finals tonight, if he performs as well as he did in prelims, he could potentially see himself on his first senior international team.
Kyle Chalmers took the third seed with a time of 52.10. Chalmers, who is better known for his sprint freestyle abilities, is only entered in the 50 and 100 fly at this meet and will not be competing at World Championships.
WOMEN’S 100 FREE- HEATS
- World Record: Sarah Sjostrom- 51.71 (2017)
- World Junior Record: Penny Oleksiak- 52.70 (2016)
- Australian Record: Emma McKeon- 51.96 (2021)
- Commonwealth Record: Emma McKeon- 51.96 (2021)
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 54.25
Top 8 Finishers:
- Mollie O’Callaghan- 52.83
- Shayna Jack/Meg Harris– 53.27
- Madi Wilson– 53.52
- Ariarne Titmus- 54.02
- Leah Neale- 54.17
- Brianna Throssell- 54.22
- Rebecca Jacobson- 54.27
The deepest country in the 100 free did not disappoint this prelims session. 18-year-old Mollie O’Callaghan dropped 0.25 off her best time to take the top seed in 52.83, which is the fastest time in the world this year. In addition, this swim also makes her the first woman to get under 53 seconds this year. O’Callaghan split this race almost perfectly even, going 26.10 on her first 50 and a blistering 26.73 back half.
Shayna Jack and Meg Harris tied for the second seed in 53.27. Harris swam to a season-best time, her fastest since her arm injury back in January 2022. Her time makes her the fourth-fastest woman in the world this year. Jack was a bit slower than her season-best of 53.13, which still stands as the second-fastest in the world behind O’Callaghan. All of the top three women in the preliminary heats were faster than Torri Huske, who won the 100 free at U.S. trials in 53.35.
Madi Wilson was the fourth to break 54 in the heats, clocking a new season best of 53.52 to take the fourth seed. Ariarne Titmus was close to getting over that 54-second barrier as well, dropping 0.34 seconds off her entry time to take the fifth seed with a time of 54.02. Overall, seven out of the eight finals-qualifying swimmers in this prelims session were under the FINA ‘A’ cut of 54.25.
MEN’S 200 BACK- HEATS
- World Record: Aaron Peirsol- 1:51.92 (2009)
- World Junior Record: Kilment Kolesnikov- 1:55.14 (2017)
- Australian Record: Mitch Larkin– 1:53.17 (2015)
- Commonwealth Record: Mitch Larkin– 1:53.17 (2015)
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 1:58.07
Top 8 Finishers:
- Bradley Woodward– 1:58.14
- Ty Hartwell– 1:58.52
- Joshua Edwards-Smith– 1:58.78
- Thomas Hauck- 2:00.07
- Travis Mahoney- 2:00.14
- Mitch Larkin– 2:00.62
- Se-Bom Lee- 2:01.18
- Stuart Swimburn- 2:01.27
Bradley Woodward, Ty Hartwell, and Joshua Edwards-Smith were the only three men to break two minutes in the men’s 200 back in this preliminary heats session. None of them were under the FINA ‘A’ cut of 1:58.07, meaning that everyone will have to be faster by a few more tenths during finals.
Mitch Larkin, the Australian and Commonwealth record holder in this event, was well off of what he can usually go and barely qualified for finals to take the sixth overall seed. Last year at trials, he did not swim the 200 back, but he entered with a time of 1:54.38 from April 2021.
MEN’S 50 FREE- HEATS
- World Record: Cesar Cielo- 20.91 (2009)
- World Junior Record: Michael Andrew- 21.75 (2017)
- Australian Record: Ashley Callus- 21.19 (2009)
- Commonwealth Record: Ben Proud- 21.11 (2018)
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 22.18
Top 8 Finishers:
- Lewis Burras– 21.93
- Thomas Nowakowski– 22.13
- Issac Cooper- 22.25
- Jack Carttwright- 22.37
- Grayson Bell- 22.39
- Flynn Southam– 22.49
- Ashton Brinkworth- 22.53
- Dylan Andrea- 22.53
- Joseph Jackson- 22.56
Lewis Burras was the only swimmer under 22 seconds in this heat, going 21.93 to swim the fastest time out of prelims. However, since he is British and not Australian, he is not eligible to compete in finals. Burras previously competed at the British Swimming Championships in April, where he won the 50 and 100 free to qualify for the World Championships and the C0mmonwealth Games for Great Britain. He currently trains in Australia under his coach Zoe Baker.
The only Australian swimmer in this heat under the FINA ‘A’ cut was Thomas Nowakowski, who clocked a time of 22.13 to drop 0.04 from his best time. He was a few tenths faster than the 22.77 he went at Olympic trials last year, where he finished 8th in the finals. 16-year-old Flynn Southam took the sixth seed in a 22.49, which is just 0.16 off Kyle Chalmers‘ age group record of 22.33.
Thomas Neill, who did not swim the 400 free earlier in this session, finished 19th in this event in 22.91 to take 0.44 off his entry time of 23.35.
Mollie’s relay split in Tokyo was 0.7 faster than her flat. If we use that same difference now, Mollie could swim an equivalent split to Cate’s split in the medley relay. So really the only hole is butterfly (assuming Hodges manages to swim a bit faster than this morning…)
To contend for gold we’d really need a C1 like 51 low split to compensate for the lack of McKeon on fly.
I wonder how you’re supposed to watch the age and b finals when the “heats, b & age finals” stream is showing as a replay?
It’s linking now even though it says replay.
Oops no. It’s not. Sorry. Would like to see it. Come on Amazon.
I thought it was a bit strange when I saw the heats and age/b finals bundled together. Doesn’t make sense at all.
Agreed. Her 100 time would have made the Tokyo final and her 200 time would have come 5th in the final. She showed massive improvement in the short time between trials and Tokyo as well, and she’s prime age to make big improvements. I knew she was ranked way too low.
she wasn’t. she was ranked 3rd going in. The start list isn’t the start list. it’s entries by alphabetical order and not times.
They mean this list:
https://staging2.swimswam.com/swimswams-top-100-for-2022-full-womens-rankings/
Biggest surprise for me so far is Tristan Hollard scratching mens 200m back ..
Is Amazon going to upload the replay of the Day 1 heats any time soon?
hey popped in here from swim twt, we are not okay and if you wanna see a section of sports twt going in shambles live i suggest you take a look from our corner
Link?
just go on kyle sockwell’s twt and see the quote twts or the swim community thing he created
I can barely see anything on Kyle Sockwell’s stuff. There’s more comments on this article than there are tweets.
not my problem you aren’t looking hard enough. go in the quote tweets on his mollie o’callaghan tweet there’s the freak out
I’ve seen them. There are literally 3 quote tweets.
Lol “rEsEARCh mY pOinT hArDuH” is the lamest of points on the internet.
It’s just like 3 people remarking that W100 Free and M100 Fly were deeeecent.
Has anyone else gone 26 on the back half of a 100 from a flat start other than Steffen in a super suit?
Sjöström did when she set the WR – Off a sub 25 opening 50!
Need to basically be in 50 free WR form to do that.
McKeon, Sjostrom, Bronte Campbell, not sure if anyone else?
Oleksiak and Heemskerk (barely at 26.99).
Pellegrini did but she was in a super suit.
Gracias. Results for old world championships and Olympics are much harder to find than they used to be.
Interestingly the only one to go a 26 backend without having ever swum a really elite 200 is Bronte at 2018 Comm Games 52.27 25.47/26.80