2024 Australian Olympic Trials: Day 6 Finals Recap

2024 AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC TRIALS

• Monday, June 10th – Saturday, June 15th
• Brisbane Aquatic Center – Brisbane, Australia
• Prelims at 11am local/9pm previous day ET; Finals at 7:30pm local/5:30am ET
• LCM (50 meters)
• Swimming Australian Olympic Nomination Criteria
• Meet Central
• Updated Psych Sheet
• Heat Sheets
• Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Recap | Day 4 Finals Recap
• Day 5 Prelims Recap | Day 5 Finals Recap
• Day 6 Prelims Recap |
• Live Results
• Livestream (VPN Needed)

Good Morning, Good Evening, and Good Afternoon to wherever you are. It’s the last session, the Final Countdown, if you will, of the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials. After tonight, we should know everyone who has been nominated to take the trip to Paris.

It’ll be an interesting session as we start with the shortest event on the women’s program and end with the longest. Starting us off is the Women’s 50 free, where Shayna Jack will have the middle lane tonight. Her time this morning, 24.02, represented the second fastest time of her career, with her best standing only being .01 faster. For reference, she won the silver medal at the 2023 World Champs in the 50 free in 24.10.

With her swim this morning, Jack improved upon her previous season’s best of 24.09 but remains the fourth fastest in the world.

If she could drop a little more tonight, she could enter the rarefied sub-24:00 territory. Looking to chase Jack down are Meg Harris and Bronte Campbell. Harris had a great 100 prelims swim, qualifying first into finals, but faltered in the final, adding time and placing 3rd. Harris will be looking for her first individual berth at an Olympics after having won two medals for her relay contributions.

Having a resurgence, the 3rd seed for tonight is Bronte Campbell, the younger sister of Cate Campbell. C2’s prelim time of 24.56 was under the Swim Australia Qualifying time of 24.67, but must first pass Harris. As for C1, this represents her last chance of making her 5th Olympic team. Campbell has a season-best of 24.10 but has reportedly been dealing with illness.

The last event swings completely in the opposite direction as Lani Pallister will look to add another event to her 400 and 800 free as well as her expected 4×200 free relay berth. Moesha Johnson is the only other swimmer with an entry time under the standard, and, as the 6th place finisher at the 2023 World Champs, she should be in good stead to book her ticket to Paris.

Sandwiched between the two events are the men’s and women’s 400 IM and the men’s 100 fly. Australian Record holder Brendon Smith took things easy this morning, cruising into tonight’s final in a 4:21.84, 11 seconds slower than his seed. Taking top billing ahead of him this evening will be Will Petric. Petric won the 200 IM but was .31 off the qualifying cut, so will be looking to push it tonight.

The women’s 400 IM tonight will be led by 2023 bronze medalist Jenna Forrester. Forrester has struggled a little this meet, having an off-200 IM on day one and never really getting it going from there. She was 4:43.53 this morning and has a personal best well under the Qualifying time, but she will need to ensure that she’s firing on all cylinders. On the other hand, Ella Ramsay, who got the better of Forrester in the 200 IM, is qualified in second and will look to add another event to her growing list.

With the absence of Kyle Chalmers from this morning’s prelims, the 100 fly feels more open, especially considering that .32 is all that separates 1st from 5th. Leading the charge is Matt Temple, who entered as the # 1 seed but must feel some pressure as Ben Armbruster, Jesse Coleman, Shaun Champion, and Cody Simpson are in such close striking distance.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE – Finals

• World Record – 23.61, Sarah Sjostrom, 2023
• Australian Record – 23.78, Cate Campbell, 2018
• Oceanian Record – 23.78, Cate Campbell, 2018
• Commonwealth Record – 23.78, Cate Campbell, 2018
• All Comers Record – 23.78, Cate Campbell, 2018
• Swim Australia OQT – 24.67

GOLD –  Shayna Jack, 23.99* OLY Qualifier
SILVER – Meg Harris, 24.26  *OLY Qualifier
BRONZE – Emma McKeon, 24.32

Shayna Jack posted the best race of her career in route to the victory here. Jack led the quickest race on the schedule from start to finish, producing a career best of 23.99, dipping under the 24-second barrier for the first time. Her previous personal best stood at a 24.01. With her time, Jack maintains her position as the 4th ranked swimmer in the world this season, moving closer to Kasia Wasick (23.95).

For Jack, this week has been a huge step in completing her comeback from a 2 year doping suspension to make her first Olympic Games. The sprint star was suspended days before the 2019 World Championships for 4 years for a positive drug test result. She later had that suspension reduced to 2 years, but still missed the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games as a result of the suspension.

Meg Harris continued her very strong showing this week to post a runner-up performance of 24.26, earning her first individual event for Paris. Harris already qualified to represent Australia in the 4×100 free relay earlier this week, just missing making the 100 free individually as well with her 3rd place finish.

Defending Olympic Champion Emma McKeon will not have a chance to defend her title as she finished a narrow 3rd behind Harris, posting  time of 24.32 in the process. McKeon will only be swimming the 100 butterfly individualy in Paris.

MEN’S 400 IM – Finals

• World Record – 4:02.50, Leon Marchand, 2023
• Australian Record – 4:09.27, Brendon Smith, 2021
• Oceanian Record – 4:08.70, Lewis Clareburt, 2022
• Commonwealth Record – 4:08.70, Lewis Clareburt, 2022
• All Comers Record – 4:06.22, Michael Phelps, 2007
• Swim Australia OQT – 4:12.50

GOLD –  Brendon Smith, 4:10.18* OLY Qualifier
SILVER – William Petric, 4:11.78 *OLY Qualifier
BRONZE – David Schlicht, 4:20.78

Defending Olympic bronze medalist Brendon Smith and young star William Petric both managed to get the job done in their final opportunity to qualify for Paris.

From the onset of the race, it was clear that both swimmers had a mission. The pair pulled ahead on the butterfly leg of the race and never looked back. Nearly even through the first 200 meters, Smith managed to pull ahead on the breaststroke leg with Petric falling off the pace slightly. On the final 50, it was clear that Smith would make the cut and all eyes turned to Petric, who used a massive closing leg to close almost a body length on Smith. When all was said and done, Smith hit the wall in a time of 4:10.18, just off of his Australian Record from Tokyo, while Petric touched in a personal best of 4:11.78, dropping about a half second off of his entry time (4:12.21).

The pair also finished 1-2 in the 200 IM, though in reverse order. In that race, Petric heartbreakingly missed the Swim Australia Olympic Qualifying time of 1:57.23 despite dropping a personal best 1:57.54. Now, it is almost certain that Petric will be swimming the event in Paris due to his 400 IM qualification.

WOMEN’S 400 IM – Finals

• World Record – 4:24.38, Summer McIntosh, 2024
• Australian Record – 4:28.22, Kaylee McKeown, 2024
• Oceanian Record – 4:28.22, Kaylee McKeown, 2024
• Commonwealth Record – 4:24.38, Summer McIntosh, 2024
• All Comers Record – 4:28.22, Kaylee McKeown, 2024
• Swim Australia OQT – 4:38.53

GOLD – Ella Ramsay, 4:36.56  * OLY Qualifier
SILVER – Jenna Forrester, 4:38.16 *OLY Qualifier
BRONZE –  Kiah Melverton, 4:42.82

In a similar story to the men’s race, the women’s 400 IM featured two swimmers on a mission. Already qualified in the 200 IM, Ella Ramsay had another really strong performance, dropping a small personal best of 4:36.56. Ramsay managed to pull ahead of 2023 World Championship bronze medalist Jenna Forrester on the breaststroke leg and never looked back, adding another individual event to her slate for Paris. After the racce, Ramsay mentioned that despite the personal best, she was hoping to drop a faster time in this race, with her eyes set to Paris for another opportunity to improve.

Following an “off” meet, Forrester managed to get it done at the wire, narrowly besting the Swim Australia qualifying time of 4:38.53 with her time of 4:38.16. Forrester’s career best stands at a 4:32.30  from the 2023 World Championships. If she can get close to that, expect her to be a medal contender in Paris.

MEN’S 100 FLY – Finals

• World Record – 49.45, Caeleb Dressel, 2021
• Australian Record – 50.25, Matthew Temple, 2023
• Oceanian Record – 50.25, Matthew Temple, 2023
• Commonwealth Record – 50.06, Joshua Liendo, 2024
• All Comers Record – 50.45, Matthew Temple, 2021
• Swim Australia OQT – 51.17

GOLD – Matthew Temple, 51.15 * OLY Qualifier
SILVER – Ben Armbruster, 51.23
BRONZE – Shaun Champion, 51.40

Australian Record Holder Matthew Temple was the only swimmer to dip under the Swim Australia Olympic Qualifying Time of 51.17, doing so by only .02. With his winning time of 51.15, Temple books his ticket to Paris and he will likely swim the 4×100 medley relay as well.

Temple led a really tight pack of swimmers to the wall with Ben Armbruster finishing 2nd with a time of 51.23. Though Armbruster fell short of the qualifying time, watch for him to potentially be added to this event as he already qualified in the 50 freestyle individually. He will also likely be added to swim the prelims fly leg of the 4×100 medley relay.

Popstar turned swim star Cody Simpson fell short on his Olympic hopes, finishing 5th in the race with a time of 51.79. In his post race interview, Simpson acknowledged his disappointment in falling short in his goal of qualifying for Paris, but also told reporters he was proud of his accomplishments over the past 4 years since coming back to the sport after 10 years off.

WOMEN’S 1500 FREE – Fastest Heats

• World Record –15:20.48, Katie Ledecky, 2018
• Australian Record – 15:46.13, Madeleine Gough, 2021
• Oceanian Record – 15:40.14, Lauren Boyle, 2015
• Commonwealth Record – 15:40.14, Lauren Boyle, 2015
• All Comers Record – 15:28.36, Katie Ledecky, 2014
• Swim Australia OQT – 16:01.95

GOLD – Lani Pallister, 15:53.79 * OLY Qualifier
SILVER – Moesha Johnson, 15:57.85 *OLY Qualifier
BRONZE –  Tiana Kritzinger, 16:20.58

Lani Pallister added another event to her schedule for Paris, leading the women’s 1500 freestyle from start to finish.. Pallister looked controlled throughout the entire race before turning it on over the final 50 meters. She touched the wall in a time of 15:53,79, easily clearing ths Swim Australia Olympic Qualifying Time of 16:01.95. Pallister’s best time stands at 15:48.96 from the 2022 World Championships, while she currently ranks 3rd in the world this season with her 15:49.94 from the Queensland Championships late last year. She could challenge Madeline Gough’s Australian Record of 15:46.13 in Paris.

Pallister will be joined by Moesha Johnson in this event in Paris. Johnson came within a second of her personal best, swimming a time of 15:57.85 to book her ticket in her first pool event. A duel threat, Johnson was already qualified for Paris in the open water events, meaning she will have a very busy schedule at the Olympic Games as well.