Aussie World C’ships Roster: Surprise Qualifiers

2019 AUSTRALIAN WORLD SWIMMING TRIALS

• Sunday, June 9th – Friday, June 14th
• Brisbane Aquatic Centre
• LCM
• Live Results

The thrilling 6-day Australian World Swimming Trials concluded tonight in Brisbane, with a subsequent announcement by Swimming Australia of the 27 swimmers named to the roster for Gwangju. The roster is qualified as ‘initial’, as the organization’s announcement states, “possible additions in either Olympic or non-Olympic events will be decided in the next few weeks.”

However, knowing the names as they stand today, we can identify a few surprises, both good and bad, in terms of qualification for Worlds from this island nation. Below are the surprises among those who did make the World Championships roster.

Surprises Who DID Make the Lineup:

• Mack Horton Fell on the Right Side of the Bubble
  • The reigning 400m freestyle Olympic champion raced in the 200m free, 400m free and 800m free here in Brisbane, but missed the minimum standard mark in each.
  • His best finish came in the 400m where the Melbourne Vicentre athlete collected silver behind Jack McLoughlin, logging a time of 3:46.67. That mark fell just .33 shy of the QT, but set the tone for the man’s rocky meet.
  • Horton touched in 1:47.05 in the men’s 200m free for 5th, while taking bronze in the 800m in a mark of 8:01.30.
  • The fact that Horton’s 400m free was just off the QT and the time sits as 8th in the world this season, as well as the fact he was 5th in the 200m with relay potential, the 23-year-old was granted reprieve.

• Clyde Lewis Qualifies in Freestyle
  • 21-year-old St. Peters Western athlete Lewis almost overtook winner Kyle Chalmers in the men’s 200m free on night 2 here in Brisbane. Entering this meet, Lewis’ personal best in the 200m free rested at the 1:46.54 established at Pan Pacs last year. He wound up claiming silver here in 1:45.88, just .12 behind Chalmers and under the 1:46 threshold for the first time in his career.
  • Lewis did more damage in the 100m free in this meet as well, hitting a personal best of 48.46. That took silver once again behind Chalmers and, although it fell short of the QT by just .15, it’s enough to snag a relay spot. With his having qualified for the 200 outright, Lewis will most likely get the nod to swim this event as well.
  • Lewis made my ‘surprises’ list because the man has come on super strong in freestyle after having been an IMer most of his career.
  • Lewis took gold in the men’s 400m IM on the Gold Coast at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, as well as bronze in the 200m IM, but he opted to focus on freestyle this meet and it paid off.

• Leah Neale Sneaks onto the List
  • The 23-year-old USC Spartan made 4 individual finals at this meet, with her 4th place finish in the 400m free her best result (4:07.42).
  • Neale finished 6th in the 200m free in 1:57.35, 8th in the 100m in 54.94 and 8th in the 50m in 25.71, but was named to the World Championships roster.
  • Swimming Australia’s Selection Policy states that athletes who compete in the A final of the individual 100m free, 200m free and 100s of each stroke will be considered for relay events. Beyond that, the athlete’s past relay performances, contribution to team dynamics and the potential to achieve the highest competitive results at the competition are listed as the additional criteria.
  • Neale has indeed proven her relay mettle collecting 4 medals at the highest levels of competition, all in the women’s 4x200m free relay. She was a member of a squad earning silver in Rio, bronze at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, bronze at the 2014 Short Course World Championships and gold at last year’s Commonwealth Games. In her most recent relay split at those Commonwealth Games she hit 1:58.23.

• Cameron McEvoy Misses QTs, But Made the List
  • The man who owns the 100m freestyle textile World Record simply hasn’t been able to produce the kind of results he was used to throwing down pre-Rio. His fastest time of 47.04 in the 100m free hasn’t been touched in years.
  • However, McEvoy did score a time of 48.66 for bronze in the 100m free here for his fastest since the 48.44 from last year’s Commonwealth Games. That earned him a spot on the 4x100m free relay, a race in which he’s been a member of for bronze in Rio and gold on the Gold Coast.
  • In the 200m free McEvoy also missed the individual qualification, finishing 7th in 1:47.85. That time is well off his personal best of 1:45.46, but that was clocked way back in 2014. He was 1:47.48 last year.
  • McEvoy’s best finish placement-wise came in the form of his 50m free silver in a time of 22.29. That finished with the silver behind Chalmers.
  • Regardless, the TSS Aquatics athlete is on the list for Gwangju, ready to make the most of his opportunity.

• Matthew Temple Dropped the Hammer
  • Saving his best performance for last, Nunawading’s Temple flew to his best time ever and his first swim under 52 seconds en route to gold in the men’s 100m fly.
  • Entering these championships the 19-year-old’s personal best rested at the 52.16 he notched at Nationals, but the man found an entirely new gear to crush his first 51-point time on a monster 51.47 and tie Olympian David Morgan.
  • Both men fell short of the ridiculously stiff 51.31 QT set by Swimming Australia, but entered the world rankings at slot #6.