With this year’s major meets of the Commonwealth Games, Pan Pacific Championships, European Championships and Asian Games having now completed, all eyes are moving over to Hangzhou, China for the Short Course World Championships. Set to take place December 11th-16th, the competition will be produced in the 10,000 spectator capacity Tennis Centre in the Hangzhou Olympic and International Expo Center.
While a sprinkling of nations, such as South Africa, have already held their qualifying competitions and submitted their SC Worlds rosters, many of the powerhouse countries have yet to hold their qualifying meets. Australia is one such nation, as the green and gold athletes are set to vie for their roster spots at the 2018 Australian Short Course Championships, which will take place on October 25th-27th in Melbourne.
According to Australia’s selection procedures, a maximum squad number of 30 will travel to Hangzhou, with selection priority given to those 1st and 2nd placed eligible athletes in the A final of individual Olympic events at the Aussie SC Championships, as long as they have equaled or bettered the established Swimming Australia qualifying time.
Qualifying marks determined by Swimming Australia can be found in the table at the bottom of this post.
While comparing the 2016 Short Course World Championships times dictated by Swimming Australia to those below, we can identify many events whose QT actually have gotten slower for Hangzhou selection. For instance, the men’s 100m free qualifying time from 2016 was 46.82, while this year’s is 47.30. The same event has slowed for the women as well, with the 2016 mark resting at 52.56, while this year it’s 52.94.
The difference isn’t limited to freestyle events, as the men’s and women’s 100m breaststroke has seen time added between 2016 and 2018. At the previous edition of the qualifying championships, Australian swimmers needed a 57.28 100m breast for men, while the women needed 1:05.04. This time around, men need 57.65 and the women 1:05.20.
20 swimmers represented Australia at the 2016 edition of Short Course World Championships, which resulted in a 9th place finish in the overall medal table. The Aussies’ performance was marked by just 2 golds in the form of Mitch Larkin in the 100m back and Brittany Elmslie in the women’s 100m free.
