Chalmers, Alpha Male Of Aussie 100, On 47.2 As Southam Sails Inside 47.7
Kyle Chalmers and Flynn Southam leads a top 6 inside 48.5 in the 100m free final at Adelaide Trials; Kaylee McKeown 2:04.47 tops the 2025 200 back World rankings, with Singapore tickets also going to Hannah Fredericks, Brittany Castelluzzo and Abbey Connor, David Schlick and William Petric
Kyle Chalmers raced inside his Olympic silver-medal pace off Paris 2024 to top the 100m freestyle at Australian trials in Adelaide today as Flynn Southam grabbed the second ticket to Singapore World titles in 47.69.
Their speedy sprints played second fiddle to the speedy distance swim the day:
Craig Lord
The top six finishers in the men's 100m freestyle were home inside 48.5, keeping alive the Aussie danger in the hunt for 4x100m free honours come the showcase in July.
The courage and ability to muster sub-23 opening pace and get back inside 25sec his alone in the line-up today, Chalmers, 2016 Olympic champion and silver medallist at the two Games since, had the race sewn up on the way out and on the way home, even though Southam's home-coming speed topped the splits to the end wall, 24.41 to 24.56 for the champion ahead of him.
“Fastest time in Australia that I’ve ever done, so super happy with that,” Chalmers said. “I’m just trusting what I have been doing in training, listening to what my coaches are telling me. trusting that we’ve done the work.” He then reflected on the meaning of it all and the learning curve of a career in as series of insightful comments:
“This is my 10th year on the Australian Swimming Team now, this is my 14th Trials. It goes so quickly. It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago when I was arriving here for London 2012 Trials. And I remember standing in the urinal next to Geoff Huegill and I got stage fright, had to go into the cubicle. Your swimming career goes so quickly, and I think you’ve just got to slow down and enjoy it. That’s why I’m here, backing up racing year after year, and I’m desperate to be here because you don’t know when it’s going to end.
“It’s been a long time since my body’s felt this good, if ever in my career … I’m doing less, I’m having fun, and probably not as stressed about doing things away from the pool as well. Like I’d go building, but I’d be cautious about doing stuff. Now, I’m just doing whatever I want to do, and it seems to be working. I’ve seen the physio twice this whole year, compared to the lead up to Tokyo I was seeing the physio every single day, if not twice a day. So it’s been an amazing turnaround, and I’m stoked my body’s feeling this good and that’s why I want to capitalise on it while I can because I know it’s not going to feel this good forever.”
The race granted Max Giuliani and Kai Taylor automatic relay tickets to Sin galore, while Harrison Taylor, already on the World's team, most notably for a 1:54.9 in the 200 'fly yesterday, and Zac Incerti completed the sub-48.5 club in a final all home inside 48.85:
Women's 200m backstroke
For a swimmer who says she's a long way off putting in the kind of commitment and work that went into writing history as the first woman ever to claim the Olympic 100 and 200m backstroke twice (Tokyo 2020ne and Paris 2024), Kaylee McKeown is not doing so bad: 2:04.47, gold by 5sec in a race with two qualifiers for World titles in Singapore.
McKeown is as serious as ever, of course, and emerged from the win with some words that made sure everyone had understood:
“I want to go to a third Olympics. I want to be on American soil and show them what the Aussies have. I am happy with that (about racing the fastest time of the year in the world). It’s a good step in the right direction. It doesn’t matter what you do here, it depends what you do on the day in an international meet. I could do world records here, get to an international meet and come in last. So it really doesn’t matter what I do here, what form I’m in, I’ve got to get my mind right and see what I can in a few weeks time.”
Where does McKeown's swim fit in her pantheon of top pace? ...
