Thursday April 24

Mollie O'Callaghan may have had a long post-Paris-Olympic break, illness and "a bad knee" that made her comeback to full training all the more challenging, but ... the racing spirit will out: the Australian Open 200m freestyle title is her's once more, in 1:55.71.

A year ago, on the way to trials and then Olympic gold in Paris, O'Callaghan, coached by Dean Boxall at St Peters Western, took the crown in 1:53.57. There was no need for that today: closest was distance ace and the winner's fellow 4x200m Olympic gold medallist Lani Pallister, in 1:57.06, with Brittany Castelluzzo on 1:57.31 for bronze ahead of two more on 1:57s.

O'Callaghan swam with the pack to half-way, edged half a second or so into the lead by the last turn and then popped he only sub-29sec last length in the race to secure the title, her splits: 27.57 57.08 (29.51) 1:26.79 (29.71) 1:55.71 (28.92).

After a couple of finals yesterday, O'Callaghan said:

“The past couple months have been the hardest for me, especially with rehabilitation and I’m still working on that. I faced illness and a bad knee … I’m not fully there yet, it’s kind of like I’m kicking with one leg at the moment. It’s been frustrating, the build-up for this, and it’s just nice to come here and actually lean on my experience. I haven’t done that much training or main sessions, it’s all been quite modified and the process has been quite long. So, to come here and just swim for the sake of swimming with no pressure behind it or on the outcome is my main focus for the meet. I wanted to come here to Nationals and get my first race of the year out of the way and see where I was tracking along. I didn’t realise that my experience goes a long way.”

Today, she added:

“We do the sport because we want to win, and I’m going to push myself to the max, even if it hurts. That’s the whole point of it. There’s always opportunities to add backstroke to my Olympic program. It’s ultimately what aligns with my freestyle programme. When it comes to Trials, I always leave it open to whatever I make, and then Dean and I talk about it before I decide. I don’t really train backstroke. It’s one of those things I do as a little bit of a release and fun.

“But in general, there’s always an opportunity if my individual freestyle and the relays align, I’m more than happy to accommodate for backstroke and make sure I train properly to be fit enough to hold myself throughout it.

And on the addition of six more 50m events at the Olympics:

“Kaylee (McKeown) and I have spoken about 50m stroke events being added to the Olympic program multiple times and have a similar view. A part of me is happy about it because it gives so many form strokers another opportunity. For freestyle, I’m very thankful that I have the opportunity to Trial in the 50m, 100m, 200m and so on, as well as the relays. Medley swimmers only have two relays and two individuals.

“So it opens up that space to have that longevity in the sport, and supports the older guys, but also makes room for people to be more versatile and switch around if they want to. The only thing that I don’t like is that the program gets longer. Absolutely there’s a chance I’ll do the 50m backstroke. I’ll give it a crack and it’s whoever makes it at the end of the day. It’s four years away, so I’ll keep training and I’ll keep doing it, but it depends on the day.”

In other finals: Italian visitor Thomas Ceccon topped the 100m free in 48.41, Jamie Jack the first Aussie home, in 48.63, third place to Flynn Southam, for silver in 49.05, the bronze to Will Yang in 49.07.

Other winners: New Zealand visitor Lewis Clareburt took the 400IM in 4:13.06, Sam Williamson the 50m breaststroke in 27.10, and Harrison Turner the 200m 'fly in 1:57.28.

There was no Kaylee McKeown, the double-double Olympic backstroke queen of Tokyo 2020ne and Paris 2024, in the 200m back, after her wins in the 50 and 100, he four-length title passing to Hannah Fredericks in 2:10.73. Olympian Alexandra Perkins took the 100m 'fly in 57.44, Castelluzzo on the podium once more, second in 58.25.

Wednesday, April 23

Guilherme Santos Tops Brazil's All-Time Textile Ranks With 47.10 Thunder (Video)

There was no getting to César Cielo's 46.91 100m freestyle Brazilian and former World record of 46.91, set in shiny suit in 2009 - at least not this day, but Guilherme Caribé Oliveira Santos just blasted a 47.10 national textile best.

The 22-year-old was out in 22.23, home in 24.87 at Brazil's national championship, the Maria Lenk Trophy in Rio de Janeiro. Santos' 47.10 elevates him to equal No10 on the all-time, all suits ranking.

Thanks to Paul Griffin for his eagle eye:

The All-Time Top 10, All Suits (italic = shiny suit):

• 46.40 Pan Zhanle CHN Paris 2024
• 46.86 David Popovici ROU Budapest 2022
• 46.91 César Cielo BRA Rome 2009
• 46.94 Alain Bernard FRA Montpellier 2009
• 46.96 Caeleb Dressel USA Gwangju 2019
• 47.04 Cameron McEvoy AUS Adelaide 2016
• 47.05 Eamon Sullivan AUS Beijing 2008
• 47.08 Jack Alexy USA Indianapolis 2024
• 47.08 Kyle Chalmers AUS Tokyo 2020ne
• 47.10 James Magnussen AUS Adelaide 2012
• 47.10 Guilherme Santos BRA Rios de Janeiro 2025

More on that story below ...

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