2019 Australian Swimming World Trials: Bronte Campbell, Fraser-Holmes Pick Up Worlds Spots, Seebohm Out (VIDEO INTERVIEWS)
The sixth and final night of finals from the 2019 Australian Swimming World Trials from Brisbane had five finals. The 50 free, men’s 100 fly, women’s 200 back and men’s 400 IM were on the schedule for Friday night.
Cate Campbell and Thomas Fraser-Holmes won their respective events on Friday as they both picked up World Championships spots. Fraser-Holmes was able to qualify to swim at Worlds for the first time since 2015 after missing doping tests in 2017 and being suspended.
Bronte Campbell also picked up a spot for Gwangju in the 50 free along with Minna Atherton and Kaylee McKeown in the 200 back. Both Atherton and McKeown knocked out two-time reigning World Champion Emily Seebohm in the 200 back from the Worlds team. For the first time since 2005, Swimming Australia will not be taking Emily Seebohm to the World Championships.
Men’s 50 Free
Kyle Chalmers won his third event of the meet in the 50 free on Friday at the 2019 Australian Swimming World Trials in Brisbane. Chalmers won the 50 with a 22.09 ahead of Cameron McEvoy (22.29) and Jonte Blake (22.31). Chalmers already won the 100 and 200 free earlier in the meet but did not get under the qualifying time for World Championships in the 50. Chalmers was originally entered in the 100 fly but did not swim it in favor of this event. He currently sits 21st in the world for 2019.
McEvoy had a rough meet this week in Brisbane, finishing third in the 100 free and seventh in the 200 free. He will presumably only swim the 4×100 free relay in Gwangju in five weeks. He is almost a shell of the swimmer he was in the lead-up to the 2016 Olympic Games when he was the runaway gold medal favorite in the 100 free.
James Roberts (22.46) was fourth after he was sixth in the 100 free a couple nights ago. He will likely pick up a spot for Gwangju in that event as well.
Cameron Jones (22.49), Ashton Brinkworth (22.63), Luka Zubcic (22.80) and Grayson Bell (22.84) also swam in the final.
Event 24 Men 50 LC Metre Freestyle ================================================================== World: W 20.91 18/12/2009Cesar Cielo, Brazil Commonwealth: C 21.19 26/11/2009Ashley Callus, Australia Australian: A 21.19 26/11/2009Ashley Callus, North End All Comers: R 21.19 26/11/2009Ashley Callus, North End WCQT: Q 21.77 Meet Qualifying: 23.78 Name Age Team Prelims Finals FINA ================================================================== === A - Final === 1 CHALMERS, KYLE 20 MARI 22.67 22.09 848 r:+0.69 2 MCEVOY, CAMERON 25 TSS 22.39 22.29 825 r:+0.60 3 BLAKE, JONTE 19 UWSC 22.53 22.31 823 r:+0.60 4 ROBERTS, JAMES 28 SOMGC 22.54 22.46 806 r:+0.66 5 JONES, CAMERON 23 STPET 22.79 22.49 803 r:+0.68 6 BRINKWORTH, ASH 19 UWSC 22.63 22.63 788 r:+0.65 7 ZUBCIC, LUKA 22 PROP 22.79 22.80 771 r:+0.62 8 BELL, GRAYSON 22 TSS 22.72 22.84 767 r:+0.64
Women’s 50 Free
Cate Campbell won her second title of the week at the 2019 Australian Swimming World Trials in the 50 free in Brisbane. She won ahead of her sister Bronte Campbell with a 24.05 while Bronte was second at 24.17, just ahead of Emma McKeon, who had the upper hand in the 100 free. Cate has been faster this year with her 24.00 from the FINA Champions Series in Guangzhou but still sits second in the world rankings for 2019. Bronte now sits fourth in the world rankings while McKeon is fifth.
Bronte was also right at her best time of 24.12 from the 2015 Worlds and McKeon lowered her best to sit 19th all-time.
McKeon has been on fire this week, scoring an upset win over Ariarne Titmus in the 200 free and also winning the 100 fly. She also finished second in the 100 free last night, moving up to sixth all-time and getting an individual spot in the event for Korea over Bronte Campbell. Bronte was able to get the individual spot in the 50 while McKeon will be busy with her three individual events regardless, plus three relay swims.
31-year-old Holly Barratt finished fourth with a 24.62 while Shayna Jack was fifth at 24.78. Jack will be headed to Gwangju after finishing fourth in the 100 free last night but has been faster this year with her 24.38 in April.
Madison Wilson (25.12), Yolane Kukla (25.55) and Leah Neale (25.71) also swam in the final.
2019 World Rankings:
- Sarah Sjostrom, SWE, 23.91
- Cate Campbell, AUS, 24.00
- Pernille Blume, DEN, 24.08
- Bronte Campbell, AUS, 24.17
- Emma McKeon, AUS, 24.25
- Mariia Kameneva, RUS, 24.32
- Simone Manuel, USA, 24.34
- Shayna Jack, AUS, 24.38
Event 25 Women 50 LC Metre Freestyle ================================================================== World: W 23.67 29/07/2017Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden Commonwealth: C 23.78 7/04/2018 Cate Campbell, Australia Australian: A 23.78 7/04/2018 Cate Campbell, Chandler All Comers: R 23.78 7/04/2018 Cate Campbell, Chandler WCQT: Q 24.59 Meet Qualifying: 26.97 Name Age Team Prelims Finals FINA ================================================================== === A - Final === 1 CAMPBELL, CATE 27 KNXP 24.33 24.05Q 953 r:+0.77 2 CAMPBELL, BRONT 25 KNXP 24.60 24.17Q 939 r:+0.72 3 MCKEON, EMMA 25 GUSC 24.83 24.25Q 929 r:+0.71 4 BARRATT, HOLLY 31 ROC 25.18 24.62 888 r:+0.66 5 JACK, SHAYNA 20 STPET 24.80 24.78 871 r:+0.71 6 WILSON, MADISON 25 MARI 25.29 25.12 836 r:+0.74 7 KUKLA, YOLANE 23 PBC 25.72 25.55 795 r:+0.63 8 NEALE, LEAH 23 USCS 25.79 25.71 780 r:+0.67
Men’s 100 Fly
David Morgan won his second title of the meet in the 100 fly after qualifying for Worlds in the 200 fly on Tuesday. He swam a 51.47 in a tie with 19-year-old Matthew Temple but neither of them got under the qualification standard of 51.31. It is likely Morgan will still swim the 100 fly in Gwangju at the World Championships and get the butterfly spot on the relay but Temple did not get under the standard so his chances are slim.
Despite not getting under the standard, both guys are now tied for eighth in the world rankings. Despite not getting under the qualification standard, Temple was named to the World Championships team.
28-year-old Grant Irvine, who was second in the 200 fly but outside the qualification standard for Worlds, placed third with a 51.62. He missed the Worlds qualifying standard by three tenths in the 200 fly.
Nicholas Brown (52.90), Edward Marks (52.98), William Yang (53.06), Charles Cox (53.73) and Shaun Champion (54.05) also swam in the final.
2019 World Rankings:
- Mehdy Metella, FRA, 50.85
- Chad Le Clos, RSA, 51.25
- Sebastian Szabo, HUN, 51.34
- Marius Kusch, GER, 51.35
- Caeleb Dressel, USA, 51.41
- Naoki Mizunuma, JPN, 51.43
- Andrei Minakov, RUS, 51.44
- David Morgan, AUS, 51.47
- Matthew Temple, AUS, 51.47
Event 26 Men 100 LC Metre Butterfly ================================================================== World: W 49.82 1/08/2009 Michael Phelps, USA Commonwealth: C 50.39 12/08/2016Joseph Schooling, Singapore Australian: A 50.85 1/08/2009 Andrew Lauterstein, SOPAC All Comers: R 50.65 9/04/2017 Chad le Clos, South Africa WCQT: Q 51.31 Meet Qualifying: 56.66 Name Age Team Prelims Finals FINA ================================================================== === Finals === 1 MORGAN, DAVID 25 TSS 52.49 51.47 906 r:+0.61 24.56 51.47 (26.91) 1 TEMPLE, MATTHEW 19 NUN 52.68 51.47 906 r:+0.60 24.07 51.47 (27.40) 3 IRVINE, GRANT 28 UWSC 52.44 51.62 898 r:+0.65 24.45 51.62 (27.17) 4 BROWN, NICHOLAS 23 UWSC 52.83 52.90 835 r:+0.70 25.21 52.90 (27.69) 5 MARKS, EDWARD 23 CARL 53.49 52.98 831 r:+0.62 24.47 52.98 (28.51) 6 YANG, WILLIAM 20 SYDU 53.86 53.06 827 r:+0.65 24.65 53.06 (28.41) 7 COX, CHARLES 19 STPET 54.61 53.73 797 r:+0.69 25.49 53.73 (28.24) 8 CHAMPION, SHAUN 19 ABBT 54.48 54.05 783 r:+0.61 25.10 54.05 (28.95)
Women’s 200 Back
2017 World Champion Emily Seebohm finished third in the 200 back on Friday night at the Australian Swimming World Trials in Brisbane with a 2:08.58. Seebohm was also fourth in the 100 back on Monday night and for the first time since 2005 will not be swimming at the World Championships for Australia.
Seebohm has been on Australia’s World Championships team since 2007 when she was a 14-year-old in front of the home crowd in Melbourne. She has been in the Worlds final of the 100 back at every Championships since placing fourth 12 years ago. She is also the two-time reigning World Champion in the 200 back, winning the 2015 and 2017 World titles.
It is unclear exactly what happened to Seebohm as she was a 2:08.89 earlier in the year at the FINA Champions Series in Budapest. She has been one of the consistent performers on the world stage the last decade and would have been one of the medal favorites for both the 100 and 200 in Gwangju had she qualified.
Seebohm, 27, should not be ruled out of qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games next year.
Kaylee McKeown (2:06.35) won the 200 ahead of Minna Atherton (2:06.82) as the two teenagers got under the Worlds qualifying time to swim both the 100 and 200 back at World Championships in five weeks. Atherton got the upper hand in the 100 earlier in the week over McKeown as they were both under the qualifying standard there as well.
McKeown is now third in the world for 2019 while Atherton sits sixth. McKeown, 17, will have a chance to improve on her fourth place finish from the 2017 Worlds in the 200 back. Atherton will be making her first World Championships appearance.
Molly O’Callaghan (2:13.81), Tahlia Thornton (2:14.21), Abbey Webb (2:15.09), Jess Unicomb (2:15.95) and Kirrily Siebenhausen (2:16.27) also placed in the top eight in the final.
2019 World Rankings:
- Margherita Panziera, ITA, 2:05.72
- Kylie Masse, CAN, 2:05.94
- Kaylee McKeown, AUS, 2:06.35
- Regan Smith, USA, 2:06.47
- Taylor Ruck, CAN, 2:06.70
- Minna Atherton, AUS, 2:06.82
- Katinka Hosszu, HUN, 2:06.94
- Kathleen Baker, USA, 2:08.08
Event 27 Women 200 LC Metre Backstroke ================================================================== World: W 2:04.06 3/08/2012 Missy Franklin, USA Commonwealth: C 2:05.68 29/07/2017Emily Seebohm, Australia Australian: A 2:05.68 29/07/2017Emily Seebohm, Brisbane Grammar All Comers: R 2:05.98 8/04/2018 Kylie Masse, Canada WCQT: Q 2:07.64 Meet Qualifying: 2:22.08 Name Age Team Prelims Finals FINA ================================================================== === Finals === 1 MCKEOWN, KAYLEE 17 USCS 2:13.06 2:06.35Q 946 r:+0.58 29.72 1:02.00 (32.28) 1:34.57 (32.57) 2:06.35 (31.78) 2 ATHERTON, MINNA 19 BGRAM 2:07.83 2:06.82Q 936 r:+0.62 29.48 1:01.86 (32.38) 1:34.53 (32.67) 2:06.82 (32.29) 3 SEEBOHM, EMILY 27 BGRAM 2:12.01 2:08.58 898 30.06 1:02.79 (32.73) 1:35.87 (33.08) 2:08.58 (32.71) 4 O'CALLAGHAN, MO 15 STPET 2:14.36 2:13.81 796 r:+0.61 31.13 1:04.66 (33.53) 1:39.54 (34.88) 2:13.81 (34.27) 5 THORNTON, TAHLI 16 BGRAM 2:14.72 2:14.21 789 r:+0.59 31.19 1:04.93 (33.74) 1:39.67 (34.74) 2:14.21 (34.54) 6 WEBB, ABBEY 18 GIND 2:18.60 2:15.09 774 r:+0.67 32.19 1:07.44 (35.25) 1:42.27 (34.83) 2:15.09 (32.82) 7 UNICOMB, JESSIC 22 GUSC 2:15.42 2:15.95 759 r:+0.64 32.24 1:06.92 (34.68) 1:41.67 (34.75) 2:15.95 (34.28) 8 SIEBENHAUSEN, K 19 RACKL 2:17.09 2:16.27 754 r:+0.64 31.13 1:05.35 (34.22) 1:40.76 (35.41) 2:16.27 (35.51)
Men’s 400 IM
27-year-old Thomas Fraser-Holmes won the 400 IM close out the Australian Swimming World titles on Friday in Brisbane with a 4:14.68, picking up a World Championships spot. He was under the qualifying standard of 4:15.69 as he will be swimming in his first Worlds since 2015. He did not swim in 2017 after failing a doping test. Fraser-Holmes was slower than his season best of 4:14.32 from April but he still sits 11th in the world rankings for 2019.
Fraser-Holmes was also sixth earlier in the week in the 200 free, but guaranteed his spot on the World Championships team by getting under the qualifying standard of 4:15.69. This will be his fourth World Championships team after swimming in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
18-year-old Brendon Smith (4:17.35) had a big push to try to make the team but ultimately came short of the qualifying standard. He was a 4:14.91 earlier in the year at the Australian Championships in April and was certainly a favorite to get the second spot for Gwangju. He will have to wait until 2020 to make his debut at the senior level on the world stage.
24-year-old Jared Gilliland (4:19.46) was third in a season best for him.
Thomas Hauck (4:21.52), Se-Bom Lee (4:21.63), Elliott Rogerson (4:27.09), David Schlicht (4:27.68) and Lucas Humeniuk (4:34.00) also swam in the final.
Event 28 Men 400 LC Metre IM
================================================================== World: W 4:03.84 10/08/2008Michael Phelps, USA Commonwealth: C 4:09.62 30/07/2017Max Litchfield, Great Britain Australian: A 4:10.14 3/05/2013 Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Miami All Comers: R 4:06.22 1/04/2007 Michael Phelps, USA WCQT: Q 4:15.69 Meet Qualifying: 4:38.46 Name Age Team Prelims Finals FINA ================================================================== === Finals === 1 FRASER-HOLMES, 27 GUSC 4:23.79 4:14.68Q 877 r:+0.71 26.25 56.74 (30.49) 1:29.49 (32.75) 2:01.44 (31.95) 2:36.98 (35.54) 3:13.96 (36.98) 3:45.04 (31.08) 4:14.68 (29.64) 2 SMITH, BRENDON 18 NUN 4:23.02 4:17.35 850 r:+0.71 26.56 57.50 (30.94) 1:31.16 (33.66) 2:03.48 (32.32) 2:41.07 (37.59) 3:19.12 (38.05) 3:48.67 (29.55) 4:17.35 (28.68) 3 GILLILAND, JARE 24 BGRAM 4:24.61 4:19.46 830 r:+0.70 26.52 58.22 (31.70) 1:31.62 (33.40) 2:04.20 (32.58) 2:41.03 (36.83) 3:18.30 (37.27) 3:49.55 (31.25) 4:19.46 (29.91) 4 HAUCK, THOMAS 16 ALLSA 4:26.25 4:21.52 810 r:+0.76 27.41 58.96 (31.55) 1:31.20 (32.24) 2:03.49 (32.29) 2:42.53 (39.04) 3:21.77 (39.24) 3:52.55 (30.78) 4:21.52 (28.97) 5 LEE, SE-BOM 17 CARL 4:23.63 4:21.63 809 r:+0.68 27.16 58.27 (31.11) 1:30.52 (32.25) 2:02.99 (32.47) 2:39.86 (36.87) 3:18.21 (38.35) 3:50.21 (32.00) 4:21.63 (31.42) 6 ROGERSON, ELLIO 19 NUN 4:28.54 4:27.09 760 r:+0.71 28.13 59.77 (31.64) 1:34.70 (34.93) 2:08.59 (33.89) 2:47.57 (38.98) 3:26.71 (39.14) 3:57.84 (31.13) 4:27.09 (29.25) 7 SCHLICHT, DAVID 19 MLC 4:30.20 4:27.68 755 r:+0.65 27.45 59.32 (31.87) 1:35.16 (35.84) 2:10.38 (35.22) 2:48.07 (37.69) 3:26.30 (38.23) 3:57.29 (30.99) 4:27.68 (30.39) 8 HUMENIUK, LUCAS 17 CHAND 4:35.52 4:34.00 704 r:+0.67 27.45 59.43 (31.98) 1:34.94 (35.51) 2:09.67 (34.73) 2:50.37 (40.70) 3:30.34 (39.97) 4:02.88 (32.54) 4:34.00 (31.12)
So has the Aussie world’s team been announced?
Where could we find the final list of qualifiers going to gwangju?
Apologies for the delay. Full list is here… https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/swimming-australia-names-strong-roster-of-27-athletes-for-2019-world-championships/
Congratulations
FINA needs an “A+” or other measure to allow a 3rd swimmer per country should they be a medal threat, ie top 8 standard. As it is the ‘world champs’ and swimming is growing it’s professional status every year, there’s no way a 52 sec 100 Freestyler or 24.2 50 Freestyler should not be competing. The flood gates on this would not open with mass numbers, only a couple of world class Aussies, Americans, possibly Japanese, and the odd other would get through. If you’re top 8 ish in the world you should get to compete at this level, as a fan I want to see all of the best!
great point! I remember when Will Licon didn’t make the Olympic team in 16 in the 200 even though he would have made the final in Rio. There should be some exceptions for someone like Bronte Campbell in the 100 to be able to swim in Gwangju. If you’re good enough, go!
I think we can all point out specific examples but just how many actually fit into this category in any given year ? I’d say less than a handful. Is it really that justifiable to change it for that many ? I’m old enough to remember Americans “bleating” about East German women “podium sweeps” and others (incl AUS) whining over US men podium sweep back in the days of 3 per nation. When we actually have the situation where we are having a significant number of events where this situation is in play THEN we can seriously think of reverting but at this point, I don’t think the case is really strong enough and we haven’t got the major swimming nations pushing the argument to do so.