Titmus Threatens World Record
Ariarne Titmus is expected to show up big for Australia in the pool at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. The 23-year-old took home gold in both the women’s 200m and 400m freestyle at the last Olympic’s along with a silver in the 800m freestyle.
On day one of the Australian Olympic Swimming Trials, she had her strongest event, the 400m free. As expected, she dominated the event and officially punched her ticket to Paris.
Even with the massive expectations on her shoulder’s however, she managed to exceed what was expected of her.
Her time of 3:55:44 is the second fastest time ever in the event, trailing only her own world record time of 3:55:48. She was in a class of her own amongst the other Australian women competing, leading the race wire-to-wire.
The result, though not surprising, was a welcomed sight for Australian swimming fans as Titmus had a health scare at the end of 2023. Seeing that she is still churning out times that no other woman has reached before is a good sign for her gold medal aspirations.
Kaylee McKeown’s First of Five Events is a Success
Kaylee McKeown will be in the pool for five of the six days of the competition, the most out of any Australian. She set the tone for the rest of her Olympic Trials very comprehensively on day one, taking home the top spot in the 200m IM.
Her winning time of 2:06.63, was much more than just the top qualifying time, however. It was the fastest she has ever swum the event, setting an Australian record and moving her into third place all time.
At the Tokyo Olympics, McKeown withdrew from the 200m IM to focus on other events despite being favoured to take home gold.
She is expected to keep the race in her repertoire at the Paris Games in what will be a good opportunity for the Aussies to secure an extra gold medal.
Winnington and Short Battle in the 400m Free
Elijah Winnington and Sam Short battled against one another for top spot in the men’s 400m freestyle. Winnington, the 2022 world champion, narrowly bested the 2023 world champion in Short as both men booked their tickets to Paris.
Winnington’s time of 3:43.26 was less than 0.7 seconds quicker than Short’s 3:43.90. The Aussie’s will both look to save their best for Paris, as they’ll be chasing German Lukas Martens, who has the fastest time in the event this year.
Other Qualifiers from Day One
Australia saw five others qualify for the Paris Olympics on day one, including former Olympic Champion Emma McKeon.
The 30-year-old paced the field in the 100m butterfly, finishing with a time of 56.85. She will be looking to maintain or improve upon her bronze medal showing from the event in Paris. She also has her top event, the 50m freestyle, in which she is the Olympic Champion still to come.
Sam Williamson and Joshua Yong both qualified for Paris in the men’s 100m breast with times of 58.80 and 59.48 respectively. The results were somewhat surprising given that previous times made it seem as though Australia may have no representatives in the event.
Ella Ramsay finished second to Kaylee McKeown in the 200m IM with a time of 2:09.32 which was enough for her to secure a spot in Paris.
Similarily, Lani Pallister came in behind Titmus in 4:02.27 to book her place.
Day one of the Australian Olympic Swimming Trials produced quality results across the board for team Australia. As expected, Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown dominated their events while surprising races from other’s saw Australia qualify nine people on the first day of racing.
