This time last year, most Australians were sitting at home in lockdown, perhaps able to gain some solace from the performance of the Australian swimming team, who brought home multiple gold medals from the Tokyo Olympic Games.
This year, we can expect even more as the Dolphins take on the best swimmers at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The team has come off a successful world championships in Budapest in June and stayed together for a training camp in France before beginning their assault on the Birmingham pool.
Australian women have recorded the fastest times in the Commonwealth this year in 12 of the 16 races on the Birmingham program, and that doesn’t take into account McKeon, who has taken much of the year off but will return for the Games.
Even so, head coach Rohan Taylor is reluctant to make any prediction about gold medals.
“I said this before Tokyo: for us, we want to get as many medals as we can,” he told ABC Sport.
“Whatever that number ends up being, it’ll be an outcome of our athletes’ ability to perform when it matters.”
Without the US, China, Italy or Russians competing, the Commonwealth Games is an altogether different proposition to the level of competition faced at the Olympic Games or the world championships, but Taylor said his athletes were primed to perform at the storied sporting carnival.
Mollie O’Callaghan won the 100m world title despite admitting nerves got to her before the final.(Getty Images: Quinn Rooney “Just being able to get up in the green and gold and represent your country is the first thing,” Taylor said.
“The depth may not be there from the worlds, but there are some quality athletes from across the Commonwealth that our guys are looking forward to racing.”
O’Callaghan topped the medal tally with three gold medals and three silvers at the world championships, including a stunning win in the 100m freestyle final over world record holder Sarah Sjöström .
“I was actually really, really nervous before the 100 free final,” the 18-year-old told the SwimSwam website.
“My legs started to cramp in the warm-up and then I started to panic even more.”
And yet, she powered home from sixth place at the turn to become the world champion, doubling down on the back-end speed she showed in the semi-final, where she recorded the fastest second 50 metres in history.
Taylor said he was not surprised by O’Callaghan’s form after her strong showing at the June trials.
“The combination of the form Mollie was in, the way the race unfolded – you know her back end is so strong — that she was just in striking distance at the right time,” Taylor said.
It sets up a mouth-watering showdown at the Commonwealth Games between the new world champion and Olympic Champion Emma McKeon.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Emma McKeon became Australia’s most decorated Olympian.(Getty: Brendon Thorne McKeon chose to skip the world championships but comes into the Commonwealth Games as the undisputed champion of women’s sprint swimming after claiming four gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Taylor said he was looking forward to the high-profile showdown between the training partners.
“[O’Callaghan] stood up under the pressure of world championships quite well and I think this is another opportunity for her to step up against Emma,” he said.
“Emma is the reigning Olympic champion and rightly so, so it’s going to be a good challenge for Mollie, and we like that competitive pressure.”
Adding McKeon to the 4x100m freestyle relay final that won gold at the world championships makes for a seemingly unbeatable team.
Shayna Jack anchored the team in Budapest and is keen to make an impression after sitting on the sidelines for two years for a drug ban.
The Commonwealth Games will be a homecoming of sorts for Jack – it was on the Gold Coast in 2018 that she first announced herself, helping the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay to the gold medal and a world record.
She came back exceptionally at the Australian championships in May, winning the 50m freestyle final and coming second to O’Callaghan in the 100m freestyle final.
Jack broke her hand in a freak accident after winning that relay gold but has returned after having surgery to repair the break.
The women’s 4x200m freestyle relay came second behind the US at the world championships, but Canada’s bronze, less than a second behind, shows they will be a tough opponent at the Commonwealth Games.
The good news for Australia is the addition of the fastest women’s middle-distance swimmer in the world, Ariarne Titmus, who also skipped the world championships.
After her stunning performance at the Olympics last year, Titmus skipped this year’s world championships to prepare for the Commonwealth Games.(Getty Images: Quinn Rooney Titmus will return to the international stage after winning two gold medals in Tokyo and setting a new 400m freestyle world record at the Australian Championships.
She won’t have everything her own way: 15-year-old Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh pushed US great Katie Ledecky all the way to the line in the 400m freestyle final at the world championships.
Multiple Olympic gold medallist Kaylee McKeown will contest her pet 100m and 200m backstroke events and is considering adding one of the individual medley events to her program after coming second in the 200m IM at the world championships.
Add in distance swimmers, Lani Pallister and Kiah Melverton (who came second at the 800m freestyle at the world championships), and breaststroker Jenna Strauch (second in the 200m breaststroke) and you have the backbone of a dominant women’s swimming squad.
Chalmers returns to strong men’s team As for the Australian men, there are some good signs after a strong showing at the world championships.
Olympic gold medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook continued his impressive form, winning the 200m breaststroke final in Budapest.
But the greatest story was one of redemption for Elijah Winnington, who became the 400m freestyle world champion, recording a personal best to win the gold medal after finishing seventh in the final at the Tokyo Games.
Elijah Winnington won gold on the first night at the recent world championships.(Getty Images: Tom Pennington “To turn it around after his disappointment really speaks to him and his character and his coach, Dean Boxall,” Taylor said.
“To come back and be in that position again and execute, it was fantastic and I was really happy for him.”
Winnington said his first world title was a timely confidence boost moving into the Commonwealth Games.
“The Commonwealth Games has such a special place in my heart – it was the first senior Australian team I ever made and in my hometown at the Gold Coast and they’re actually some of the best memories I have in swimming,” he said at the Australian team’s preparation camp in France last week.
Winnington told SwimSwam he went into the world championships feeling confident after strong performances at the Australian trials in May.
“I can achieve something quite special in the men’s 400m freestyle,” he said in a warning to his Commonwealth Games rivals and with a nod to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
As always, all eyes will be on the 100m freestyle gold medallist from Rio, Kyle Chalmers, who performed incredibly well at the Australian championships despite having just eight weeks of training.
But his results were overshadowed by the media storm over his decision to compete at the world championships, which meant pop star Cody Simpson missed out on an individual spot.
Chalmers took some time away from the sport to deal with his mental health, but Taylor said his presence was a positive for the team, as was shown when he helped Australia win gold in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay at the world championships.
The mixed relays are recent inclusions for many major meets.(Getty Images: Maddie Mever “He’s such an asset for us in the relays, he just thrives in that environment,” Taylor said.
Taylor said Chalmers would compete in the 100m freestyle and butterfly events at the Commonwealth Games as well as the relays.
“I just want to see him contribute in our relays as he always does,” Taylor said.
“His ability to put together some training gives him a chance to get up at the Commonwealth Games.”
Ellie Cole’s last hurrah Australia will also be well represented in the para swimming events, with 27 athletes going to the Games after a successful world championships where the team won 31 medals, including seven golds.
Ellie Cole will be swimming at her last Commonwealth Games and is desperate to make amends to the one blemish in her glittering career.
Despite winning six Paralympic gold medals and three world championships, she is yet to win gold at any of her three previous Commonwealth Games.
Timothy Hodge is due for a big Games after claiming two golds and a silver at the world championships, while Emily Beecroft won a gold and two silvers including one in her Commonwealth Games event, the 100m freestyle S9.
Expect to see a strong showing from the likes of Katja Dedekind, Keira Stephens and Matthew Levy.
Despite Taylor’s reluctance to make any medal predictions, you can be sure the Australian swimming team will come home with a swag of medals, many of them gold.
“It really comes down to the fact that these are exceptionally talented athletes,” Taylor said.
“The training, the coaching, the work they do together is really impressive. [We’re] very fortunate to have such a good group together.”
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