Sydney Open Unisport Nationals: Top 10 Events featuring Zac Stubblety-Cook, Cameron McEvoy, Emily Seebohm And Mitch Larkin

Cameron Mcevoy of Australia celebrates after competing in the 50m Freestyle Men Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 29th, 2023.
CAM'S THE MAN: Aussie sprint king Cam McEvoy will be in action at this weekend's Sydney Open UniSport Nationals. Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Sydney Open Unisport Nationals: Top 10 Events featuring Zac Stubblety-Cook, Cameron McEvoy, Emily Seebohm And Mitch Larkin

Olympic gold medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook will be joined by world champions Cameron McEvoy, Emily Seebohm and Mitch Larkin when Australian swimmers unleash their final hit outs before next month’s Olympic Trials at this weekend’s Sydney Open UniSport Nationals Meet.

The three-day meet, running from Thursday May 9 through to Saturday, May 11 at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, will also feature a host of Paris hopefuls, putting the final touches to preparations for the Australian Trials at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre from June 10-15.

Here Ian Hanson runs his eyes over the Top Ten Events to watch out for at the Sydney Meet:

2024 SYDNEY OPEN UNISPORT NATIONALS EVENT PAGE

 

Men

2023 World Trials AUS Night 6 Cam McEvoy

OFF TO A FLYER: Cam McEvoy in full flight. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr Swimming Australia

50m Freestyle

Featuring the 2023 world champion and world’s number one Cam McEvoy (Somerville House, QLD; Coach: Tim Lane) who embarks on his campaign for a fourth Olympics in Paris. No Australian has ever won an Olympic medal in the 50m freestyle since it was first swum in Seoul in 1988 and won by US legend Matt Biondi. McEvoy will use the meet to assimilate his Trials meet. Others to watch include Will Yang (SOPAC, NSW; Coach: Adam Kable) and Bond, QLD pair Flynn Southam and Ben Armbruster (Coach: Chris Mooney).

100m Freestyle

Commonwealth Games relay gold medallist Will Yang (SOPAC, NSW; Coach Adam Kable)) has already won the 100m freestyle at the Victorian (48.52) and NSW (48.48) State Championships before finishing second to Kyle Chalmers in 48.20 at last month’s Australian Open Championships as he continues his remarkable journey back from his 2023 back surgery to remove a benign tumour from his spinal cord. Watch for Chalmers’ former training partner Matt Temple (Marion, SA; Craig Stewart) , Flynn Southam (Bond, QLD; Coach: Chris Mooney) and Carter Swift (New Zealand)

 

Zac Stubblety-Cook

GOLDEN BOY: Zac Stubblety-Cook on his way to Tokyo gold. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia)

200m Breaststroke

Chandler, QLD-based Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook, who has had some outstanding results at recent Sydney Open Meets, winning the 100 and 200m doubles in 2021 and 2023, will contest all three breaststroke events, the 50, 100 and 200m.Stubblety-Cook (Coach: Vince Raleigh) will be racing for his Griffith University team throughout the three-day Sydney Open UniSport Nationals meet. Stubblety-Cook admitting after this year’s Australian Open that losing his world record and his world title in Fukuoka last year could well be a blessing as he sets his sights on Paris. Matthew Wilson (SOPAC, NSW; Coach Adam Kable) , the 25-year-old former world record holder will put all his racing eggs in one basket in his favoured 200m event. Stubblety-Cook, who won last month’s 200m final at Australian Open on the Gold Coast and will also contend with his Chandler training partner Bailey Lello, who clocked a personal best of 2:10.95 as he closes in on the elusive 2:10 barrier with his push for an Olympic spot.

200m Backstroke

NSW’s 25-year-old Bradley Woodward (SOPAC,NSW; coach Adam Kable) will be looking to continue his push towards making his Olympic team debut in Paris after winning the Japanese Open last December, clocking what remains the fourth fastest time of the season with his 1:55.56. He faces a field that includes three-time Olympian and former world champion Mitch Larkin (Chandler), Tokyo IM Olympian Se Bom Lee (SOPAC, NSW) and recently selected New Zealand Aqua Blacks Olympian Kane Follows.

MATT TEMPLE 2 SYD OPEN 23

FLYING MACHINE: Matt Temple is Paris podium potential. Photo Courtesy:Delly Carr (Swimming NSW)

100m Butterfly

Current world ranked number two and Australian and Commonwealth record holder, Matt Temple (Marion, SA; coach Craig Stewart) with a time of 50.25 has swum his way into Paris medal calculations in the 100m butterfly. Temple won last month’s Australian Open title in 50.80 ahead of Abbottsleigh Swim Club’s Shaun Champion (Coach: Amanda Isaac) 51.228 who will swim for the University of Technology, Sydney, and Ben Armbruster (Bond, QLD; Coach: Chris Mooney) 51.88 who will both line up in a re-match in Sydney.

Women

50/100m Freestyle

Three of the stars of the World Juniors last year, Olivia Wunsch (Carlile, NSW: Coach: Michaela Pattinson) and Bond girls Milla Jansen and Hannah Casey (Coach: Chris Mooney) will all feature in the 50 and 100m freestyles. Wunsch and Jansen won gold and silver in the 100m freestyle in Israel and Wunsch and Casey gold and bronze in the 50m with all three members of Australia’s gold medal winning 4x100m freestyle relay. Japanese Olympian Rikako Ikee, who will feature prominently in the 50 and 100m butterfly here, will also contest the 50m as will recently selected New Zealand Paris Olympian Laticia-Leigh Transom, who will also contest the 100 and 200m along with fellow Kiwi, 400m freestyle world champion Erika Fairweather.

emily-seebohm-2017-nationals

SUPERMUM: Emily Seebohm juggling motherhood and training for the Olympic Trials. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr/Swimming Australia

100/200m Backstroke

Four-time Olympian and “Supermum” Emily Seebohm (St Margaret’s; Coach: Matt Brown) will wrap up her racing preps for the June Olympic Trials as she sets her sights on a possible fifth Games in Paris. Seebohm has slowly but surely clawed her way back to mainstream competition after the birth of son Samson last September – re-igniting her career and re-uniting with former coach Matt Brown in Brisbane. Seebohm was fifth in the 100m backstroke in 1:01.21 and seventh in the 200m (2:13.02) at last month’s Australian Open. Others in the backstroke line-ups will be world short course record holder Minna Atherton (Bond, QLD; Coach Chris Mooney) and Norway’s World Championship representative Inoeborg Loeyning in the 100 and 200 and Bond’s Layla Day (Coach: Chris Mooney) in the 100m.

 200m Butterfly

Only five Australians have broken 2:06 for 200m butterfly and two of them, Chandler-based Lizzy Dekkers(who will swim for the University of Queensland at this Sydney Open UniSport Nationals Meet; coach: Vince Raleigh) and 2016 Rio Olympic silver medallist Madeline Groves (Commercial, QLD) will line up in both the 100 and 200m fly here. Dekkers, unlucky to miss the cut for Tokyo in 2021, has not put a foot wrong since, winning gold in the 200fly at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and silver at last year’s World’s in Fukuoka – again lowering her personal best just last month to 2:05.20 in taking the Australian Open title – which stands as the world’s second fastest time of the season. It puts Dekkers right in line for a Paris podium. Dekkers will swim in front of a home crowd at next month’s Games selection Trials, and you can rest assured she will command one of the loudest receptions if she can earn her spot on the team or Paris. Competition in the 100m her will come from two-time Japanese Olympian and leukaemia survivor Rikako Ikee, who is coached on the Gold Coast by Australian Janelle Pallister (mother of Paris hopeful Lani) and who has already qualified for her second Games – her first individual spot – when second in the 100m butterfly at the Japan Trials in 57.30 – 0.04 under the Team Japan qualifying time of 57.34.

SWIM LIZZIE: Lizzie Dekkers the big mover in the 200 fly. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr Swimming Australia

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