Cam McEvoy One Of Five Fukuoka Gold Medallists In 24-Strong Australian Dolphins Team For Doha World Championships

by Ian Hanson - Oceania Correspondent

14 December 2023, 09:40pm

Defending champion Cam McEvoy is one of 20 members of Australia’s triumphant Fukuoka team who have been named on the Dolphins 24-strong pool and open water squad for February’s Doha World Aquatics Championships.

McEvoy will attempt to become only the fourth swimmer to win back-to-back 50m freestyle world titles – alongside Tom Jager (1986, 1991), Cesar Cielo (2009, 2011, 2013) and Caeleb Dressel (2017, 2019) -when he lines up in his his sixth World Championships (2013-15-17-19-23-24).

The 29-year-old from Somerville House (QLD)  is also one of five gold medallists from the Dolphins team that helped Australia to win the overall gold medal tally in Fukuoka – joined by St Peters Western, QLD foursome Shayna Jack  Brianna Throssell, Jack Cartwright and Kai Taylor.

KEEPS ON KEEPING ON: Brianna Throssell will contest her sixth World Championships. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr Swimming Australia

Throssell at 27, will also contest her sixth World Championships (2015-17-19-22-23-24) an extraordinary career that started at the World Short Course Championships in 2012 and has seen her collect 12 medals in the LC worlds – five gold, six silver and one bronze.

Jack was one off the mainstays of the 2023 Fukuoka campaign winning individual silver in the 50m freestyle to Swedish sprint queen Sarah Sjostrom and winning gold as a member of Australia’s three world record breaking relays.

The women’s 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle and the Mixed 4x100m freestyle with Cartwright, who won a second gold with Taylor in the Dolphins 4x100m freestyle relay.

St Peters will field 10 swimmers on the team with the other six led by 2022 world champion Elijah Winnington along with fellow Fukuoka trio Jenna Forrester, Abbey Harkin and Kiah Melverton  who will joined by world championship rookies 16-year-old Jaclyn Barclay and 18-year-old Robert Thorpe (5km).

There are four Long Course World Championship debutants, with 18-year-old Iona Anderson (Breakers, WA) and 23-year-old Alexandria Perkins (USC Spartans, QLD)  rewarded for their outstanding recent performances.

Barclay and Anderson dominated the backstroke events at this year’s World Junior Championships in Netyana, Israel, where Australia finished second behind the USA on the medal tally, with Barclay winning the 100m backstroke from Anderson who won the 50m gold and Barclay the bronze while Barclay won gold in the Junior Dolphins 4x100m medley relay.

At the recent Queensland Championships, the pair both clocked times under the Olympic qualifying standards for Paris – Barclay winning the 200mm backstroke in a personal best of 2:08.76 – the 10th fastest time by an Australian; while Anderson was second to Olympic champion and world record holder Kaylee McKeown, clocking her personal best of 59.43 (7th fastest Australian) in the 100m final, that saw Barclay fourth in 1:00.00.

Perkins, who made her Dolphins debut at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and World Short Course in Melbourne,  showed she will be a major contender for the Paris team – winning the 100m butterfly in per personal best of 57.48 – only 0.31 outside the time required to make the team with a 1-2 finish at next year’s Trials in June.

Tokyo Olympian Madeleine Gough (Carlile, NSW) and Moesha Johnson (Griffith University,QLD) have been named to swim the 10km open water (which will be a Trial for one remaining marathon spot) before swimming the 1500m in the pool.

MARATHON INNINGS: Chelsea Gubecka named on her seventh World Championships as she prepares for her second Olympics in Paris. Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Yeronga Park’s Chelsea Gubecka, snatched automatic Olympic nomination with  her 10km silver medal in Fukuoka, has been named on a record seventh Australian World Championship Team – a remarkable career that started as a 14-year-old in 2013 and she has not missed a team since – in 2015-17-19-22-23 and ’24.

Gubecka is one of 19 Queenslanders named on the Dolphins team for Doha, with two swimmers from NSW, two from WA and one from Victoria.

Australian Dolphins Team for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar (February 2-18) are: 

*International Home Coach

**Rookies

*International Home Coach

**Rookie

COACHES AND STAFF

Team Director (Pool/Open Water): Rohan Taylor

Coaches:

Dean Boxall (St Peters Western, QLD)

Tim Lane (Somerville House, QLD)

Michael Palfrey (USC Spartrans, QLD)

Ian Mills (North Coast, WA)

Kate Sparkes (Yeronga Park, QLD)

Technical Support

Mel                     Tantrum (WA)
Graeme              Brewer (QLD)

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