Can Sam Short Successfully Transition From The Pool To The Ocean At The Australian Open Water Championships ?
Australian Open Water Championships Event Page
Olympian and world champion Sam Short will join the pathway of some of the world’s best distance swimmers when he debuts in the 10km, 5km and 3km knockout events at this weekend’s Australian Open Water Championships and Ocean Swim Festival at Bunbury in Western Australia.
The 23-year-old Queensland world champion over 400m freestyle, is also one of the fastest 1500m swimmers in the world, embedded in a celebrated list of champions, some who have successfully paved careers in both pool and open water swimming – now commonly referred to as new age distance swimmers.
Olympic and world champions like Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri to name just three have all excelled over 800 and 1500m in the pool and up to 5km and 10km in open water.
PRIZED POSSESSION: 2026 Lorne Pier To Pub trophy winners Sam Short and Lani Pallister Photo Courtesy Geelong Advertiser.
It’s now time for Short (Rackley, QLD) to join the fray as open water swimming continues to grow towards the 2028 and 2032 Olympics with new events in the pipeline.
Enter the successful inclusion of the 4x1500m relay at the 2024 World Championships and the newly added 3km knockout (1500m, 1000m and 500m) swum for the first time at the 2025 World’s in Singapore.
But Short is no stranger to open water or surf swimming, a national pastime in Australia, a kid who cut his teeth in the surf at Maroochydore on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast – following in the footsteps of his champion father Danny Short and uncle Stephen Short – both Queensland and Australian Championship gold medallists in their own right.
Short recently winning Lorne’s historic Pier To Pub 1.5km ocean swim in Victoria – joining seven-time women’s winner, fellow Olympian, world champion and world record holder Lani Pallister, herself a champion Sunshine Coast lifesaver.
But Short has told Australia’s ABC that open water over 5km and 10km would be a whole new ball game, saying it was important to swim with the ocean.
“I’ve actually never done feeding before in a race,” Short said.
“I did a little bit of practice yesterday, actually, to get my head around it.
“And you’ve got to be able to see where you’re swimming, otherwise you end up swimming hundreds of metres more by accident just by swimming off course. You save a lot of time by swimming as straight as possible.
“Obviously, because there’s no lane ropes out of the pool, so no-one’s going to stop anyone from swimming over the top of you, getting right up in your personal space.
“I do love watching open water, I’ve been watching it for a couple of years, so I’m aware of the tactics and stuff a lot of people use and I’ve got a bit of experience in surf races as well through Nippers, so that aspect’s not too far for me.
“But over a span of two hours, that’s definitely new.
“And at the end of the day, the ocean is wavy, there’s tides, you know, there’s going be some chop. In the pool, it’s just dead flat. So you have got to be able to tolerate all those sorts of conditions.”
WORLD CHAMPIONS: Kyle Lee, Nick Sloman, Chelsea Gubecka and Moesha Johnson.Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
This weekend Short will join fellow Olympians and world champions Nick Sloman (Melbourne Vicentre, VIC) and Kyle Lee (North Coast, WA) and rising star Thomas Raymond (Noosa, QLD), himself a National champion in what will be an intriguing weekend’s racing as Australia’s open water swimming prowess continues to grow.
Sloman is a five-time Australian 10k champion and five-time Australian open surf race champion – who was second to Short in the Pier To Pub – no more experienced distance swimmer in Australian waters.
The women’s field will be headlined by the world’s best open water swimmer in 2025, Olympic silver medallist, Moesha Johnson (Miami, QLD), won gold in the women’s 10km and 5km at World Championships in Singapore last year, adding a gutsy bronze in the 3km knockout sprint.
Johnson will be joined by Short’s fellow Rackley team mate, 21-year-old Tiana Kritzinger, who too is exploring new horizons in the open water world.
They will line up with over 400 athletes taking the plunge, in Bunbury’s Koombana Bay, about 170km south of Perth.
The four-day event featuring the 10km open events on Thursday (January 22), the 4×1.5km relay on Friday (January 23), the 3km KO on Saturday (January 24) and finishing with the 5km events on Sunday (January 24) -in between a host of Age group events over 2.5 and 7.5km.
The 10km events will feature a $50,000 prize purse with the winners of the men’s and women’s 10km earning $8000 for the first, $6000 for second and $1500 for third descending down in value to 8th place.
The Bunbury title-chase is the first major Australian-based swimming event of the year, with a dozen international swimmers from Sri Lanka, Japan, New Zealand, Samoa, Bahrain, Switzerland and South Africa, joining the stacked fields.
THE INNOVATOR: Brazilian Fernando Possenti, making waves as Australia’s National Open Water Head Coach. Photo Courtesy Swimming Australia (Delly Carr)
The 3km knockout is the brainchild of Australian Open Water Head coach, notable Brazilian Olympic gold medal coach Fernando Possenti, who has made an immediate impact on the sport down under.
The 3km knockout sprint features three races in a short time period, tournament style, with one heat of an open water 1500m, before one heat of a 1000m sprint, and then finishing off with the last 500m sprint. The last 500m determines the winner. Ten athletes will progress through to the final.
“If we need to keep this sport in the Olympic program and have hope of adding a new race, we need to adapt ourselves for a format that will engage more numbers of participants and more attention and promotion,” Possenti said.
And while Possenti is embracing change and endorsing innovation, his secret to success is anchored in the oldest truth of all – our connection to water itself.
“To succeed in open water, you need to predict the unpredictable,” he said.
“That is what I love about the sport – how it’s our greatest chance to connect with nature and… how you need to adapt to survive, just like in nature and just like us as human beings.
“Anything can happen before, during or even after a race and athletes especially must be empowered to make their own decisions.
“There’s not only adaptations to the water conditions to consider but also you need to adapt yourself and your race plan to the thousands of decisions and situations being played out all at once during the marathon event.”
Athletes will also be vying for more than bragging rights in the Indian Ocean waters off Bunbury – in addition to National titles, top Australian senior contenders will also be competing for funding ahead of qualification races in Spain and Italy ahead of the Pan Pacific Championships to be held in California in August.
And for junior Australian athletes, selection for the Junior World Championships in Argentina is also on the line.
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Dolphins Open Water Head Coach Fernando Possenti and Australia’s two-time world champion Moesha Johnson. Photo Courtesy Swimming Australia (Delly Carr).