Aussie Sprint Stars Deliver Dazzling Swim GP Finale In A Perfect LA28 Warm Up
Australia’s exciting brand of new age sprinters have strutted their stuff on a dazzling Swim GP stage in Melbourne overnight– with LA28 squarely in their sights.
In front of an enthusiastic sell-out crowd at the Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre the 2026 breed of sprint demons, delivered in stunning fashion, revelling in an exciting brand of Teams-based racing.
The swimmers loved it, the crowd loved it and it served up an appetite of what they can expect on a much bigger scale when swimming takes centre stage in front of 40,000 fans at Ingewood’s SoFi 2028 Stadium.
WAHOOOO: Meg Harris doing it for Team Wahoo. Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Led by Olympic silver medallist and world champion Meg Harris and Paris teammates Ben Armbruster, Flynn Southam and Alex Perkins – the new breed of Dolphins stars unleashed all their power and pace as the spectacular new Teams format sent fans into a frenzy of support on the final night of competition.
Harris and Armbruster spearheading Team Wahoo to victory, Harris declaring: “No one really knew what to expect coming into Swim GP.
“We knew it was going to be some fast swimming and getting the fans involved but I think being part of history and Wahoo being the first team to win at something like this is incredible.
“I think it’s definitely going to be something that is part of the future of swimming.
“In 18 months time [at the LA Olympics] we’re going to be in front of a whole different crowd, in front of (the) Americans, and I think that’s going to put a lot of pressure on us.
“So I think events like this, creating that atmosphere and having a huge crowd is great.”
GP WINNER: Ben Armbruster lapping up Swim GP in Melbourne, .Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Harris and Southam dominated the 50m Freestyle Skins Finals and Perkins and Armbruster the 50m Butterfly Skins Finals – while Armbruster and backstroking comeback queen Kaylee McKeown nailed the Championship Skins battle of the strokes finals.
Butterfly specialists Perkins and Armbruster had shown their freestyle sprinting prowess – winning the 25m freestyle shoot-outs on night one.
Their underwater skills displaying just what this new breed of sprinter is capable of as they put the final touches to their preparations for the World Short Course Championships, starting on December 1 in Beijing.
WRAPPED: Flynn Southam gets wrapped up in the atmosphere of Swim GP..Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
The Skins testing the sprint and endurance qualifies in the gut-busting elimination rounds, polishing their skills, knowing that LA will showcase the first appearance of swimming’s form strokes.
Armbruster in his element saying: “We put a lot of time into our underwaters and it’s great to put that into practice…but the Skins does take it out of you…my legs feel like they are about to fold out from under me.
“But it’s what we do from day-to-day…so we’re used to the pain.”
It was Armbruster who made the 50m freestyle semi-finals in Paris, who dead-heated with Kyle Chalmers to share Commonwealth Games gold in the 50m butterfly in Glasgow before winning the event at the Pan Pacs in Irvine.
He relishes racing and has the all-round abilities to join world sprint king pin Cam McEvoy as the Dolphins build for their tilt at the Olympics not just for 2028 but their own home Games in Brisbane 2032.
CROWDED HOUSE: Australia’s sporting capital Melbourne turned out in style for Swim GP. Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Harris (freestyle) and Armbruster (butterfly) then combined with Josh Collett (breaststroke) and Iona Anderson (backstroke) in the 4x50m medley relay for Team Wahoo to put the exclamation mark on the Team’s Pointscore win.
Final Pointscore: Wahoo (222 points), Tsunami (173), Kraken (170), KingTide (149).
Southam summing up the Swim GP debut, saying the swimmers were so grateful to have so many kids and fans in the stands screaming out and cheering,
“I feel like I’m losing my voice from all the cheering. I’ve had so much fun and I love the competition and just thriving on the crowd.
“This is really going to help us for LA28 having a big crowd and swimming for something bigger than yourself, it’s awesome.”
Swim GP, Night 2, Results:
MEN
50m Freestyle Elimination Skins
Flynn Southam Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Flynn Southam (KingTide)
- Jamie Jack (Tsunami)
400m Freestyle Checkpoint
Charlie Hawke Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Charlie Hawke (Wahoo)
- Kai Taylor (KingTide)
- Tex Cross (Kraken)
- Edward Sommerville (Tsunami)
50m Butterfly Elimination Skins
Ben Armbruster Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Ben Armbruster (Wahoo)
- Matt Temple (Tsunami)
200m Mystery Medley
Alex Quach Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Alex Quach (Tsunami)
- Brendon Smith (Kraken)
- Josh Collett (Wahoo)
- Bailey Lello (KingTide)
WOMEN
50m Freestyle Elimination Skins
Meg Harris Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Meg Harris (Wahoo)
- Olivia Wunsch (KingTide)
400m freestyle Checkpoint
Jenna Forrester Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Jenna Forrester (Wahoo)
- Lizzy Dekkers (KingTide)
- Brittany Castelluzzo (Kraken)
- Tiana Kritzinger (Tsunami)
50m Butterfly Elimination Skins
Alex Perkins Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Alexandria Perkins (Kraken)
- Poppy Stephen (Tsunami)
200m Mystery Medley
- Ella Ramsay (Wahoo)
- Tara Kinder (Tsunami)
- Amelie Smith (Kraken)
- Lani Pallister (KingTide)
MIXED
50m Skins Champions Race
Kaylee McKeown Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Kaylee McKeown/backstroke (Tsunami)
- Ella Ramsay/breaststroke (Wahoo)
- Alexandria Perkins/butterfly (Kraken)
- Meg Harris/freestyle (Wahoo)
50m Skins Champions Race
Ben Armbruster Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Ben Armbruster/butterfly (Wahoo)
- Josh Collett/breaststroke (Wahoo)
- Enoch Robb/butterfly (Kraken)
- Flynn Southam/freestyle (KingTide)
Mixed 4×50 Freestyle Relay Grand Final
- Team Wahoo
- Team Tsunami
- Team Kraken
- Team KingTide
4×50 Medley Relay Multi Class
- Team KingTide
- Team Wahoo
- Team Tsunami
- Team Kraken
100m Freestyle Multi-Class
- Madeleine McTernan (Kraken)
- Alex Tuckfield (KingTide)
- Rowan Crothers (Tsunami)
- Emily Beecroft (Wahoo)
100m Multi Class:
Lakeisha Patterson Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
- Lakeisha Patterson (Tsunami)
- Ben Hance (Wahoo)
- Tim Hodge (Kraken)
- Keira Stephens (KingTide)
Final Pointscore: Wahoo (222 points), Tsunami (173), Kraken (170), KingTide (149).
SWIM GP PHOTO GALLERY
Team Wahoo Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Team Wahoo Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Harrison Turner Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Team Tsunami Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Poppy Stephens Photo Courtesy Stephens Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Amelie Smith Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Brendan Smith Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Kaylee McKeown Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Lani Pallister Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Team KrakenPhoto Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Team KingTide Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Tim Hodge Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Winning Wahoo fans Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).