Queensland’s Next Crop Of Olympians Inspired by Female Sprint Legends En Route To Brisbane 2032
Queensland’s next crop of future swim stars continue to be inspired by three of Australia’s most revered female sprinters as they rev up on the road to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
Swimming Queensland’s annual Tilly Cup Short Course Teams Event has again reached fever pitch over three days of action-packed racing at the All Saints Anglican School on the Gold Coast featuring the 84-strong Development Squad aged 13-16 years.
REV UP: Team Henry get revved up for the final session. Photo Courtesy Hanson Media
Split into three teams – named after Olympic champions Jodie Henry, Libby Trickett and Alice Mills – the engine room of Australia’s female swimming ranks, who ruled the pool between 2002 and 2007.
It was Team Henry who successfully defended their Tilly Cup crown, under head coach James Boyce, hanging on to take the trophy on 994 points after withholding the challenges from Team Mills (980) and final session winners Team Trickett (955).
The brainchild of Swimming Queensland’s Coach Director Drew McGregor, team rivalry and war cries reached fever pitch from the opening session.
TEAM TRICKETT ready to rock.Photo Courtesy Wade Brennan (Swimming QLD)
Lead Coach David Thomas blown away by the energy, enthusiasm and swimming skills of a next gen group, many with their sights set on the arrival of the Olympics into their own backyard in 2032.
“Drew talks a lot about trying to set people up for the Olympic Games – you bring some athletes to an event like the Tilly Cup, who will be at their best level and their best experience,” said Thomas.
“That’s why you want to make the whole event a really positive experience.
“We are in the business of competitive sport, the coaches are competitive people, the athletes are competitive people and the country likes competitive people.
TEAM MILLS armed for action. Photo Courtesy Wade Brennan
“So we’re trying to see if we can fast track some of the experiences that they need; can they live life in fast forward in a few areas so at the time when 2032 comes around and it will come around very quickly that they have the skills and the experience required?
“And not just to be able to make the team not just to be able to make the final but to be able to do a great job for our country.”
Thomas praising the coaches and the swimmers for embracing an opportunity that has become a major part in the development of Queensland’s pick of the cro
“Full marks to the coaches who led the way perfectly, striking a really good balance between taking the swimming seriously and challenging the swimmers to improve their performance and take the positives from their performance whilst showing that you can have a smile and enjoy getting the job done and that’s a great message for the swimmers to see,” said Thomas.
“The swimmers and the coaches really made the most of this opportunity to come to an event like this to not only practice the skills they already have in the sport.
MAKING A SPLASH: Relay action at the 2026 Tilly Cup. Photo Courtesy Wade Brennan.
“They are good technicians; they’ve got the skills and they are good competitors; they get to come and practice what it is like to be in a team event when you’ve got to factor in travelling, you’ve got to factor in your accommodation.
“And the fact that you’ve got to get up in the morning and come back in the night and the meet rolls and rolls and rolls, and you’ve got to find a way to maintain that intensity, and I thought the swimmers and the coaches were really good this year.”
And it was Team Henry on the back of their relay dominance and a host of individual wins that proved to be uncatchable in the end – in an event schedule that features non-traditional distances over 75, 150, 300, 600 and 900m events and a host of relays.
Wins in the first three events – the Girls and Boys 13-14 years and Girls 15-16 years medley relays followed by wins in the Mixed 13-16 years Medley Mystery Relay and the Boys and Girls 13-14 Years 7x50m freestyle relay double – that paved the way for a winning meet.
OFF TO A FLYER at the 2026 Tilly Cup. Photo Courtesy WSade Brennan.
Racing that regularly went down to the wire -competitive down to the final touches.
At the end of the Girls 7x50m freestyle relay – it was Team Henry in 3:11.07, edging out Team Mills 3:11.34 and Team Trickett 3:11.97 – less than a second separating the three teams – with Tanyka Goode (Henry) out-touching Emily Goodwin (Mills) and Aaliya Mabsout (Trickett) in a thriller.
Relay rivalry bringing out the best in all the teams – just as it did with their Team namesakes as Henry, Mills and Trickett formed the engine room of world dominating 4x100m relay teams between 2002 and 2007.
It was a record-breaking weekend too with four new Tilly Cup short course marks set – two by Team Mills swimmer Tei Ashcroft (Miami; Coach: Laura Matthews) in the Boys 15-16 years 75m backstroke with a time of 39.83 – taking 0.04 off Kane Martin’s 2023 time and the 50m backstroke with a new record time of 25.15, lowering Martin’s time of 25.67, also set in 2023.
In the 15-16 years Boys 50m breaststroke it was the Sunshine Coast’s Cooroy Dolphin Noah Ellison (Coach: Andrew Cowan) for Team Trickett who set a new record time of 28.95 – eclipsing Gideon Burnes 2022 mark of 29.29; while in the Boys 15-16 Years 900m freestyle it was Team Henry’s Cooper Kay (Kawana; Coach: Janelle Pallister) who broke Robert Thorpe’s 2021 time of 9:08.77 – clocking an impressive 9:06.57.
LET’S GO at the 2026 Tilly Cup. Photo Courtesy Wade Brennan.
Team Henry individual winners were:
Hugo Wheeler (Nudgee; Coach: Sam Sharp) Boys 13-14 years 600m freestyle (6:13.69)
Rose Purcell (Chandler; Coach: Cameron Keith): Girls 15-16 Years Girls 600m freestyle (6:32.52); Girls 15-16 years 900m freestyle (9:55.65)
Madeleine Harvey (Griffith; Coach: Brett Shanks) 15-16 150m backstroke (1:37.35); Girls 15-16 years 50m backstroke 29.23
Samuel Hynd (St Peters Western; Coach: Jacob Hansford) Boys 13-14 years 300m freestyle 3:03.61; Boys 13-14 Years 150m freestyle (1:24.09)
Emmitt Morris (Pimpama; Coach: Sebastian Torales) Boys 13-14 Years 100IM (1:00.62); Boys 13-14 years 200IM (2:11.31)
Sofia Shine (Griffith; Coach: Thomas Fraser Holmes) Girls 13-14 years 50m butterfly (28.18); Girls 13-14 years 150m freestyle 1:39.02; Girls 13-14 years 75m butterfly 45.14
Aolong Zhang (Uni of QLD; Coach Bailey Farris) 13-14 years 150m breaststroke (1:46.78); Boys 13-14 years 75m breaststroke 48.89
Cohen Tarrant (Somerset; Coach: Chris Urquhart) 15-16 years 150m breaststroke (1:41.10); Boys 15-16 years 75m breaststroke 45.82
Lync Lauder (Nudgee; Coach: Stewart Melton) Boys 15-16 years 150m freestyle 1.21.08
Braxtyn Truman (Miami; Laura Matthews) Boys 13-14 years 150m butterfly 1:35.22
TILLY CUP SQUAD SQUADRON at Bond University for the pre-event training. Photo Courtesy Wade Brennan.