Led by three defending World Champions and a host of the world’s best swimmers, a team of 38 athletes for Swimming Australia are set to contest the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
The team was selected after eight days of intense competition at the 2015 Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Championships, and will see a powerful blend of seasoned veterans, rising stars and debutants take to the blocks.
“We have had a great week,” Head Coach Jacco Verhaeren said.
“Lots of great qualifications and that’s what it’s all about. Of course it’s about national titles and making national podiums, but ultimately it is a great opportunity to select a great team and that’s what has happened.”
James Magnussen, Cate Campbell and Christian Sprenger will all have the opportunity to defend their world titles after securing their spot on the Australian Dolphins Swim Team, which was announced at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre tonight.
Despite coming second to Cameron McEvoy in the men’s 100 freestyle, Magnussen remains confident in his ability to win the blue-ribband event in Kazan.
“That’s what we are working towards now,” Magnussen said of his goal to win his third consecutive World title.
“No one has ever done it and I guess it is something that keeps me motivated because pretty much everything in a 100 freestyle has been done at some stage. You can’t even say you want to be the first person to crack 47 [seconds for the 100 metres] because it has been done. So this is a pretty special legacy type goal, I guess, to show that I have been able to stay at the top of world swimming for a number of years.”
In the corresponding women’s event, Cate Campbell booked her ticket to Russia with an equal best time in the world this year – a truly remarkable result for the 22-year-old who had shoulder surgery just six months ago.
“It was a smart swim more than anything else,” Campbell said after her 100m victory. “I used every bit of the training I had done and that’s what got me that time. I just swam my own race and made sure I attacked all the things that I needed to attack and I’m very, very pleased with that result.”
For Sprenger, the opportunity to defend his 100m breaststroke world crown didn’t come easily. The 29-year-old came into the meet with just six weeks of breaststroke training under his belt after undergoing radical shoulder surgery in 2014.
Sprenger came second behind 20-year-old Jake Packard in the final, with both athletes just a fraction outside the qualifying time. Both Sprenger and Packard have been selected for the 4 x 100m medley relay.
“Our experience from 2014 showed us that we need two swimmers in each of the form strokes and given that Kazan serves as a springboard meet for the Olympic Games, we can’t take any chances,” Verhaeren said.
“I feel very lucky to be on this team,” Sprenger said.
“They’ve really given me a chance to have the time I need to get my body prepared. I look forward to the next three months where I can show them that they made the right decision.”
The team boasts another remarkable comeback story in Grant Hackett.
At 34 years of age, Hackett qualified for his sixth World Championships team. More than six years after retiring from swimming, and after just six months back in the pool, Hackett surpassed all his own expectations to grab a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle. He then went on to place fourth in the 200m freestyle, securing a relay spot on the team for Worlds in the process.
“It’s a different sort of achievement,” Hackett said. “If you’d asked me 10 years ago about making a relay team and that being the only thing I was on the team for, I would have been bitterly disappointed but now it’s like one of the biggest achievements of my life to make that team.”
Hackett competed at his first World Championships in 1998, a year before rookie Kyle Chalmers was even born.
Chalmers is one of three young athletes who will make their Australian Dolphins Swim Team debut. The 16-year-old, who will contest the 4 x 100m freestyle relay, said he surprised even himself.
“Leading in for me, I had no idea I would even make the final so I was happy to make the final and then I was really happy to make the team,” Chalmers said.
“I was just tying to stay calm and take it all in. I was between McEvoy and Magnussen who are the two fastest men in the world so I was a bit nervous but I just tried to do my own thing and stay under control. I just tried to do my race plan which I think I executed pretty well.”
Chalmers’ fellow debutants include Kurt Herzog and Hayley Baker. Additionally, it is the first long course Australian Swim Team for David Morgan, Leah Neal, Daniel Smith and Brianna Throssell who have all represented Australia at a World Short Course Championships previously.
Kazan also serves as an important stepping stone for a host of young athletes on the team who are making the progression towards Rio 2016. At just 18 years of age, Mack Horton will head to the World Championships with three 2015 national titles under his belt in the 400m, 800m and his pet event, the 1500m freestyle.
“I think I made my senior debut at exactly the right time,” Horton said.
“I made the team for the Commonwealth Games last year which is probably the easiest big international meet to debut at. Now I have progressed in my performance and will go towards Worlds and then that is building towards the Olympics. It’s time to start getting up on that international stage, working towards next year.”
Further athletes are set to be named to the team following the Open Water World Cup which will take place in Mexico on 2 May.
The Australian Dolphins Swim Team for the 2015 World Championships
| NAME | AGE | CLUB | STATE |
| Matthew Abood | 28 | Sydney University | NSW |
| Jessica Ashwood | 21 | Chandler | QLD |
| Hayley Baker | 19 | Melbourne Vicentre | VIC |
| Bronte Barratt | 26 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Joshua Beaver | 22 | Tigersharks | VIC |
| Bronte Campbell | 20 | Commercial | QLD |
| Cate Campbell | 22 | Commercial | QLD |
| Kyle Chalmers | 16 | Marion | SA |
| Ashley Delaney | 28 | Nunawading | VIC |
| Tommaso D’Orsogna | 24 | Commercial | QLD |
| Brittany Elmslie | 20 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Thomas Fraser-Holmes | 23 | Miami | QLD |
| Madeline Groves | 19 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Grant Hackett | 34 | Miami | QLD |
| Jayden Hadler | 21 | Commercial | QLD |
| Kurt Herzog | 23 | SOPAC | NSW |
| Mack Horton | 18 | Melbourne Vicentre | VIC |
| Grant Irvine | 24 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Mitchell Larkin | 21 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| James Magnussen | 23 | Ravenswood | NSW |
| Cameron McEvoy | 20 | Palm Beach Currumbin | QLD |
| David McKeon | 22 | Chandler | QLD |
| Emma McKeon | 20 | Chandler | QLD |
| Taylor McKeown | 20 | Indooroopilly | QLD |
| Keryn McMaster | 21 | Waterworx | QLD |
| David Morgan | 21 | TSS Aquatics | QLD |
| Leah Neale | 19 | Indooroopilly | QLD |
| Jake Packard | 20 | Indooroopilly | QLD |
| Kylie Palmer | 25 | Indooroopilly | QLD |
| Emily Seebohm | 22 | Brothers | QLD |
| Daniel Smith | 23 | Miami | QLD |
| Christian Sprenger | 29 | Commercial | QLD |
| Brianna Throssell | 19 | Perth City | WA |
| Lorna Tonks | 26 | Brothers | QLD |
| Benjamin Treffers | 23 | Burley Griffin | NSW |
| Tessa Wallace | 21 | Pelican Waters Caloundra | QLD |
| Madison Wilson | 20 | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Melanie Wright | 28 | Southport Olympic | QLD |
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