Swimming Australia Names Strong Roster of 27 Athletes for 2019 World Championships

by Andy Ross

14 June 2019, 11:02am

Swimming Australia has named a 27-athlete strong team to take on the rest of the world in Gwangju, South Korea, at the FINA World Swimming Championships in July. They will join the eight open water athletes who were named last month to compete in Yeosu.

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Consisting of 13 males and 14 females, the squad includes men’s Olympic 100m freestyle champion Kyle Chalmers (Marion), who clocked the fastest time in the world so far this year – a formidable 47.35 – during the Hancock Prospecting World Swimming Trials which concluded in Brisbane on Friday night. Chalmers will also compete in the 200m freestyle along with St Peters Western’s Clyde Lewis, who swum a personal best time to secure the second spot.

Australia will have a strong showing in the female distance events with TSS Aquatic teammates Kiah Melverton and Madeleine Gough both posting personal best times to qualify in the Women’s 1500m Freestyle. Melverton had a terrific week in Brisbane, also grabbing spots in the 400m and 800m freestyle events.

Following an impressive meet which saw her set personal best times, Griffith University’s Emma McKeon will contest the 100m and 200m freestyle events as well as the 100m butterfly. Posting the second fastest time in the world this year for the 100m free – behind Dolphins teammate Cate Campbell who clocked the quickest time, 52.12 – McKeon’s stellar meet means she will also form a crucial part of the women’s freestyle relay teams, who are still showing they are at the top of their game.

The squad will include one debutant – Nunawading butterflyer Matthew Temple who has been selected on squad as a relay swimmer after he tied for first with David Morgan (TSS Aquatic) in an epic 100m butterfly race which saw both swimmers post personal best times.

St Peters Western’s Mitch Larkin has qualified in three events after recording a world-leading time for 2019 in the Men’s 200 Individual Medley and setting a new Commonwealth record on night three of trials. He will also line-up in his favored backstroke events in both the 100m and 200m races – which he was the world champion in 2015.

Larkin’s club teammate Ariarne Titmus made a statement on the opening night of trials in the Women’s 400m Freestyle, setting a new Commonwealth record time of 3:59.35. Titmus also qualified in the 200m and 800m freestyle events alongside McKeon and Melverton, respectively.

Queensland young gun Kaylee McKeown (USC Spartans) proved she is ready to take on the best in the world after qualifying in three events. She clocked personal best times in the 200m backstroke and the 200m individual medley, while also placing second in the 100m backstroke. She will be joined in the backstroke events by fellow teenager Minna Atherton (Brisbane Grammar) whose personal best performance saw her claim the 100m race and secure her the second spot in the 200m.

Chandler’s Jack McLoughlin showed sublime form over the week to post personal best times and qualify in the men’s 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle races. He has a big program ahead in Gwangju after also finishing fourth in the 200m freestyle, putting him in contention for the Men’s 4x200m Relay.

National Head Coach Jacco Verhaeren said he was impressed with the strong performances from the week given the qualification times set.

“We have very strong qualification standards which is based on the top eight times in previous world championships, so this is a smaller team than perhaps previous worlds, but a very strong team I believe,” he said.

“There have been some fantastic individual performances and the depth in some of our relay teams is very promising.

“Qualifying here is just the first step, we now have to convert and capitalize on these performances in South Korea, so our efforts in the coming five weeks will be focussed on that.”

Joining the 27 strong team will be eight team coaches including, Dean Boxall (St Peters Western), Chris Nesbit (TSS Aquatic), Michael Bohl (Griffith University), Vince Raleigh (Chandler), Peter Bishop (Marion), Simon Cusack (Knox/Pymble), Chris Mooney (USC Spartans) and Adam Kable (SOPAC).

Looking to mirror the preparation they will undertake for the Tokyo Olympics next year, the Australian Dolphins swim team will head to Cairns for a staging camp in the coming weeks, before moving to Nagaoka in Japan to train, and then traveling onto to Gwangju in South Korea for the World Championships beginning on July 21.

Athletes who are selected on the team to compete as relay swimmers only may be entered into individual events, provided there are not already two qualified swimmers racing in any one event. This is possible given they have achieved the FINA A qualifying time in the selection year. Possible additions in either Olympic or non-Olympic events will be decided in the next few weeks.

The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with USA Swimming. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

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