SWIMMING: Defending world champions Mitch Larkin, Emily Seebohm and Bronte Campbell will spearhead a 31-strong Australian Swim Team, named tonight for this year’s FINA World Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary in July.
For record-breaking backstroker Seebohm, it will be her sixth Australian team since she made her Australian team debut at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne.
A 10-year backstroke reign that has seen her contest World Championships in Melbourne (2007), Rome (2009), Shanghai (2011), Barcelona (2013) and Kazan (2015) – a decade of dominance that has seen her win four gold, four silver and two bronze medals from five world championship campaigns.
She joins the likes of triple Olympic butterflyer Adam Pine and triple Olympic medallist Bronte Barratt who have also represented Australia on six World Championship teams.
Pine started his string of World Championships in Rome in 1994, then Perth in 1998, Fukuoka in 2001, Barcelona 2003, Melbourne in 2007 and finished in Rome in 2009, while Barratt started in Montreal (2005), before Melbourne (2007), Rome (2009), Shanghai (2011), Barcelona (2013) and finishing in Kazan (2015). While Olympic legends Leisel Jonesand Grant Hackett both contested an impressive five world championships.
And there is no sign of Australia’s premier backstroker slowing down after she chalked up her 21st Australian National Championship in the 200m individual medley tonight – adding it to the 100-200m backstroke double from earlier in the week.
The 24-year-old has bounced back better than ever to win the 100 and 200m backstroke double at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre – both in impressive world championship qualifying times.
Seebohm has recovered from a series of operations since returning from her third Olympics in Rio, including her revelation that she had been suffering endometriosis.
“I’ve actually surprised myself with what has been a disrupted preparation in a year when I really thought I would be setting myself more for next year’s Commonwealth Games,” said Seebohm.
“The last 10 years has been amazing and it is hard to imagine it has been that long since I made my first team.]
“I’m really looking forward to Budapest, especially with so many new faces on the team, including 15-year-old Kaylee McKeown and 16-year-old Ariarne Titmus.”
Her backstroking boyfriend Mitch Larkin will be on his fourth world championship team while siblings Emma and David McKeon (St Peters Western), James Roberts (Somerset), Grant Irvine (St Peters Western), Brittany Elmslie (Brisbane Grammar) and Cam McEvoy(Bond) will all be on their third teams.
It is a Dolphins team made up of 19 members of last year’s Rio Olympic team, including individual gold medallists Mack Horton (400m freestyle) and Kyle Chalmers (100m freestyle) with 16 survivors from the 2015 Worlds team from Kazan.
Swimming powerhouse Queensland heads the list of swimmers with 21, followed by five from Victoria, three from WA and one each from SA and NSW.
Rockingham rookie Holly Barratt is the oldest on the team at 29, while Kaylee McKeown at 15 is the youngest in a team with an average age of 21.
The 11 new faces on a World Championship long course team are: St Peters Western trio Jack Cartwright, Ariarne Titmus and Clyde Lewis; Daniel Cave (Melbourne Vicentre), Zac Incerti (UWA West Coast), Louis Townsend (Rackley), Matthew Wilson (SOPAC), Holly Barratt (Rockingham), Kaylee McKeown (USC Spartans), Shayna Jack (Commercial) and Jessica Hansen (Nunawading).
Titmus, Lewis and Hansen were all on the Dolphins team at last year’s World Short Course Championships in Windsor, as was Alex Graham, who made his long course debut at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona.
Titmus showed again last night why she has been the find of the meet, adding the 400m freestyle to her win in the 800m on night one and the second place to Emma McKeon in the 200m in between.
Her time of 4:04.82 to win the 400m was four seconds faster than her personal best time of 4:08.95 – set on the way through in the 800m freestyle win.
The Dolphins will also send five open water swimmers to Budapest to take on the River Danube following their successful qualification at the Australian Championships in January and the Abu Dhabi FINA World Cup in March.
Rio Olympian Chelsea Gubecka will swim at her third world championships and the 18-year-old will race the women’s 10km event alongside teammate Kareena Lee.
Lee, will then also take on the 5km event and be joined by open water rookies KiahMelverton and Jack McLoughlin, while fellow debutant Jack Brazier will swim the 10km event for the men.
Australian Swim Team, FINA World Championships, Budapest, Hungary, July 14-30:
Holly Barratt (WA)
Joshua Beaver (VIC)
Bronte, Campbell (QLD)
Jack Cartwright (QLD)
Daniel Cave (VIC)
Kyle Chalmers (SA)
Brittany Elmslie (QLD)
Alexander Graham (QLD)
Jessica Hansen,(VIC)
Mack Horton (VIC)
Zac Incerti (WA)
Grant Irvine (QLD)
Shayna Jack (QLD)
Mitchell Larkin (QLD)
Clyde Lewis (QLD)
Cameron McEvoy (QLD)
David McKeon (QLD)
Emma McKeon (QLD)
Kaylee McKeown (QLD)
Taylor McKeown (QLD)
Jack McLoughlin (QLD)
David Morgan (QLD)
Leah Neale (QLD)
Kotuku Ngawati (VIC)
James Roberts (QLD)
Emily Seebohm (QLD)
Brianna Throssell (WA)
Ariarne Titmus (QLD)
Louis Townsend (QLD)
Madison Wilson (QLD)
Matthew Wilson (NSW)
Open Water athletes:
Jack Brazier (QLD)
Chelsea Gubecka (QLD)
Kareena Lee (QLD)
Kiah Melverton (QLD)
Jack McLoughlin (QLD)
