Rio Olympic champion, Kyle Chalmers, will get the chance to defend his 100m freestyle gold after clocking 47.59 in his pet event on Tuesday night at the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials.
Diving into his home pool in front of a raucous local crowd at the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre, the 22-year-old’s time currently sees him ranked fifth in the world. Chalmers will be joined on the blocks in Tokyo by lane two’s Matt Temple who, after posting 48.32, snuck under the qualifying time by 0.01 of a second.
Speaking after the race, Chalmers said he’s looking forward to competing on the big stage.
“That’s what excites me most...I want to be part of the greatest races in history,” he said.
“I know there are a lot of guys swimming fast. It’s a bit easier to swim fast at the trials but you have to do it when the pressure is on, when it counts the most. It will be interesting to see how quick people can go in five weeks.”
Recording the second fastest time in history and setting a new Australian record in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke – an incredible 2:06.28 – Zac Stubblety-Cook earned his ticket to Tokyo on night four. Setting an electric tone in the first event of the night, Stubblety-Cook ripped it up from lane five and was under world record pace for the majority of the race.
Maddy Gough and Kiah Melverton, pushed each other all the way in gruelling Women’s 1500m Freestyle and it paid dividends, with the duo placing one and two under the qualifying time of 16:02.75. Gough touched first in 15:46.13 to smash the Australian record of 15:52.17 set by Jessica Ashwood in 2015, while Melverton clocked 15:57.14.
Brianna Throssell flew home in the Women’s 200m Butterfly to book herself a spot on her second Olympic team, recording a time of 2:07.63 – under the qualifying time of 2:08.43.
