World Short Course Swimming Champs Preview
The best in the World have assembled in Budapest to close out a huge year of swimming.
The Australian Dolphins swimming team will head into this week’s World Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships in Budapest hoping to equal or better their second place on the medal tally from Melbourne two years ago.
A number of Australia’s big names from Paris are missing, including Olympic champions Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan. McKeown broke a Short Course World Record at the National Trials in September, before recently deciding to withdraw from the Worlds in order to give herself a much needed break after a massive year. Add in the retirement of Emma McKeon, who won both the 50m and 100m Freestyle in Melbourne 2022, and that’s a lot of firepower missing from the Aussie team.
However the name on everyone’s lips from that previous World Champs was Lani Pallister, where she became the first woman to win three individual events at a Short Course World Titles by taking out the 400m, 800m and 1500m gold medals. Now an Olympic gold medallist from the 200m Relay in Paris, and with no Katie Ledecky or Ariarne Titmus to contend with, 22yr old Lani will be one of the big names on Team Australia this week and could add a swag of bling to the four gold medals she won in Melbourne.
Another Aussie woman who will be looking to stand on top of the podium after an amazing Olympics is Meg Harris. The sprint star won silver behind the legendary Sarah Sjöström in the 50m Freestyle in Paris, however the Swedish champion won’t be in Budapest, opening the door for Harris to potentially claim gold.
Fellow Paris silver medallist Moe Johnson, Paris Olympians Lizzy Dekkers and Alex Perkins are others who will be adding some experience and star power to a young Australian women’s squad, which features a number of national debutants such as Bella Grant, Milla Jansen, Tara Kinder and Tiana Kritzinger.
Internationally, a lot of the big names from Paris will be there in Budapest. Canadian teen superstar queen of the Individual Medley Summer McIntosh will take to the pool, and Team USA might be missing Ledecky, but is still loaded with stars including Short Course Breaststroke World Record Holder Kate Douglass (featuring in five events), Kaylee McKeown’s Backstroke archrival Regan Smith and Paris dual Olympic gold medallist Gretchen Walsh.
The World Aquatics Short Course Championships start on Tuesday 10th December, with the Heats on in the evenings (AEDT) on 9GEM, while the Finals will be shown on 9NOW in the early hours of each session, starting Wednesday 11th.