O’Callaghan, Pallister headline Comm Games swim team
Joanna Guelas |
Facing a changing of the guard, freestyle stars Mollie O’Callaghan and Lani Pallister will lead Australia’s all-conquering squad in search of more Commonwealth Games gold.
A 42-strong team was named on Saturday night at the end of the six-day trials in Sydney, with 14 swimmers to make their senior team debut in Glasgow next month.
O’Callaghan and Pallister are primed to build on Australia’s winning ways, with fellow Paris Olympic gold medallists Meg Harris and Shayna Jack completing the freestyle relay team.
Australia claimed 25 gold medals out of a possible 52 at the 2022 Birmingham Games, with the nation’s women freestylers claiming victory in all but one of the 15 races.
The Dolphins also clinched 21 silver and 19 bronze medals, while runners-up England managed just eight golds out of a total of 32 medals.
But Australia’s medal haul in 2022 fell short of the record 73 medals won at the 2018 Gold Coast Games, which included 28 gold out of the 50 on offer.
O’Callaghan will look to defend her 100m crown and will also contest the 200m in Glasgow, while Pallister is mulling her program after taking out the 400m, 800m and 1500m races in Sydney.
Albury teenager Sienna Toohey, hailed as the future of Australian swimming at age 17, will spearhead Australia’s bid for gold in the 100m breaststroke.
While Toohey reaches her first Games, world record-holder Kaylee McKeown will look to mark her third and final appearance at the multi-sport event with more backstroke gold.
Cameron McEvoy is the star attraction in the men’s field, with the 50m freestyle world record-holder chasing his first individual medal at the Commonwealth Games.
McEvoy, 32, joined para-swimmer Lakeisha Patterson in securing his fourth appearance at the Games, having made their debuts in 2014 – also in Glasgow.
Kyle Chalmers, 27, also secured a spot at his third Games, while fellow freestyle ace Sam Short has set himself the audacious goal of five gold medals in the 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 4x200m relay.
Jack’s younger brother Jamie, 22, will join McEvoy in the 50m race for his first Commonwealth Games appearance.
The Jack siblings are the first sister-brother duo to represent Australia since Emma and David McKeon in 2018.
The able-bodied Dolphins team will be joined by a stacked para-swimming squad of 18 athletes, led by veterans Patterson, Tim Hodge and Col Pearse.
A 44-strong squad of able-bodied swimmers and 37 para athletes for the Pan Pacific championships in August was also selected.
AUSTRALIAN SWIM TEAM FOR 2026 COMMONWEALTH GAMES:
Henry Allan*, Iona Anderson, Ben Armbruster, Hannah Casey, Brittany Castelluzzo, Kyle Chalmers, Jessica Cole*, Isaac Cooper, Elizabeth Dekkers, Jenna Forrester, Hannah Fredericks, Jasmin Fullgrabe*, Matthew Galea*, Alyssa Gillespie*, Ben Goedemans, Meg Harris, Kirralee Hayes, Mia Hogan*, Jack Ireland, Jamie Jack*, Shayna Jack, Jenna Jones, Tara Kinder, Tiana Kritzinger, Se-Bom Lee, Bailey Lello*, Beau Matthews*, Cameron McEvoy, Kaylee Mckeown, Inez Miller*, Tommy Neill, Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Alexandria Perkins, William Petric, Ella Ramsay, Gemma Sellick*, Sam Short, Brendon Smith, Edward Sommerville, Flynn Southam, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Kai Taylor, Matt Temple, Liam Togher*, Sienna Toohey, Harrison Turner, Harrison Vig, Molly Walker*, Amelia Weber*, Elijah Winnington
AUSTRALIAN PARA SWIM TEAM FOR 2026 COMMONWEALTH GAMES:
Emily Beecroft, Victoria Belando Nicholson*, Jasmin Fullgrabe, Alyssa Gillespie, Jasmine Greenwood, Kirralee Hayes, Timothy Hodge, Mia Hogan, Jack Ireland, Jenna Jones, Beau Matthews, Madeleine McTernan, Lakeisha Patterson, Col Pearse, Alex Saffy, Gemma Sellick, Liam Togher, Harrison Vig.
* Senior Dolphins debut
AAP